20 points: Mike Harris
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Australia ended the inaugural Rugby Championship with a morale-boosting 25-19 win against Argentina in Rosario.
It wasn't pretty but one feels the Wallabies won't mind that as the success supersedes a forgetful period of injuries and off-field issues (hopefully).
What was noticeable at the final whistle was a togetherness in the squad as they celebrated their gritty victory over the passionate Pumas.
The result leaves them level on points with South Africa but they ultimately finish the tournament in second position due to their higher win count.
Conditions were difficult at the Estadio Gigante de Arroyito as the humidity was 93%, which made for an error-strewn contest particularly in the first-half.
There was also a phenomenally high penalty count blown by the match referee Craig Joubert as a total of sixteen marred the opening stanza.
Subsequently it was a half dominated by the boot of Mike Harris and Juan Martin Hernandez, with Harris slotting fifteen points to El Mago's nine.
The second-half in Rosario thankfully saw a reduction in penalty offences but what it lacked in infringements it certainly made up for in spillages, with wing Digby Ioane a regular culprit.
However, all was forgiven in the Wallaby camp when first-phase ball came back swiftly to fly-half Kurtley Beale in the 65th minute and Ioane drifted in from the left to take a pass that split the home defence for an easy run-in. It was a seven-pointer that cut the Pumas deep.
Assured Reds full-back Harris converted to give Australia a 22-12 lead that he increased eight minutes later with a penalty which lifted his personal contribution to 20 points.
Argentina set up a tense finish after Australian replacement scrum-half Brett Sheehan was sin-binned when wing Juan Imhoff claimed a pushover try that Marcelo Bosch converted.
Beale missed a late penalty, offering Argentina a chance to snatch a late win by running the ball the length of the pitch and scoring a converted try, but it was not to be as a knock-on quickly ended the move and the final whistle blew for a much-needed win for the Wallabies.
Man of the match: Mike Harris kicked well while Scott Higginbotham performed strongly when he arrived onto the field as a replacement. But for a towering defensive effort in the midfield, we go for Brumbies centre Pat McCabe. Had someone else been defending in the 12 channel then it is likely Argentina would have scored more than just their one try today.
Moment of the match: It has to be Michael Hooper's breakout from his own 22 up to the opposition's. Impressive pace from the openside as he left plenty of backs floundering.
Villain of the match: The person(s) with the laser in the crowd. It's not big, it's not clever.
The scorers:
For Argentina:
Try: Imhoff
Con: Bosch
Pen: Hernandez 3, Bosch
For Australia:
Try: Ioane
Con: Harris
Pen: Harris 6
Argentina: 15 Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino, 14 Gonzalo Camacho, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Santiago Fernandez, 11 Horacio Agulla, 10 Juan Martin Hernandez, 9 Martin Landajo, 8 Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe (c), 7 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 6 Julio Farias Cabello, 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Manuel Carizza, 3 Juan Figallo, 2 Eusebio Guinazu, 1 Rodrigo Roncero.
Replacements: 16 Agustin Creevy, 17 Juan Pablo Orlandi, 18 Leonardo Senatore, 19 Tomas Leonardi, 20 Nicolas Vergallo, 21 Nicolás Sánchez, 22 Juan Imhoff.
Australia: 15 Mike Harris, 14 Nick Cummins, 13 Ben Tapuai, 12 Pat McCabe, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 Kurtley Beale, 9 Nick Phipps, 8 Radike Samo, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Sitaleki Timani, 5 Nathan Sharpe (capt), 4 Kane Douglas, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 James Slipper.
Replacements: 16 Saia Fainga'a, 17 Benn Robinson, 18 Dave Dennis, 19 Scott Higginbotham, 20 Liam Gill, 21 Brett Sheehan, 22 Dominic Shipperley.
Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Jaco Peyper (South Africa), Pascal Gauzere (France)
Television match official: Francisco Pastrana (Argentina)
By Adam Kyriacou
@PlanetRugbyAK
Comments
SACanuck says...
Congrats wallabies. Not bad to end second with all the injuries this season.
Posted 03:44 07th October 2012
Trader2 says...
As predicted a win by the Wannabies, not by 11 but close enough. They showed that fighting spirit not seen by some of their supporters on this site and got over the line, not pretty but pretty effective. So they finished 2nd to the AB's, ableit by a country mile, but with their horrendus luck with injuries not a bad result, Deans safe for another year, sorry DH Smith and Trinats. Thought the Argies were very poor and seemed distracted, too many of their players ply their trade in France I think and it is catching. A shame really but they should have done better against the Wannabies and for Roncero in his last game. They are clearly not as good as some think but if all their best players remain available for all internationals it will come.
Trinats
Just saw your post, is that really you. A pat on the back for Dingo?? I guess you know that he will be staying on and have accepted the inevitable. The injuries could be a blessing at least some other players have been blooded, now you need to unearth the next crop from somewhere.
Posted 03:41 07th October 2012
Trinats2 says...
Ramage:
Couldn't hear you from all your spitting !!! An Aussie coach would have had a game plan to score a bonus point win... LOL !!!
Finishing second to your AB team is not that bad a result.
Cheers from a happy Wallaby supporter.
Posted 03:25 07th October 2012
chisel68 says...
Well done Wallabies for a unspectacular win - but a win nonetheless. Hard to criticise a team that has had the amount of injuries they've had. Given that many were writing them off beforehand they showed courage, spirit and determination. Hard to put a back line together in 6 days and have it fluid. Well done Men in Gold!
