Argentina
Round 3 of the Rugby Championship ended in heartbreak for the Springboks when they went down to Australia by 1 point in the final few minutes of what was not an entertaining match at all.
The referee, the yellow card to Bryan Habana, the failed touchfinder by Morné Steyn and various other reasons have already been dissected and discussed, so we won’t dwell on those.
In the spotlight: George Clancy
SANZAR are looking to bring in a challenge system in order to combat refereeing errors, with each team allowed three per game.
Following in the footsteps of cricket and tennis, teams would be able to challenge a referee’s decision, while the TMO would be used only for these challenges, leaving the on-field referee to make the rest of the calls.
There are currently concerns that referees are hiding behind their TMOs at the moment, rather than making their own decisions, and the official in charge would now be responsible for deciding on tries and incidents of foul play.
The news comes after a weekend where both Rugby Championship games featured controversial refereeing decisions, with Argentina denied a perfectly good try when Pascal Gauzère called a knock-on on a charge-down from Leonardo Senatore.
Argentina have dumped both their starting wingers as they aim for a maiden Rugby Championship victory on Saturday night against the Wallabies on the Gold Coast.
The Pumas have made three changes to the run-on side which fell 28-9 to the All Blacks last weekend, with suspended lock Tomas Lavanini replaced by the youthful Matias Alemanno in the only alteration to their powerful forward pack.
Tony Johnson
The Rugby Championship is, many would argue, the pre-eminent event of its type outside the World Cup.
It may lack the history, and maybe even some of the ingrained tribalism of the Six Nations, but more often than not since 1996 it has featured the top three ranked teams in the world, and many of the best players on the planet.
It has produced some of the most thrilling, spectacular matches ever played, in front of some of the biggest crowds ever to watch the sport.
It is an elite showcase of the game, and it deserves better than what we saw at the weekend.
It has been widely acknowledged that the standard of refereeing in the Rugby Championship this past weekend was less than stellar. All lovers of the game, from fans through to coaches and players, are justifiably exasperated by such result-affecting calls by refs.
Sadly, this is not the first time and, probably, won’t be the last time the rugby world is incensed by sub-standard refereeing performances – unless something proactive is done to address what is a very real problem.
What is missing in all the blustery huffing and puffing though, are solutions or suggestions that the IRB (or World Rugby) can use to address the problem.
So here are my suggestions. My solutions. As just a passionate lover of the sport. See if you agree or disagree. Pick them apart. Point out their weaknesses. Tell me why they won’t work. No hard feelings. All I ask is that for every criticism, you offer an alternative solution.
Hopefully with all the traffic Rugby Talk.com is attracting these days, someone of influence will read all our comments and maybe… just maybe… do something positive with them.
I believe a three-part solution will sort out most of the issues but, like anything, there has to be the political will to address and sort out the problem instead of worrying about offending egos or apportioning blame.
Waratahs hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau will play his 50th Test after being named for the Wallabies to start against Argentina in his first match since the Super Rugby final.
Polota-Nau injured the medial ligament in his right knee in the Waratahs’ historic title win five weeks ago and has been gunning for a comeback ever since, joining the Wallabies 10 days ago to finish his rehabilitation in camp.
He made it through a contact session on the weekend, ran with the side at training on Monday before being named to start on Tuesday in his 50th Test appearance and his first Test since the Wallabies’ final triumph against France in June.
Tatafu Polota-Nau
Injury-plagued hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau is set for a shock Wallabies starting return to quell an improved Argentinian outfit closing in on a maiden Rugby Championship victory.
Polota-Nau, without a game for six weeks, will Tuesday be named as one of three changes to Australia’s line-up for Saturday night’s clash on the Gold Coast.
While coach Ewen McKenzie is poised to promote winger Peter Betham and back-rower Ben McCalman, to replace injured stalwarts Adam Ashley-Cooper and Wycliff Palu, he could have easily eased Polota-Nau back on the bench.
Jonathan Kaplan
Do I really need to confirm what everyone else already knows… This was not a good weekend for referees!
We are operating in a system where I have said that these type of weekends are not avoidable and until key elements of the system are exposed, and then adequately addressed, this will continue into the future.
The referees are not getting it right, and it is pointless saying after the fact, that things need to be looked at, when the writing was on the wall from the get go.
Greg Growden
The Wallabies have at last beaten someone perched above them in the world rankings.
It has taken awhile.
But if the Australian players and management seriously start believing they are back on track then it’s time for them to take some ‘truth pills’.
Their one-point win over the Springboks was deeply flawed, exposed many of their inherent weaknesses including a lack of discipline, and showed their fundamental skills are at best average.
