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Former Wallabies react to Australia’s record loss to Argentina

Argentina players gather as Josh Flook (L) and Josh Canham (R) of Australia during the Rugby Championship 2024 match between Argentina and Australia at Brigadier General Estanislao Lopez Stadium on September 7, 2024 in Santa Fe, Argentina. (Photo by Luciano Bisbal/Getty Images)

Former Wallabies Stephen Hoiles, Nick Phipps and Morgan Turinui have all had their say on Australia’s record 67-27 loss to Argentina. That comprehensive defeat surpassed the Wallabies’ previous record low, which saw them concede 61 in a loss to the Springboks 27 years ago.

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Last weekend’s Test at Estadio Brigadier General Estanislao López in Santa Fe was an unusual one. Carlo Tizzano and Andrew Kellaway scored a try each during the first half as the visitors ran out to a commanding 20-3 lead, but as we now know, the match was far from over.

Left winger Mateo Carreras and hooker Julian Montoya scored a try each in the span of six minutes as they got Los Pumas back into the contest. The scoreboard read 20-17 at half-time, but Argentina would soon take control and not look back.

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Juan Martin Gonzalez, Pablo Matera and Joaquin Oviedo all scored before Australia fired another shot with some points of their own. Replacement Tate McDermott scored in the 68th minute but the Test was all but lost at that stage, with the hosts leading 41-27 with 11 to play.

Points Flow Chart

Argentina win +40
Time in lead
38
Mins in lead
33
46%
% Of Game In Lead
40%
95%
Possession Last 10 min
5%
26
Points Last 10 min
0

Another four tries completed Los Pumas’ rout of the Wallabies, who were left wondering what could’ve been after conceding 50 points in a half for the first time. With the Wallabies now sitting last on The Rugby Championship standings, Hoiles and Phipps were the first to weigh in.

“Really enjoyable first 30. I still can’t work out what happened for the next 50,” Hoiles said on Stan Sports’ Between Two Posts.

“The game was exciting. Everyone said at half-time, ‘We’re in for a great Test match, it’s been excellent.’ Good weather, high skilled.

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“Unfortunately, we just weren’t able to go toe-to-toe with them for long enough, hey? I don’t know if it was we were terrible or they were just too good, probably a bit of both.”

Phipps added: “I was thinking at the time, the first 30 they were absolutely dominant but then we took the foot off the pedal, not mentally but I thought the boys physically were absolutely blown.

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“I just didn’t understand that 30-minute drop-off. It was so noticeable and then Argie went on a roll which ultimately proved to be the killer… I’m wondering what happened there. I’ve never seen such a big drop-off by a complete forward pack at that stage.

“I just can’t get my head around it.”

As you can tell by both Hoiles and Phipps’ comments, it’s hard to come to terms with exactly what happened on Saturday night in Argentina. The Wallabies had shown some promising signs during the opening 40 but it all went pear-shaped during the second term.

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Australia had beaten that same Rugby Championship foe a week earlier, with Ben Donaldson converting a penalty with time up on the clock to give the men in gold a hard-fought 20-19 win. But, a week is a long time in Test footy, let alone 40 minutes of rugby.

“The first 30, the attack was excellent. I thought the Wallabies looked in danger defensively even then, just hanging on. They looked narrow the whole game and then it sort of fell apart the last eight minutes of the game,” Turini explained.

“But even early, one or two passes was beating everyone, guys in the midfield were biting hard on direct runners and we’re outflanked a lot.

“Physically we looked cooked, I reckon, whether it was the tour, maybe a lot of footy for some guys that aren’t used to Test footy… I think (Angus) Bell was a tactical change at half-time, I don’t think he’s injured. Taniela (Tupou) did run of puff maybe after 35 and that changed a lot.”

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JW 1 hour ago
'I feel for the players': Jamie Joseph's reflection on falling short again

Some great leadership quality from Big Jim, he facilitated for large parts then put the responsibility on himself at the end drive the team forward in the last desperate minutes. He also filled in for Withy extremely well, adding real strength to the maul.


The Force have been playing very well this year indeed, and their stars did make a couple of key players, the main factor though is definitely what I reported in the previous article “

Gotta say I’m really enjoying the Highlanders desperation in the last 10 minutes of games, maybe it’s just because theyre having to throw the kitchen sink at it again. Another massive effort to hold the opposition out just like in the Blues game. I’m sure the coach’s will be wanting a little more composure though as the play seems to far more hap hazard (really just the type of footy I like watching) than the picture they bring at the beggining of games.

Again though they don’t have the refs to thank for anything, being down a man twenty more minutes than they should have been. Most importantly they were without one of they best attackers (not counting Tangitau’s early change) for the final push, with Nareki’s bin.

Again, I can see where this team is trying to go, I hope they can get their this year as they certainly have the game to be a top four team if they click. They are munch of misfits when you look at it objectively though, they probably have the worst cohesion score of any SRP team. A few more wins, maybe a come from behind upset may be the best theey can hope to acheive this year.

“. Like Jim I thought the defence stood up strongly for large parts, but they may just have some structural issues, where it’s just not paying off. They had Lawaqa on the wing all day, allowed the Force to make a dozen linebreaks, why? Both there attack and defence look a bit too fancy for me, why? Common Joseph, the youngest team with the least cohesion/most new guys, it look overly complicated.


I hope it clicks. Manson in particular looked to be trying far too hard when he came on, what’s been said in his ear? Stick to you lane son and don’t make any mistakes, don’t lose the game for your team. Should be a comfortable win next week against Drua if they keep there heads up and come back stronger. Lasaqa might be best to come off the bench, would keep Jim at 12 but I’d like Tele’a to come back to the side, though TUJ hasn’t been bad and style might suit Drua more. Hopefully Renton or someone with some size is at 8 or 6, Lasaqa appears to be more an 8 actually, similar to Sititi and I wouldn’t mind if he was groomed behind him and Sotutu. Lennox I thought could make a good halfback but isn’t ready, I’d hope Arscott, Fakatava, or Pledger could return to the side. Other than Drua theyve got Cheifs twice, though the home game is the last of the round/season so potentially a gimme if the Chiefs repeat previous years tactics. The Crusaders and Moana at home are also very doable. Those four wins could see them crash into the top 6 still.

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