Walloped by the world champions in one Test and beaten by their B-team in the other, Joe Schmidt’s Australia turn for the second leg of the Rugby Championship with plenty to puzzle on. First and foremost is how to score tries. In 160 minutes against the Springboks, the Wallabies scored one – a 75th-minute consolation try against 13 men in Brisbane that consoled no one.
Yes, they were up against South Africa, for 43 weeks the planet’s number one rugby side and back-to-back World Cup winners, a team with three times the experience and twice the confidence. But Rassie Erasmus’s side were also world champions when Australia defeated them three times in succession between September 2021 and August 2022.
This series’ nine-tries-to-one and 63-19 points aggregate reflects the chasm in quality between the sides, yet still doesn’t capture just how far off the pace the Wallabies are. If not for sloppy Springboks handling and desperate red-zone defence from Australia’s back three, South Africa might easily have piled on 100+ points across the two matches.
In comparison, Australia rarely looked like crossing the stripe in either contest. On the ground and in the air, through the middle or out wide, they bashed into contact and bounced off time and again. The men in gold did make gains in Perth but Erasmus’s second-string XV rose-tinted the optics. The Wallabies were thoroughly outgunned.
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Schmidt’s battered squad now face an arduous road trip to Argentina for two Tests against a Los Pumas side who only last week outmanoeuvred the All Blacks. They have two weeks to lick their wounds and panel-beat injured personnel – 12 short days to find some attacking weapons and devise a game plan that gets them scoring tries.
If the Wallabies improve as much as they did between Brisbane and Perth, they are a chance. At Suncorp Stadium, the Wallabies kicked away too much possession and, in the rare moments they had it (and managed to keep it), were too bunched to break through with power. In Perth, despite the deluge, they upped the ante and went wide by hand and by boot.
The chief orchestrator of this innovation was outhalf Noah Lolesio, whose name seems to predispose him to performing best when floods hit from the west. The best game of Lolesio’s enigmatic 22-Test career was his blinder in bucketing Perth rain that calmly steered a 13-man Australia home 30-28 against Eddie Jones’s England in 2022.
Although he misfired in Brisbane, Schmidt stuck by Lolesio for the Perth sequel and was duly rewarded. The 24-year-old was composed and showed better enterprise to try and split the Springboks with crossfield kicks and the odd chip-and-chase. Lolesio also nailed a 50-22 and kicked strongly from the tee – aside from a costly slice on half-time.
That penalty, if nailed, would’ve put Australia 12-11 up and turbo-boosted spirits for the second half. Instead, the miss set off a calamitous chain of events where they lost four frontrowers in 14 minutes. The gold scrum, excellent in the first 40 under Angus Bell and Allan Alaalatoa, dissolved as the Boks’ “Bomb Squad” wrestled ascendancy.
If Bell, Alaalatoa and Taniela Tupou combine up front for the Test in Buenos Aires, Nick Frost and Jeremy Williams return as starting locks alongside Salakaia Loto and Angus Blyth, and Fraser McReight reclaims his blistering form on the flanks, the Wallabies’ engine room can be formidable. It will need to be against Los Pumas’ pack.
Despite the 42-10 loss on Saturday, Argentina were awesome the week prior, beating the All Blacks 38-30 to deny them a bonus point. Felipe Contepomi’s side, who were worthy 2023 World Cup semi-finalists and have now risen to six in the world, will start firm favourites. They have firepower up front and speed to burn in the backs.
But as good as they are, and will be, Los Pumas are Australia’s best chance of a scalp in this Rugby Championship. Win one, or both, of these Tests and the Wallabies can hit the opening Bledisloe Test in Sydney with heads high. Lose both, and Schmidt’s 3-2 record slips into the red before he faces the All Blacks.
To win any of their remaining four Rugby Championship Tests, Australia must find some five-pointers. Los Pumas’ edges were badly exposed by the All Blacks at Eden Park. If Lolesio can fine-tune his kick precision to unlock danger wingers Marika Koroibete and Max Jorgensen and No 15 Tom Wright, Australia can cash in and crash over in the corners.
If they are to test Argentina’s extremities, the Wallabies must fix their dire discipline record and keep 15 men on the field. Seru Uru’s two offensive ruck penalties on debut in Perth were costly and his late yellow card for collapsing a maul extended Australia’s sinbin streak to five consecutive games, making it 44 cards in their past 48 Tests.
Conceding only three penalties in the first half in Perth helped the Wallabies push the world champions. Giving away eight in the second ended any hope of a comeback. Australia are improving under Schmidt but against Los Pumas they must be ruthless and take risks. With their season in the balance, they can’t take knives to a gunfight. – Guardian
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