Rugby Championship Review - Australia 14 - 13 Argentina

They say that the weather is a leveller.  Not only does this rhyme, and therefore must be true, but it has also proven to be the bane of so many sides over the years – especially the sides that pride themselves on the speed of their backline and the slickness of their handling, as opposed to the brute force of their forwards in the loose and the set piece.  In that sense then, the Wallabies have suffered more than most, even going down to the usually woeful Scotland in a monsoon in Newcastle a couple of years ago.

So you can imagine that the Australians weren’t their usually self-confident selves going into Saturday’s showdown against the Pumas.  Not only were they coming off the back of three convincing defeats, but they were also playing in Perth in torrential rain against a side renowned for having one of the biggest and most abrasive packs in world rugby.  The only upside for the hosts was that the Pumas themselves were nought from three in their opening Championship games – and in fact had never won a game in the tournament.

And so, with expectations for a free-flowing game suitably dampened (sorry), the game kicked off to a plethora of scrums and kicks, which seemed to suit the Argentines – playing in a very flash dark blue kit – down to the ground.  They deservedly took the lead after 7 minutes when Nick Cummins was caught behind his own line when trying to field a well placed Nicolas Sanchez kick, conceding a penalty in the process.  Sanchez knocked over the 3 points from right in front, and it looked like it would be yet another long evening for the hosts.

But the Wallabies, with a strong wind at their back driving them on, soon adapted to the conditions, still using quick hands but using long, skidding grubber kicks to exploit spaces in the wider channels, and it was from one of these kicks that Michael Hooper forced a turnover to give Christian Lealiifano a chance to level the scores.  Five minutes later they were in the lead as the Pumas slipped their bind in the scrum, yielding another 3 points to the boot of the Brumbies centre.

The hosts were growing in confidence by the minute, and were playing sensible rugby – given the weather – using short passes but hitting intelligent lines, with James O’Conner and Adam Ashley Cooper looking dangerous.  They got their reward on the half hour mark when Lealiifano made a half break to get the visitors’ defence in retreat, before slick hands from Quade Cooper and O’Connor gave Israel Folau a metre of space to work with – and was all the magical fullback needed, as he stepped and ducked his way over the line to take the hosts out to an 11 – 3 lead.  Lealiifano added another penalty on the stroke of halftime, and the Wallabies found themselves taking a 14 – 3 lead into the break.

Happy days?  Not quite.  The hosts now found themselves playing into the stiff wind that had been hindering the Pumas in the opening period, and the South Americans soon found their rhythm as they began to dominate the contact area and the battle for territory.  The scrum too was beginning to really turn in the visitors favour, and Sanchez fell just short with a penalty attempt after the Argentine 8 had decimated their opposite numbers.  Luckily, they managed to get points onto the board via Sanchez on the hour mark after Nic White was penalised for feeding at the scrum.

Five minutes later, and the Pumas were right back in it, with Juan Manuel Leguizamon crashing over after Felipe Contepomi had made a neat half break before offloading.  Sanchez’s conversion brought the South Americans right back into it, sitting one point behind the Wallabies, and the hosts had gone from looking comfortable to staring at defeat in 6 minutes.

Luckily for the fans who had endured the miserable Perth conditions, the Australians showed the kind of resolve that saw them claw back the second test against the British and Irish Lions in the summer, and began to fight their way upfield, contesting each breakdown with vigour, and winning penalties for their efforts.  Unfortunately, Lealiifano’s form off the tee deserted him as he missed 2 kickable penalties in the swirling wind, before substitute Matt Toomua impressed everyone with his attempt at performing the worst drop goal in rugby history.

An audible sigh of relief went up as the final whistle blew, with the Australians proud of how they shut the Pumas out in the closing stages.  As the fans and players cheered through the rain, you got the feeling that they might not mind this weather so much after all.