Les Kiss on where Wallabies need ‘to be better’ against Pumas

Australia coach Les Kiss has highlighted the area the Wallabies will need to be better in as they look ahead to a second clash with Los Pumas, having beaten that same opponent in a thriller 27-21 on Saturday at Estadio 23 de Agosto.

The Wallabies have strung four straight wins together in the same calendar year for the first time since 2021, and they remain unbeaten in three Tests under Kiss. But the coach has still pinpointed areas of improvement needed from the national team.

Brandon Paenga-Amosa and Carter Gordon crossed for early tries as the Aussies built up a 12-0 lead in just 10 minutes, and the visitors never surrendered their advantage, but it was far from smooth sailing in Jujuy.

The Wallabies had advantages in the overall possession and territory stats, but weren’t able to run away with the result at any stage. Los Pumas were outscored three tries to four, but remained in the fight courtesy of Santiago Carreras’ accurate goal-kicking boot.

“That’s Test rugby, isn’t it? We weren’t perfect, neither were they,” Kiss said post-game on Stan Sport.

“I think they really controlled the ruck well, didn’t they? Their speed of ball and their defence loaded up on us. I thought we didn’t manage that as well as we could have… we could have been more compact, try and penetrate, collapse their defence a little bit more.

“But their defence certainly tested us. We’re going to have to be better in that area next week.”

Los Pumas missed 14 tackles from 201 attempts, which saw them make at 93 per cent of their attempts in defence. As for the Wallabies, they completed at an 86 per cent success rate, having missed 18 tackles from 130 attempts.

The set-piece stood out as another positive part of the Wallabies game, as it has been all year during the Nations Championship and now Flight Centre Series. Brandon Paenga-Amosa and Billy Pollard hit 93 per cent of their targets between them, from 15 attempts.

But the work of Jeremy Williams, Josh Canham and Charlie Cale on defence was a talking point post-game in itself, having claimed some steals between them on Argentina’s throw. As Kiss explained though, the Wallabies didn’t make the most of that success.

“We thought we could put some pressure on that area for sure, and put them under some calls that they didn’t want to go to,” Kiss added.

“We probably didn’t profit off those things enough in terms of shifting the ball into space, getting our kicking game right.

“Still a little clunky games in our game… the boys were calm out there the whole game, they didn’t lose the run of themselves in any way. When it wasn’t going quite right they kept going back to the things that worked for them.”

Coach Kiss expected to make some changes in the Wallabies side for the next Test, which will be played in Mendoza. It’s the last Test away from home for the Wallabies, before returning home to Australia to take on the Springboks in Perth.

“In terms of some selections next week, I think we will. It’s a big challenge here in Argentina and there’s a lot of work to be done in the forward pack.

“We’re going to have to make some changes there for sure, just make the smart ones. We’re got a couple of fresh guys that we can lean into for sure.”