The Wallabies can also no longer carry on about being a luckless team, as they received the benefit of a string of dreadful decisions from referee George Clancy, who should have his whistle confiscated after such a diabolical performance. The Springboks have every right to cry foul as they were victims of numerous Clancy blunders.
(Revised)
Will Genia and Joe Tomane will join the Wallabies but Henry Speight’s Test start will have to wait, as Australia begin preparations to face an improved Argentina on the Gold Coast this week.
It is understood Genia is some way off his Test return but will be brought into the training squad this week, along with Tomane and Rebels centre Tom English, after playing in the National Rugby Championship on Saturday.
But in a disappointing development over the weekend, Speight will remain in Canberra after pulling out of an expected NRC appearance with a sore hamstring.
New Zealand (13) 28 / 9 (6) Argentina
It was never going to be pretty, but the All Blacks will find plenty to admire when they look back on a 28-9 win over Argentina.
Steve Hansen’s side delivered enough to keep their coach smiling as they ran in four tries to remain unbeaten in this year’s Rugby Championship.
All Blacks (13) 28 / 9 (6) Los Pumas (Final Score)
The New Zealand All Blacks and Argentinian Pumas did battle in The Rugby Championship at
McLean Park, Napier, New Zealand at 09:35 SA Time (19:35 NZ Time, 04:35 ARG Time, 07:35 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 on TV in SA.
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Agustin Creevy
Argentina captain Agustin Creevy revealed on Friday a plan for fielding a full-strength international side when they join the southern hemisphere’s prestigious Super Rugby competition in 2016.
The move would rob European clubs of several leading players but would strengthen Argentina at Test level.
Super rugby organisers have already confirmed an Argentinian side will join the competition when it is expanded to 18 teams as the International Rugby Board pushes to expand the sport in South America.
LOW TACTICS: Pumas wing Horacio Agulla believes Argentina will need to tackle low if they are to beat the All Blacks.
Belief is a valuable commodity. When it comes to the Rugby Championship that mental barrier, more than any physical or skill disparity, is holding the Pumas back.
For the most part, Argentina’s set-piece laid a near exemplary platform in two narrow defeats against the Springboks. Similar dominance saw the All Blacks run up half a century against the Wallabies.
The Pumas should have claimed at least one victory over the Boks, but instead left Auckland for Napier yesterday still feeling the frustration of another missed opportunity.
Patrick Tuipolotu (left), Aaron Cruden and Steven Luatua agree that fans’ support plays a vital role in the All Blacks’ success.
The last two tests have shown the highs and lows of All Blacks’ rugby. Paul Lewis talks to Aaron Cruden, Steven Luatua and Patrick Tuipolotu about expectations and pressure from fans from such polarising experiences.
Some time back in his tenure as All Black skipper, Tana Umaga was asked whether the All Blacks minded carrying so many public expectations every time they played. “No,” he shot back. “It helps us win.”
It seemed a good panel discussion topic to take up with three All Blacks, especially as they and filmmaker Taika Waititi will be engaged in a Rexona-inspired campaign entitled “Do More” – a call to arms to All Black fans to get behind their team during this championship and, especially, next year’s World Cup.
TRY TIME: Richie McCaw rises after scoring a try off the back of a maul in the All Blacks’ Eden Park test against the Wallabies.
The All Blacks have got the masters of the maul thinking hard, with Springboks bosses intrigued at New Zealand’s innovative and successful tactics with this crucial attacking weapon during the early phases of the Rugby Championship.
The big Boks packs have long set the standards in mauling, but assistant coach Johann van Graan has admitted intrigue over the way the All Blacks have developed the art as they displayed in demolishing the Wallabies at Eden Park.
MONSTER PACK: Argentina’s forward pack proved more than up to the task against the Springboks.
Twenty-two thousand fans might twist their necks towards the sky, but All Blacks No 8 Kieran Read is more likely to glare at Argentina’s forward pack before Saturday night’s test in Napier.
While southerlies and rain are forecast, Hawke’s Bay rugby supporters will hope the weather is clear to allow the All Blacks to unleash their backline at McLean Park.
Read knows the New Zealanders cannot do anything about the weather but can still rip the rug out from under the Pumas, and that starts with challenging the visitors’ celebrated scrum.
When All Blacks scrum coach Mike Cron watched the Pumas repeatedly demolish the South Africans’ scrum in their two recent encounters, he would have wasted little time in mapping out some training drills.
Argentina on Thursday announced two changes for Saturday’s Rugby Championship Test against the All Blacks as they chase their first win in the southern hemisphere competition.
