Wallabies edge brave Pumas
15 Sep 2012
GARETH DUNCAN watched the Wallabies overcome a 19-6 second-half deficit to beat Argentina 23-19 in the Gold Coast.
Argentina had the better of the hosts for most parts of the match, while Wallabies wasted many of their opportunities and were errant on defence. This saw the South Americans hold a 6-3 half-time lead, before an impressive second-half blitz built a 13-point buffer.
However, the Pumas’ fight died down in the final quarter and the Wallabies managed to build vital momentum during the closing stages. Tries from inside centre Pat McCabe and wing Digby Ioane proved to be the telling scores, with the boot of Berrick Barnes and Kurtley Beale sealing victory.
Robbie Deans and his team will be very relieved as they avoided a shock defeat against Argentina, who haven’t won on Aussie soil since 1983.
And it looked to be the Pumas’ night early on.
Hardly anything went the Wallabies’ way in the first half, which included a nightmare start to the game. After flyhalf Juan Martin Hernandez kicked an early penalty, Australia lost a man to the sin bin as McCabe was punished for a professional foul after chasing down an Argentine counter-attack.
The Wallabies still created scoring opportunities with a player down, but No 8 Radike Samo and skipper Nathan Sharpe butchered their chances, while Barnes missed his first two shot at goal. It took the hosts 24 minutes before Barnes finally slotted a three-pointer.
Hernandez secured Argentina a slim advantage at the break thanks to his second penalty.
Then came the Pumas blitz.
After Barnes levelled the scores shortly after the second-half restart, replacement flank Toms Leonard charged down flyhalf Quade Cooper’s clearance from the resulting kick-off to score the opening try of the game.
This inspired the tourists, who went on to break the Australian defence several times thereafter. And it was a run from speedster Juan Imhoff that created the Pumas’ second try.
The reserve wing broke away down the right side of the field, and his offload saw flank Julio Farias Cabello cross the whitewash. Although replays showed Imhoff’s foot hit the touchline, the try still stood. Hernandez missed both conversions, but his third penalty gave Argentina a comfortable 19-6 advantage.
The Wallabies then enjoyed an impressive spell of play, which began after McCabe’s try. The No 12 powered through after running on to Cooper’s pass 5m out from the chalk.
Argentina began losing grip, especially as their forwards tired up front, and it wasn’t too long before Ioane dotted down following scrumhalf Nick Phipps’ break. Barnes added both conversions before Beale slotted a late penalty.
It was a good comeback win for Australia, but Argentina will be encouraged following three impressive and competitive outings against the top three nations in world rugby. They will definitely be targeting an Aussie scalp at home.
204 Comments
Pages: [1] 2 3 4 5 » Show All
15 Sep 2012, 11:35 am
Go Pumas, the time is right.
15 Sep 2012, 11:38 am
Yeah, go Pumas…go home safely after giving us five points!
15 Sep 2012, 11:49 am
Argies will come out to spoil, defend, wrestle and disrupt as per usual.
They won’t sustain it though- Aus by 10-14.
15 Sep 2012, 11:55 am
Nah, Argies will win. You heard it first.
15 Sep 2012, 11:55 am
Pumas could very well win this. Do it for the Boks!
15 Sep 2012, 12:09 pm
go arg
15 Sep 2012, 12:09 pm
I think the Pumas’ inclusion in the Championship is very bad news for Australia.
15 Sep 2012, 12:11 pm
Horribly done by Cooper
15 Sep 2012, 12:12 pm
@kaksioek-7: Nope. The Aussies will always have us to manshame and abuse.
15 Sep 2012, 12:14 pm
@kaksioek-7: We do not know that for sure and even if it is so, there are always South Africa for them, as it seems lately.
On a serious note, Argies are win win for everyone, especially for themselves.
15 Sep 2012, 12:14 pm
Weird that a nation with so much natural flair and ball skills as the argentinians always play such negative defence orientated rugby. They have all the skills in the world to open it up but never seem to do it since the days of Hugo Porta.
15 Sep 2012, 12:17 pm
@Robzim-11: Why, in WC07 they looked anything but negative, especially in 3rd place game vs France and vs the Irish.
15 Sep 2012, 12:17 pm
unlucky camacho, not quite the legs
15 Sep 2012, 12:17 pm
11.30 mins into this game and it’s already been more entertaining than the entire SA vs NZ snore fest.
15 Sep 2012, 12:17 pm
Go Pumas!
15 Sep 2012, 12:17 pm
Go Argies. Damn it’s a pleasure having them around.
15 Sep 2012, 12:21 pm
MCabe feels a bit ripped off and so he should.
15 Sep 2012, 12:21 pm
@Nils-10: The Boks will beat both the ABs and the Wallabies in SA – despite Meyer.
And, seriously, the physicality of the Pumas and the added travel is going to hit the Aussies hard. I firmly believe the Pumas will move above the Aussies in the rankings before too long, with the Boks hopefully above them. It is little short of a miracle that the Wallabies are above the Boks now, with the Boks having dominated most of the last two games these teams played.
