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Argentina U20's forward pack dominates Australia U20 for historic win
By Ned Lester
After a convenient 80-minute break for the opening game of the day, the rain returned to welcome Australia and Argentina to the field at Sunshine Coast Stadium.
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In trying conditions, it was inevitably the stronger forward pack that won the contest, and that honour comfortably went to Argentina.
The teams had learnt from the match prior, a 13-all draw between New Zealand and South Africa, that points would be hard to come by in the conditions and so opted to take the three points when on offer.
The sodden pitch made accuracy around the breakdown a little extra challenging and both teams were guilty of penalties around the ruck early.
The inaccuracies saw the game reach a 3-all scoreline by the 10th minute. The wind was in favour of the Australians but the territory game didn’t necessarily reflect that.
Argentina’s forward pack proved dominant early on in the scrum and the team used it to their advantage, charging forward with lineout maul drives that covered 20-odd metres.
The Argentinian team struggled to capitalise on their dominance though, with two missed penalties, the latter from a favourable angle leaving the game tied.
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Things got worse for the Australians when No. 8 Jack Harley was handed a yellow card, leading to an Argentinian try just a minute later. Santino Di Lucca added the extras. Halftime score 10-3.
Argentina started the second half in fine form with a try to Juan Pedro Bernasconi from close range. The conversion went awry but just moments later Di had a chance at redemption and landed a penalty to make the lead 15.
The hosts then found their feet on attack, with an ambitious chip and chase collected by centre Jarrah McLeod, spurring a classic Australian chant from the crowd.
Execution issues saw the chance to capitalise on that momentum go begging, with both handling and lineout troubles to blame.
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Argentina remained composed under the pressure but with the wildest downpour of the day drenching the field, the ball was spilled off a 22m drop-out and Australia charged upfield once more.
The attack finally earned a penalty and Australia opted to take the three points, cutting the lead to 12.
Argentina’s reserve front row may not have offered the same dominance as the starters but they earned a timely penalty in the 63rd minute, pushing play into Australia’s half.
The rain made handling errors almost inevitable and scrums dominated the action. Although the Australian pack stepped up for a period, the visitors went back to the scrum time after time.
The final quarter of the contest was slow with more time spent setting for scrums than playing with the ball in hand.
Argentina set up camp in the Australian 22 for the final 10 minutes, and just after Australia was issued a warning for their indiscretions at scrum time, there was just two phases needed to score a game-sealing try. Final score: 25-6.
Wow! Argie forward dominance is something I have not read in years….