Leonardo Senatore replaces the injured Paul Matera to slot in at the back of the scrum, joining veterans Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe and Juan Manuel Leguizamon in a rejigged loose trio.
RUNNING THE CUTTER: Beauden Barrett will make his first start in the All Blacks’ No 10 jersey against Argentina in Napier on Saturday.
Beauden Barrett’s All Blacks apprenticeship is finally over.
The Hurricanes first five-eighth will start in the No 10 jersey against Argentina in Napier on Saturday after a chest injury ruled out incumbent Aaron Cruden.
All Blacks coach Steve Hansen has made three changes to the side that thrashed the Wallabies 51-20 at Eden Park on August 23, with Israel Dagg recalled at fullback and Ma’a Nonu restored to second five-eighth.
Barrett’s elevation marks a significant milestone for the talented Taranaki pivot after a long wait to finally take the controls of the test side.
The 23-year-old has started twice previously in his 21-test career, but both times at fullback, against Italy in 2012 and then against Japan last year.
Pumas spark: Martin Landajo
Martin Landajo admits the rain forecast for Saturday in Napier will not help Argentina’s new attacking philosophy.
The Pumas have been the surprise package of the competition so far, pushing South Africa all the way in both matches between the two.
However with heavy rain forecast for the clash with the All Blacks, the Pumas scrum-half believes Argentina’s attacking game will have to be tweaked.
“We are not accustomed to rain, and we prefer the dry weather,” said Landajo, who started both Tests against the Springboks.
“We know it rains a lot in New Zealand so we must adapt.
ACID TEST: The All Blacks’ pack will have to be at its best to deal with a powerful Argentina eight at scrum time on Saturday.
You can blame the goal kicker, you can blame the concession of daft technical penalties or a single colossal blunder at the wrong time.
It’s hard to argue. But the single main reason why Argentina’s strong men could dominate South Africa the other weekend and still end up losing was the train of Springbok replacements.
Coach Heyneke Meyer hooked beaten players from the pitch and sent on an eager second wave of men like Adriaan Strauss and Tendai ‘the Beast’ Mtawarira.
SLIPPERY WHEN WET: All Black TJ Perenara catches the ball during a rain-affected training session in Napier.
Rarely do the All Blacks relish the chance to train in relentless rain and on a sodden pitch.
But when it comes to playing Argentina in New Zealand, those conditions have been a given in recent times, so today’s training at the Napier Old Boys Marist club may prove the perfect dress rehearsal for Saturday’s Rugby Championship test.
“We have a plan A and a plan B, but we have an eye on Saturday’s [forecast] and it looks like it’s going to be reasonably wet later in the week,” backs coach Ian Foster said.
“We’re going in with a plan that we want to play if the conditions are great, but our awareness of plan B is pretty high this week.”
The All Blacks are aware that they played poorly in the wet three weeks ago during a dour 12-12 draw with Australia in Sydney where they kicked too much and struggled with their handling.
TOUGH TEST: Conrad Smith says the All Blacks will need to be smarter in coming to terms with Argentina’s unique style of rugby.
They say absence makes the heart grow fonder and it seems Conrad Smith has missed his old mate Ma’a Nonu during the midfield pair’s enforced break up.
The old firm has been closed for business since Smith broke his hand during the second June test against England, but seems likely to reopen for business against Argentina on Saturday.
Nonu and Malakai Fekitoa had a run during the third test thrashing of England in Hamilton, and again during a dour 12-12 draw against Australia in Sydney while Smith attended the birth of his first child.
Then in Auckland, Smith and Ryan Crotty teamed up for the Bledisloe Cup bash as Nonu sat out with a bruised shoulder.
Argentina gave a good account of themselves in Hamilton last year and pride themselves on their work at the set piece.
Steve Hansen has challenged his forwards to repeat their devastating display against Australia when they meet Argentina in Napier on Saturday.
The All Blacks arrived in Hawkes Bay yesterday ahead of their Rugby Championship test against the Pumas, with coach Hansen wasting little time in putting the acid back on his big men as they prepare for what he called one of the best scrums in the game.
Tony Johnson
Not until we get into the next group of games will we have some perspective and context in which to put the first two rounds of the Rugby Championship.
The All Blacks’ forward strength will be tested when they take on the Pumas and their physicality will be tested against the Springboks.
A win in either away game will put the Bokke in a powerful position, the Wallabies will have to bounce back from their thumping defeat at Eden Park or face an exit from calculations, and we will find out how many of their bullets Argentina has fired already.
Brendan Venter
For all the criticism I levelled against Argentina for their negative play in the Loftus Versfeld test, in stark contrast, they deserve a world of credit for their impressive display in Salta.
