Wallabies suffer worst ever loss against Argentina in Rugby Championship nightmare
The Wallabies were humiliated by Argentina after opening an early lead in what must go down as one of the darkest days in Australian rugby history, writes Jamie Pandaram.
Wallabies
Don't miss out on the headlines from Wallabies. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A hapless Wallabies side has suffered their worst ever defeat, marking one of the darkest days in Australian rugby.
Australia lost 67-27 to Argentina, blowing a 20-3 lead, while missing the chance to go outright second in The Rugby Championship to instead remain planted at the bottom of the table.
The Wallabies allowed a record score and margin in sunny Sante Fe, as Argentina surpassed South Africa’s 61-22 victory over Australia in Pretoria in 1997 to record one of their finest Test wins courtesy of a second-half rampage.
This result – after the Wallabies won 20-19 last weekend in La Plata – is a disaster for coach Joe Schmidt, who must now prepare his side to mentally bounce back for back-to-back Bledisloe Cup matches against the All Blacks.
Argentina scored 38 unanswered points after Australia built a 20-3 lead after just 28 minutes.
From that moment, the hosts were unheeded as they ran rampant against a defence that was constantly outgunned and outmanoeuvred.
There is no excuse for the sheer drop in execution.
The Wallabies looked as though they were defending two men short, even though they were 15 on 15 until the final minute of the game when fullback Andrew Kellaway was sin-binned.
This will take some processing, particularly for a young team just seven games into Schmidt’s tenure.
Any hopes of reclaiming the Bledisloe for the first time in 23 years look forlorn, despite New Zealand losing successive Tests to South Africa.
The magnitude of this loss, and the flaws exposed in key areas of the Wallabies’ game, cannot be repaired overnight.
What looked to be a surging Wallabies performance quickly descended into a nightmare as the Pumas hit second gear while Australia spun tires in mud.
Argentina hit the lead for the first time in the game in the 48th minute, when No.8 Juan Martin Gonzalez powered over from the base of a ruck on the Wallabies line.
Pablo Matera then did the same 10 minutes later, giving Argentina a 31-20 lead.
James Slipper equalled George Gregan’s record as the most capped Wallaby when he entered play early in the second half for his 139th Test.
But it was an unhappy affair for the loosehead prop, who was penalised twice as Argentina began dominating the scrum.
Another Slipper penalty for a no arms tackle allowed Pumas playmaker Tomas Albornoz to extend the lead the 34-20, before replacement backrower Joaquin Oviedo scored a try under the posts moments later to put Argentina ahead 41-20 in the 65th minute.
Four minutes later, replacement halfback Tate McDermott scored a try from a quick tap, halting the flow of uninterrupted points from Argentina.
But Pumas fullback Juan Cruz Mallia crossed out wide twice in five minutes to extend the lead to 53-27.
Oviedo scored a runaway try in the 77th minute to notch 60.
Centre Lucio Cinti crossed after the siren to put the exclamation mark on a resounding comeback.
The teams had traded penalties early, and it remained 3-all until Carlo Tizzano’s try in the 15th minute.
Following a break sparked by five-eighth Ben Donaldson, the Wallabies hammered the Pumas line until Tizzano crashed over with a legal second lunge.
Two minutes later Pumas backrower Marcos Kremmer celebrated a try of his own, but television replays showed lock Tomas Lavanini made contact with tackler Harry Wilson that impacted his ability to stop Kremmer, resulting in a penalty to Australia.
Donaldson’s second penalty in the 23rd minute gave the visitors a 13-3 lead.
The Wallabies scored their second try after Donaldson recognised an overlap on the short side.
Having withstood an attacking raid from Argentina, the Wallabies orchestrated their best try of The Rugby Championship thus far.
Donaldson cut back to the right side, receiving ruck ball from Jake Gordon, and shifted to centre Len Ikitau who passed to Kellaway. The fullback tapped on to winger Max Jorgensen, who raced through, drew the last defender and passed back to Kellaway to score.
But the 20-3 buffer was short lived, with Matera offloading in contact to unleash winger Mateo Carreras for Argentina’s first try two minutes later.
In the 38th minute, the Pumas turned down a shot at penalty goal to go for the try, and were rewarded when centurion and skipper Julian Montoya barged over from the base of the ruck.
Matera nearly gave the hosts the lead at the break, but was caught short reaching out for a try on the halftime siren, leaving it 20-17.
The second half was an Argentina tsunami against which the Wallabies held up a limp umbrella.
Originally published as Wallabies suffer worst ever loss against Argentina in Rugby Championship nightmare