The Wallabies have fallen to a humiliating Rugby Championship defeat towards Argentina, giving up essentially the most factors of their historical past in a shock 67-27 loss in Santa Fe. Regardless of main 20-3 early, a second half implosion noticed Australia leak 64 factors to Los Pumas and sink to a defeat that, whereas not fairly rivalling their 53–8 to South Africa in Johannesburg in 2009, will nonetheless depart new coach Joe Schmidt fuming.
Rueing the lack of key front-rowers Angus Bell and Taniela Tupou within the second half, Schmidt admitted his facet “fell off a cliff” because the Argentinians ran in 9 scorching tries, exhibiting the slick play that shocked New Zealand within the TRC’s opening spherical. A heavy reckoning should now comply with as a shattered Wallabies squad tries to select up the items earlier than the Bledisloe Cup sequence towards New Zealand begins on 21 September.
The 40-point shellacking is all of the extra exceptional for Australia’s early dominance. Jeremy Williams took the primary kick of the sport with a spectacular mark that AFL participant Isaac Heeney would’ve killed for and Harry Wilson, in his second Check as captain, was main the gold rush down the center as winger Max Jorgensen reduce Argentina open on the sides.
After each groups traded penalties, Australia shot to a 10-3 lead when Carlo Tizzano cashed in on a Ben Donaldson linebreak and an Angus Bell surge to the road. The Wallabies made it 20-3 when Donaldson darted down the quick facet and fast fingers discovered Jorgensen who put Andrew Kellaway over for a second attempt inside half-hour.
However that was pretty much as good because it received for the lads in gold. After 20 straight factors for the guests, Argentina answered with 14 of their very own, tries by Carreras and Montoya, in his one hundredth Check, bringing the halftime scoreline again to 20-17. As much as that time, honours had been even, with a 50% break up in possession between the perimeters regardless of Australia’s dominance.
It was all Los Pumas from there because the ominously named Brigadier Normal Estanislao López Stadium, popularly often called The Elephant Graveyard, rode a wave of house facet tries that confirmed the chasm between sides ranked sixth and eighth on the planet. Dominant off the again of the scrum, Argentina rapidly started to boss each collision and Australia’s set-piece, excellent to that time, unravelled as Bell and Tupou departed.
The trickle of comeback factors rapidly turned a torrent. Matera scored, then Albornoz, after which Oviedo as Australia watched their 17-point lead rework right into a monstrous 21-point deficit. Within the ultimate 10 minutes, Los Pumas accelerated even additional in entrance, scoring 4 tries with quick fingers, power and enterprise.
Australia utterly fell aside, with solely a solo attempt by substitute half Tate McDermott slowing the onslaught. Argentina hit fifty with ease, then sixty at a canter and had been scoring at will, with Oviedo and Mallia every notching a double, when the siren rang on a exceptional 64-7 level turnaround within the ultimate 50 minutes of the Check.
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“There have been facets of it that had been actually good,” stated a shellshocked Schmidt afterward. “Clearly, to guide a Check match 20-3 and get run down within the method which we did is basically disappointing. We can not let a recreation get away from us prefer it did and fall off a cliff.
“We misplaced connection in our defensive position. We had been endlessly chasing them. We didn’t put sufficient stress on on the breakdown, so that they had been working off lightning fast ball, and it’s simply too troublesome to maintain chasing a crew on a scorching day after they’ve received the ball and going ahead.”
Schmidt should now attempt to rebuild his shattered squad for the Bledisloe Cup beginning in a fortnight. The prospect to win back-to-back away Checks from house has been squandered as has the chance to rise to second place on the Rugby Championship ladder. The offended black mass that’s the All Blacks now looms giant and deadly on the horizon.