In theory, the second-ranked Springboks should have destroyed the side placed 12th in world rugby. However, in practice, three main factors determine the outcome of a match:
They are, your own team’s performance, the performance of the opposition and, last but not least, the standard of officiating delivered by the assigned referee on the day.
The Argentine scrum in action.
When on song, the Bajada is basically pornography to us flat eared folk who have done battle in the front row.
And on Saturday against the Boks, it was at its titillating best!
There are two defining characteristics of the Bajada – a scrum technique used by the Argentinians … One is that all the power is directed into the hooker, meaning that they scrum as an imaginary arrow pointing inwards from either side of the 8th man.
The other, and perhaps more important characteristic of the Bajada, is the ‘coordinated push’, which sees them act on a three part call.
How Jannie Du Plessis and Gurthro Steenkamp saw the Argentina scrum
There are two things that we can take from the second round of the Rugby Championship 2014.
- The All Blacks are clearly not ‘on the slide’. In fact if anything they are on the up and up and all the 12-all draw did was to inspire them to dick punch the Wallabies in their faces, hard.
- The Pumas’ ‘Bajada’ scrum is a thing of beauty, unless you are the Springboks, then it is a thing of nightmares.
Heading overseas: Argentina Pumas
Argentina head coach Daniel Hourcade has named his touring squad for the Rugby Championship fixtures in Australia and New Zealand.
The majority of the squad that tackled South Africa over the last two weeks remain, with the addition to the touring party of Juan Imhoff, Benjamín Macome and Santiago Iglesias Valdez.
The only major absentee is Pablo Matera, who suffered a partial dislocation to his shoulder against the Springboks in Salta. Argentina will return to their training base in Pacheco on Thursday before flying out on Friday, arriving at in Napier the following day to prepare to take on the All Blacks.
Lood de Jager
Lood de Jager, the ‘next big thing’ in the Springbok second row, has been ‘missing in action’ of late.
De Jager, after a series of stand-out performances for the Cheetahs in this year’s Super Rugby tournament, made his debut in the Green and Gold against Wales in Durban during the Incoming Series and currently has five Test caps to his name.
Jean De Villiers
Springbok captain Jean de Villiers is clear that his team need to take a massive step up before they face the Wallabies in Perth in their next Castle Lager Rugby Championship game on 6 September.
The Bok captain arrived home from the great Salta escape – where the Boks needed a penalty four minutes from time to beat a plucky, aggressive Argentinean team – knowing that the weight of public outrage at the result would be waiting for his team.
But De Villiers is a pragmatist, and, as he points out: it wasn’t the greatest of performances, but a win is a win.
Frans Malherbe in action for the Boks against Argentina
Frans Malherbe will miss the rest of the Rugby Championship after sustaining a serious injury to his right ankle in Salta.
Malberbe helped to stabilise the Bok scrum when he replaced Jannie du Plessis in the 46th minute, but was forced to leave the field in the 79th.
The tighthead prop will consult with a specialist in Cape Town upon his return to South Africa, when a call on further treatment and his replacement will be made.
Heyneke Meyer
Taking their heads out of the sand and admitting that there is a massive problem with the scrum would be a good start, but the Springbok self-analysis will have to go far further than that if the problems that were exposed by Argentina are not to lead to crisis later in the Castle Lager Rugby Championship.
On a Saturday when New Zealand comprehensively swept away any doubt that they remain the team to beat and confirmed the pre-tournament predictions that they should retain their hegemony in southern hemisphere rugby, Salta provided evidence that the creaks that started to show themselves in the South African game in the second test against Wales may not have just been an aberration.
Nick Mallett
Former Springbok coach Nick Mallett says Boks’ the scrum performance against Argentina at the weekend was a bit embarrassing.
The Boks sneaked a 33-31 win but was completely overpowered in the scrums, with Jannie du Plessis and Gurthro Steenkamp having a nightmare Test.
Mallett was speaking in the SuperSport studio after the game and had the following to say:
“There were lots and lots of issues that we need to talk about. The Boks have got real problems with their front row’s scrummaging, particularly against the Argentines.
Gurthro Steenkamp, getting massacred on and off the field.
Several retired Springbok front-rankers took to Twitter over the weekend to offer their varied takes on the national team’s scrummaging humiliation at the hands of Argentina in Salta.
The Boks summoned last-ditch reserves of energy and grit to squeeze past the Pumas 33-31 in a Castle Rugby Championship nail-biter, although the violent way they back-pedalled in the scrums at times will be a lasting, unpleasant memory for the players and their fans alike.