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COURAGEOUS, proudly physical, ugly. The Wallabies were all those things on Saturday night in rain-lashed Perth but most of all they were victors for the first time under new coach Ewen McKenzie and first-time skipper Ben Mowen.
| 1 Tries 1 | |
|---|---|
| Israel Folau 28' | Juan Leguizamon 65' |
| 0 Conversions 1 | |
| Nicolas Sanchez 66' | |
| 3 Penalties 2 | |
| Christian Lealiifano 12' | Nicolas Sanchez 8' |
| Christian Lealiifano 17' | Nicolas Sanchez 61' |
| Christian Lealiifano 40' | |
The Wallabies were kept pointless in the second half by the surging Argentinians but the grinding 14-13 success was as satisfying and as important as a 20-point win.
A huge Nick Cummins tackle that forced a key turnover, an Adam Ashley-Cooper charge-down, an ankle-high tackle just off the ruck by replacement Saia Faingaa, a full-body check by Sitaleki Timani, Michael Hooper again and again...all reflected the second half intensity of the Wallabies.
It had to be desperate with the wind behind the Pumas for the final 40 minutes and it was. New halfback Nic White had a fine 80-minute game.
His ground-gaining kicks were vital to the resistance plan. One kick out on the full and another charged down were minor tax for the big metres and pressure his boot applied. Will Genia was not used off the bench.
It was confidence of the most tangible kind after a four-loss spiral.
The crowd of 18,214 who braved the appalling conditions in ponchos and windcheaters deserved medals. It was still the smallest turnout to a Wallabies' Test on home soil since the 15,438 crowd in Canberra for the Australia-Fiji Test that opened 2010.
The Wallabies were under huge pressure to open the second half when Argentina's juggernaut scrum turned up the heat with a rash of penalties and four straight scrums.
The Wallabies buckled but rebounded with a strong, twisting response of their own that turned into a breakdown penalty and great relief.
The defensive line speed of the Wallabies was exponentially better than the previous week against South Africa.
Hooker Stephen Moore was spot on with his lineout throws, a key source of possession.
"I said before the Test I'd take a 3-0 win. I'll take a one-point win. I'm stoked," new Wallabies skipper Ben Mowen said.
"We just needed a win.
"The way we hung in and scambled when we were under scrum pressure on our own line in the second half was a very big defining moment."
Swirling wind and constant rain were miserable conditions for a Wallabies team trying to resuscitate their season because it took quicksilver backline plays out of their armoury from the start.
The Wallabies chiselled out a 14-3 lead with the wind by half-time in an arm-wrestle of attritional forward play, kicking for territory and pressuring for mistakes.
The cannon in new halfback Nic White's boot was an asset just 12 seconds into the game when he spanked the ball 60m downfield from the ruck to set up an Aussie lineout. It was from ground gained by his boot that the Wallabies set up the patient and precise pressure for the opening try.
White searched for a runner and centre Christian Lealiifano punched over the advantage line. It just the momentum needed for a quick relay of passes from Quade Cooper and James O'Connor into the bucket hands of Israel Folau.
The giant fullback stepped off his right foot, twisted through three defenders and dotted down for his fourth and possibly most significant try of his short Test career.
Lealiifano kicked three-from-four in the first half.
Mowen knocked on with his first touch as captain but was every bit the demanding general that coach Ewen McKenzie wanted because he directed the metre-gaining rolling mauls and waves of forward runners to keep the acid on the tourists.
Winger Cummins ran with relish although being caught on his own tryline when trying to defuse a tricky little kick was heart-attack time. His most powerful charge was chopped down so emphatically by Argentinian No.8 Juan Manuel Leguizamon that Cummins appeared to clap him.
Sekope Kepu, Faingaa and Scott Sio finished the game in the front-row and were part of the gutsy and starchy fight to keep the Pumas at bay in the final scrums.
Young Pumas flanker Pablo Matera, just 20, was a high workrate rival who returned the Matera name to the stadium for the first time since the days of West Coast Eagles AFL brothers Peter and Phil.
McKenzie was well satisfied with White's first effort as a starter.
"With the conditions that were dealt us on the night, we relied more heavily on him than we thought we would. His game management and kicking were important," McKenzie said.
"It was a difficult decision not to pick Will but now we have another very good Test halfback in the squad."
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