Wallabies forwards prepare to get physical with powerful Pumas in Sydney

The heat is on the Wallabies pack to at least match the performance of Argentina’s forwards in Sydney on Saturday night.

Wallabies forward Jed Holloway intends to make the most of his chance against Argentina. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

The Wallabies forwards have been put on notice, with “parity” with Argentina’s powerful pack the bare “minimum” acceptable on Saturday night in Sydney.

Having been outmuscled and outgunned by South Africa’s pack in Pretoria last weekend, Australia’s forwards have been told to lift to avoid a second successive Rugby Championship defeat.

“It was really disappointing (against the Springboks),” Wallabies scrum coach Neal Hatley said on Friday.

“It’s an honest group, so we had a look at it. We’re not going to hide from the things that didn’t go well.

“We talked about our scrum and our set piece defence, what we want from set pieces, particularly the forward pack, and then physicality at the game.

“We want this forward pack to be the best forward pack in the world, so those are the things we’ve been paying pretty close attention to.

“If you don’t minimum achieve parity, you’re always going to be on the back foot, and it’s pretty hard against big men to recover (from) that.

“It starts (with) phase one. We’ve got to be better (with) phase one, and then … the players have been talking about being a lot more physical because you’re not always going to get what you want.

“There are going to be times where other sides do get on top, or they have a purple patch, and our response has got to be better.”

Wallabies scrum coach Neal Hatley (left) has demanded an improved showing from Australia’s forwards. Picture: John Appleyard

Jed Holloway will be part of that “response” at CommBank Stadium after being picked at blindside flanker as the replacement for injured rookie Tom Hooper.

The 30-year-old Waratahs forward intends to make the most of his chance and has promised to be “physical” with the Argentines.

“There’s disappointment whenever you don’t get selected for a game, but I got some good honest feedback from the coaches and definitely what I needed,” Holloway said.

“I’ve worked really hard to get to the point where I could really push myself for selection, so it’s nice to get rewarded, but I’ve got to keep on pushing hard to retain that spot.

“We’ve got great young talent like Tom Hooper, so we’re pushing each other every day, plus guys like Rob Leota and all the guys in the Australia A program.

“That competition is nice but we’re all fighting for that one spot, so we’re pushing each other.”

The Argentina side, coached by former Wallabies mentor Michael Cheika, is also chasing redemption after a 41-12 home loss to New Zealand last weekend.

“I want to test myself in the most difficult situations and see how I can help myself and the team come out on top,” Cheika said.

“I want to be in that environment. I’m not worried about that environment.

‘I want to win with Argentina as much as I’ve wanted to win with any other team I’ve coached.”