15 Sep 2012, 12:22 pm
@Nils-12:
Must have been an exception to the rule, they predominantly play a defense orientated game. Remeber the flyhalf that played for them for many years (cannot remeber his name)- long haired good looking bloke- they used his phenomanal kicking skills for years to win matches for them.
15 Sep 2012, 12:24 pm
Argentina defending well but you feel it’s a matter of time before Oz crack them.
15 Sep 2012, 12:24 pm
Quade is useless today so far – not the same player since he is back from injury.
15 Sep 2012, 12:25 pm
@Big Hit-20:
Ja, thats how i see it as well. Only a matter of time.
15 Sep 2012, 12:25 pm
@Pencil-14: I don’t agree with that. I thought the ABs versus Boks game was intense.
15 Sep 2012, 12:28 pm
Bad luck, dropping the ball over the line.
15 Sep 2012, 12:28 pm
Damn, I hate working on Saturdays…
15 Sep 2012, 12:29 pm
@kaksioek-23:
It was intense, but it wasn’t much else. It was stop/start to the point where it was difficult to watch, much like all NZ’s games this season.
15 Sep 2012, 12:34 pm
@kaksioek-18: I have to agree, current Wallas and Blacks do not look too well, so yes, it is fairly possible.
@Robzim-19: Gonzalo Quesada, I guess.
15 Sep 2012, 12:35 pm
Argentina make a lot of breakdown/tackle steals
15 Sep 2012, 12:35 pm
@kaksioek-18: “It is little short of a miracle that the Wallabies are above the Boks now, with the Boks having dominated most of the last two games these teams played.”
It’s scoreboard who decides, you know.
15 Sep 2012, 12:35 pm
Dooper is such a Donkey
15 Sep 2012, 12:36 pm
Cooper is awful.
15 Sep 2012, 12:37 pm
@Nils-29: Ja, there are other factors at play – but I’m not in the mood. Either way, the Boks and Wallabies will change places by the end of the competition.
15 Sep 2012, 12:37 pm
That new oz lock is having a stormer.
15 Sep 2012, 12:38 pm
Oh dear, Baele on, how many mistakes can he make this time?
15 Sep 2012, 12:43 pm
Ja, really gripping this game – ne Pencil?
15 Sep 2012, 12:43 pm
@Nils-27:
Yes,thanks, it’s him, he was the top points scorer at the 1999 Rugby World Cup in Wales- . The English media nicknamed him Speedy Gonzalo due to him taking up so much time to prepare to kick for posts. But he hardly ever missed.
15 Sep 2012, 12:43 pm
I’m glad the Argies changed their kit. They use to look like footlocker employees of the month.
15 Sep 2012, 12:45 pm
well held up, but looked a massive forward pass anyway
15 Sep 2012, 12:46 pm
Nice pass by barnes, Sharpe coming so close.
15 Sep 2012, 12:47 pm
oh fark.. aussies messing this up,, argies hanging on for dear life
15 Sep 2012, 12:47 pm
This game tells me one thing: we would be dominating if we had a decent coach.
15 Sep 2012, 12:47 pm
@kaksioek-35:
It’s starting to lose shape with all the errors, much like the game before it.
15 Sep 2012, 12:51 pm
@kaksioek-41:
On what do you base such an assumption? We are not even playing here.
15 Sep 2012, 12:52 pm
This could be the fulltime score.
15 Sep 2012, 12:52 pm
@kaksioek-41: So would we! And if mu auntie had b*lls she’d be my uncle!!!
15 Sep 2012, 12:52 pm
arg can win this
15 Sep 2012, 12:55 pm
Gonzalo Quesada was the kick coah of France in the last RWC.
France has the best performance with these f-cking ball.
Gonzalo tell in many opportunities that he could work in the pumas for free.
But the problem of Gonzalo is big, he is not friend of Pichot.
The same with Noriega, our scrum is an australian joke, but here the pichot´s friends insist that the best way to make an scrum come from France.
Yes, yes here the grass is very cheap
15 Sep 2012, 12:56 pm
@Robzim-43: We thought we were in trouble when we struggled against the Pumas in Argentina. Then we saw them play the ABs and realized they were better than we gave them credit for. The Boks beat the Pumas by 21 points in SA. The ABs struggled in the wet at home and won by 16 points. The Aussies look like they could lose at home. We outplayed the Aussies and ABs in their countries and lost narrowly.
15 Sep 2012, 12:56 pm
Based on what we have seen so far today (both matches) international rugby is still in slumberland after the world cup.
15 Sep 2012, 12:56 pm
@kaksioek-44: no way, if Argentina keep kicking to them the Wallabies are going to run away with it.
Argentina have about 35% possession, 35% territory. You can only keep that up for so long away from home.
Pages: [1] 2 3 4 5 » Show All
Have your say
You must be logged in to post a comment.