What the Wallabies also showed was that they dont need QC - skills OR attitude. When he spoke of a toxic environment, it seems HE was the toxin. Good riddance to bad rubbish.
I wonder how the Boks or ABs would cope with a team full of injuries.
Posted 03:22 07th October 2012
hayj05 says...
So the Wallabies with all their injuries end up in 2nd & were the only team other than the AB's to win away, just a pitty they had a poor build up to the tournament by winning all 3 tests against the Grand Slam winners. Just not good enough Robbie & the lads!
It's funny how everyone's predicting doom & gloom for the Wallabies/Australian Rugby when only a few months ago everyone was backing them as potential favourites for the 2015 WC lol, they have also just recently broken their Super Rugby & tri-nations title droughts. Yes they do have some obvious problems but I think they came up incredibly well in TRC for what they could put out there & they will always be a force in World Rugby because of the familiarity of playing against the powerhouses of SA, NZ & the rising stocks of Argentina.
Posted 03:02 07th October 2012
piriaka says...
Bit hard to bag the Wallabies and Deans given they finished ahead of South Africa on the table. This despite the extreme injuries the Wallabies have had to put up with - the disruption that goes with that. And that goose, Cooper. Credit where it is due - and Aussie are second on the table to the Kiwis. Enough said.
Posted 03:00 07th October 2012
Trinats2 says...
Good win in Argentina, not pretty, but a win. Aus back into 2nd in world rankings and finished 2nd RC. Not too bad considering what they have gone through this year. There will be some nervous first team players after the performance of some of these 2/3 string. Ioane had a shocker ??
Good to see Deans use his bench !!!
Someone must have had a word to Jubes at half time about his new whistle !!!
Posted 02:59 07th October 2012
Ramage says...
Not a bad result from a team decimated by injury with the so called lack of depth. A useless lazy captain who has no skills and should have been put out to pasture as he is of no use. Not forgetting a hopeless Kiwi coach who has no game plan is bagged by kiwi prima donnas in his team and is a failed and useless coach. My God what are the trolls such georgesmith and trinuts going to say now?
The Wallabies won despite all these deficiencies listed above. Oh and I forgot that Craig Joubert was refereeing and he always favours the home team, is a Wallaby hater and wishes to become a NZ citizen along with other similar outrageous over the top comments.
The sooner I can have that beer with you Trinuts and discuss the 2012 season how the Reds lost their title, how they were slipped into a finals position by means of geography not ability, how the Chiefs took out the Super 15, the All Blacks won the Rugby Championship and Bledisloe Cup and how the Wallabies are a better team than the woeful and whining posts you have stooped to. Be advised though bring a raincoat or a large sheet as I will be at my spitting best as I explain things in words of one syllable, as I expect you to come away totally drenched lol.
geoergesmith I wouldnt waste my time or want to spend any time with you as you are too vile a fan and the Wallabies do not need enemies with so called fans like you. Once again you have been shown to be so wrong and your knowledge and views of the game to be so out of touch. You are a troll of the worst kind so do us all a favour pack your tent and disappear into the distance far away from any type of communication as you are not needed.
Congratulations Wallabies you have proved your detractors including your very own fifth columnist, amongst your ranks, wrong, congratulations Nathan Sharpe you are immense a true warrior and even Dingo Deans can hold his head up high.
Posted 02:45 07th October 2012
rugbylover says...
Congratulations Australia.
Very well done - a great Australian team effort.
A nod to Mr Deans.
A missed opportunity, Argentina.
Posted 02:38 07th October 2012
hobo says...
Terrible form from the Argentinian crowd shining lasers on players.
Posted 02:32 07th October 2012
KnockOnKing says...
What I feared: LP looked rattled and tired after last week and WB did what they had to to grind out a win. Memo to coach Phelan - in case you hadn´t noticed that kid Imhoff is a winner.
Posted 02:22 07th October 2012
Jivinjeff says...
1) what a difference Robinson makes in the scrum. Pity he seems to think his only job around the field is backup scrumhalf
2) how good is Hooper, especially for his age? He might be just the spark the Tahs needed. And I never thought I'd say it but Pocock may have trouble getting his spot back.
Posted 02:19 07th October 2012
TVaddict says...
Well, my dad always said Aussies were the most savvy and they proved it tonight. They took the best of their opportunities and made the best of a bad situation in terms of injuries.I would have made more of the commentators comments of the breakdown (not positive) if not for the green laser light in the eyes of the kicker. That alone means Argentina did not deserve to win this. How can this be allowed to go unpunished?! Find them and ban them!
Posted 02:18 07th October 2012
minkusbc says...
A new low for crowd sportsmanship - using a laser light to blind the kicker when attempting a kick.
Posted 02:16 07th October 2012
melkdave says...
First off i have to say ,WTF happed o the pumas WORST performance by them for 6 yrs at least.Herandez was dreadful,kicks to long and aimless,bad passing ect the works.C.Jourbert was also dreadful penalised the pumas at the breakdown ,and let the wallabies get away with murder,where was their yellow card??That said both teams overall where CRAP ,im sorry but its the only word that fits that shambles of a match..Anyway well done wallabies ,you pulled it off,and won a match no one really expected you to win .
Posted 02:08 07th October 2012