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'I'm not going to come out and say that that's a realistic score' - Wallabies concede that the Tri Nations title race is over
The Wallabies concede they face a tall order beating the Pumas by 101 points to steal the Tri Nations trophy from under the All Blacks‘ noses.
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No kidding.
In 646 games since Australia’s first Test in 1899, the Wallabies have only racked up a century of points once – a 142-0 drubbing of Namibia at the 2003 World Cup.
And the African minnows are a shadow of this Argentinian side that only a fortnight ago conquered the all Blacks for the first time.
The Wallabies are under no illusions that they have any hope whatsoever of winning the Tri Nations.
A last-up 15-15 draw with the Pumas and Argentina’s 38-0 loss to the All Blacks in Newcastle on Saturday night put paid to those hopes and ensured the silverware was heading once again to New Zealand.
The All Blacks have stormed to a 38-0 victory over Los Pumas to take pole position in the Tri-Nations title race at McDonald Jones Stadium in Newcastle. #ARGvNZL #TriNations https://t.co/NUP2DkCjr7
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 28, 2020
But Dave Rennie’s men still plan on finishing a frustrating year – in which they also toppled the All Blacks before failing to back up against the Pumas – on a high in Sydney on Saturday night.
“I didn’t have an idea that that’s what we had to score to win (the Tri Nations),” Wallabies forward Lukhan Salakaia-Loto said on Sunday.
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“I’m not going to come out and say that that’s a realistic score because we’re coming up against a quality side like Argentina.
“You’ve seen their quality in their first two Tests. We’re just looking to get the job done and do the best we can and whatever happens, happens.”
Had the Wallabies not relinquished a nine-point second-half lead against the Pumas last time around, they would have been heading to Bankwest Stadium in control of their own destiny and needing only to beat Argentina to claim the trophy.
“We let that slip away, didn’t we, so we’ll be looking to rectify that in this game,” Salakaia-Loto said.
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Should they win, the Wallabies would finish the tournament with two victories, a draw and one defeat.
Yet the All Blacks will snare the trophy even after losing twice.
But Salakaia-Loto has no beef with the bonus-point system.
“I haven’t had a problem with it. If you work hard, score those tries, I don’t see why you shouldn’t be rewarded,” he said.
Salakaia-Loto is more concerned with getting some game time having recovered from a bout of syndesmosis sustained in Bledisloe III against the All Blacks last month.
“I’ve just been working hard on the sidelines and early in the mornings just to try and get my ankle right,” he said.
“So I’m available now, but that’s another story whether I get selected or play.
“It’s just good to be back in full training with the boys. I’m back ready to roll if I’m needed.
“Even for myself, the year that it’s been, I want to finish it on a positive by playing some good footy.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Je suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
25 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
25 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
25 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
25 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
11 Go to comments