1
‘Going to be a great challenge’: What the Wallabies expect from Pumas
Los Pumas will be desperate to bounce back from their disappointing loss to the All Blacks in the opening round of The Rugby Championship last weekend.
ADVERTISEMENT
Argentina were met by an almost deafening cheer from the home crowd as they made their way out onto Estadio Malvinas Argentinas in Mendoza on Saturday afternoon.
Following on from Argentina’s sensational win over the All Blacks in Christchurch last year, the Mendoza crowd were full of belief ahead of another clash between the southern hemisphere rivals.
But things didn’t go to plan.
Los Pumas are renowned for their physicality and dominance at the set-piece, but they were outmuscled in all areas of the game against the New Zealanders.
The hosts may have had the last laugh with a try to veteran Agustin Creevy after the siren, but the scoreline was a sight for sore eyes.
Argentina were beaten 43-12.
But don’t rule them out. The Pumas are better than that performance, and they’ll be eager to prove that when they take on the Wallabies in Sydney this weekend.
The Wallabies, who are coming off a tough loss of their own to world champions South Africa, are expecting a physical challenge against the Michael Cheika coached Pumas.
ADVERTISEMENT
Wallabies assistant coach Neal Hatley still ranks the star-studded Argentine forward pack “pretty highly” compared to other nations around the world.
“Last week they struggled a bit so knowing a bit about Michael Cheika I’m sure there’ll be some bounce back as well,” Hatley told reporters on Friday.
“We expect them to come out and be very physical. I think they’ve done exceptionally well over the last two or three years on the back of how physical their forwards pack’s been, and even their backs.
“You know what you’re getting so it’s going to be a great challenge to see how basically both sides respond.”
ADVERTISEMENT
The Wallabies fell to an emphatic loss against the Springboks in Pretoria, with a late try to debutant Carter Gordon practically the only shining light out of the Test.
But the Wallabies have learnt their lessons out of the 43-12 loss, and are looking to respond with a big performance in front of their fans.
“It starts at set-piece so it’s just like a domino effect. If you don’t minimum achieve parity, you’re going to be on the backfoot,” Hatley added.
“It’s pretty hard against big men to recover that so it starts phase one, we’ve got to do better phase one.
“You’re not always going to get what you want, there are going to be times where other sides do get on top, where they have a purple patch.
“Our response has got to be better.”
The Wallabies have named a big forward pack – literally – for their clash with the Pumas.
La Rochelle lock Will Skelton has retained his spot in the starting side, and will be joined by another towering lock in Richie Arnold.
“It’s always helpful to have somebody like that (in your) side. Will Skelton, whatever he is – seven foot and 145 kgs.
“We’re not going to do well as a forward pack with two blokes. I think where Will Skelton’s been absolutely brilliant has been the energy… the enthusiasm he’s brought back.
“He’s obviously had two or three brilliant seasons where he’s probably been one of the standout forwards in Europe. His team has won week after week, won two European Cups. Richie has had similar experiences with Toulouse.
“Not only from a physicality point of view, but from a mindset mentality, they come from two winning environments, so they’ve been brilliant back into our group.”
The Wallabies take on Argentina at Sydney’s CommBank Stadium at 7.45 pm AEST on Saturday evening. Earlier, the All Blacks are set to host fierce rivals South Africa in Auckland.
Comments on RugbyPass
The Harlequins team must be in minus figures. Did the reporter actually watch the game?
2 Go to commentsHow on earth did Walker escape a red card? Not dangerous? Dupont has his face in a mask earlier this season. Shocking decision. What is the point of TMOs? We had the Fassi ‘non-penalty try’ yesterday and now this.
2 Go to commentsCould have been a different result but yet again French tv able to affect the result by not showing the very clear high shot on harlequin centre if this would have been on a French player would have been on screen at least five times
2 Go to commentsAmazing. The losing team’s ratings are higher than the winning team’s. Mallia definitely didn’t deserve a y. What game were you watching? Should have got a w or an x. ADP hardly featured in that second half. At one point I wondered when he’d been subbed. Seems to me as if he gets an automatic 9 just for getting onto the team sheet.
2 Go to commentsI’m sorry. That second half was far from enthralling. It was painful to watch.
2 Go to commentsVery generous! If you’d missed the game, reading this you’d conclude that it was the Quins front row that cost them the game. Marler getting a blanket 6 for his demented contribution to the game. Puzzling.
2 Go to commentsCan’t see Toulouse beating Leinster at this rate.
7 Go to commentsADP was having a very average game until winning that penalty for Toulouse, sticking his big head in the way. “The head of God”?
7 Go to commentsHarlequins doing their best to do as little damage as possible with all the possession. Looks like they skipped catch and pass drills this week.
7 Go to commentsSeeing pictures of Jacques high-fiving it with Irish players breaks my heart. Too soon. I need more time.
1 Go to commentsquins is all over the place. The minute they get the ball they panic. Quins can still win tho just need to win all rucks otherwise just don't bother.
7 Go to commentsGreat wins for the male & female kiwi sides. Ireland not far away..
1 Go to commentsWhy is this dude getting so much coverage? Usually knobs like this get cancelled.
2 Go to commentsWow. What was that? A 3 million word meandering article about what exactly?
2 Go to commentsNice piece of writing. And yes the Sharks pulled a rabbit from the hat and were a little lucky with that penalty try that wasn’t given… however the Sharks (with their resources) should be way more consistent and should be putting teams like Claremont away for breakfast. I expect more from them and hope they kick on now.
8 Go to commentsJust what the Sharks needed to get things going in the right direction Defence on the outside really creates havoc for the whole team and needs to be addressed.
8 Go to commentsWell done guys both teams will be ready to play knockout rugby.
1 Go to commentsSurprised that Ramos isn't starting at 15. But what a squad of galacticos!
2 Go to commentsWhy is it a snub? What journalistic garbage is that? Sure the guy is a great player, but there are plenty of loose forwards and not all of them can be Springboks. Also, I know of no-one who doubts Rassie’s judgment. South Africa has a conveyor belt of loose forwards that just keeps producing, so the competition is intense. I certainly wish him well, but there is no entitlement and there is no snub.
17 Go to commentsSkelton may be brought back for the Wallabies so that would be the only reason that may hinder Wilson. Easily the form, most skilful and game IQ of any Oz 8. Valentini’s best and favourite position is 6, but lineouts may be an issue with Skelton, Valentini and Wilson. Will be interesting what Schmidt goes for but for me Wilson should be picked on form. Schmidt rewards work rate, skill and consistency. All that glitters every so often won’t be in contention. Greely is one of those players that has a knack of making the right decision. A coach is going to love him because he knows week in week out he’s going to get the job done. The second try Greely wasn’t the guy who made the initial break it was Flook, Greely was at the bottom of the ruck when Flook was off along the sideline. Greely got up and made the effort to catch up with play but also read the play nicely and hit the pass from Campbell at pace and then held the pass beautifully to Ryan.
6 Go to comments