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‘Going to be a great challenge’: What the Wallabies expect from Pumas
By Finn Morton
Los Pumas will be desperate to bounce back from their disappointing loss to the All Blacks in the opening round of The Rugby Championship last weekend.
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Argentina were met by an almost deafening cheer from the home crowd as they made their way out onto Estadio Malvinas Argentinas in Mendoza on Saturday afternoon.
Following on from Argentina’s sensational win over the All Blacks in Christchurch last year, the Mendoza crowd were full of belief ahead of another clash between the southern hemisphere rivals.
But things didn’t go to plan.
Los Pumas are renowned for their physicality and dominance at the set-piece, but they were outmuscled in all areas of the game against the New Zealanders.
The hosts may have had the last laugh with a try to veteran Agustin Creevy after the siren, but the scoreline was a sight for sore eyes.
Argentina were beaten 43-12.
But don’t rule them out. The Pumas are better than that performance, and they’ll be eager to prove that when they take on the Wallabies in Sydney this weekend.
The Wallabies, who are coming off a tough loss of their own to world champions South Africa, are expecting a physical challenge against the Michael Cheika coached Pumas.
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Wallabies assistant coach Neal Hatley still ranks the star-studded Argentine forward pack “pretty highly” compared to other nations around the world.
“Last week they struggled a bit so knowing a bit about Michael Cheika I’m sure there’ll be some bounce back as well,” Hatley told reporters on Friday.
“We expect them to come out and be very physical. I think they’ve done exceptionally well over the last two or three years on the back of how physical their forwards pack’s been, and even their backs.
“You know what you’re getting so it’s going to be a great challenge to see how basically both sides respond.”
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The Wallabies fell to an emphatic loss against the Springboks in Pretoria, with a late try to debutant Carter Gordon practically the only shining light out of the Test.
But the Wallabies have learnt their lessons out of the 43-12 loss, and are looking to respond with a big performance in front of their fans.
“It starts at set-piece so it’s just like a domino effect. If you don’t minimum achieve parity, you’re going to be on the backfoot,” Hatley added.
“It’s pretty hard against big men to recover that so it starts phase one, we’ve got to do better phase one.
“You’re not always going to get what you want, there are going to be times where other sides do get on top, where they have a purple patch.
“Our response has got to be better.”
The Wallabies have named a big forward pack – literally – for their clash with the Pumas.
La Rochelle lock Will Skelton has retained his spot in the starting side, and will be joined by another towering lock in Richie Arnold.
“It’s always helpful to have somebody like that (in your) side. Will Skelton, whatever he is – seven foot and 145 kgs.
“We’re not going to do well as a forward pack with two blokes. I think where Will Skelton’s been absolutely brilliant has been the energy… the enthusiasm he’s brought back.
“He’s obviously had two or three brilliant seasons where he’s probably been one of the standout forwards in Europe. His team has won week after week, won two European Cups. Richie has had similar experiences with Toulouse.
“Not only from a physicality point of view, but from a mindset mentality, they come from two winning environments, so they’ve been brilliant back into our group.”
The Wallabies take on Argentina at Sydney’s CommBank Stadium at 7.45 pm AEST on Saturday evening. Earlier, the All Blacks are set to host fierce rivals South Africa in Auckland.
