Argentina Player Ratings vs Wallabies: First Test, Jujuy

Argentina scored three tries and kicked all three conversions. They had ten minutes against fourteen men. They lost by six.

Joaquín Moro takes the highest of these Argentina player ratings and Francisco Moreno the lowest. Between them sits the number that decides the afternoon: Los Pumas reached the Australian 22 five times in the first half and came away with seven points.

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Pablo Matera captained a side without Julián Montoya, Marcos Kremer, Mateo Carreras, Santiago Chocobares and Bautista Delguy, and with Juan Martín González, Juan Cruz Mallía and Pedro Rubiolo injured. Same XV that held South Africa to 17-10 earlier this month, and it ran into an Australian pack Les Kiss had rebuilt from scratch.

“Argentina were very good. I felt like we were pretty poor in some areas, but just really proud of the group and I’m happy we got the win over here.”

Fraser McReight, Australia’s player of the match, to the host broadcaster in Argentina on Saturday 29 August

The front row that almost won it on its own

1

1. Boris Wenger

Best loosehead on the field for an hour. Carried and offloaded to Santiago Carreras on 44 to launch Argentina’s sharpest attack, then burrowed low for the try on 52 that cut the deficit to a point. He also gave away the scrum penalty that opened the second half.

7.5out of 10

2

2. Ignacio Ruiz

Flattened by Josh Canham on 15, which handed Tom Hooper the steal. Bundled into touch by Max Jorgensen on 65 in the one moment Argentina had room on the right. The lineout went short and Australia won the important ones.

5out of 10

3

3. Francisco Moreno

Penalised in the first scrum for standing up, and the Australian pack read the message. Australia won two more scrum penalties, and the one on 69 gave them the lineout five metres out that produced a chalked-off try and a free kick Tate McDermott nearly scored from.

4.5out of 10

A second row that argued more than it won

4

4. Guido Petti

No recorded involvement across three live feeds in a Test where Australia scored three of four tries off lineout and maul. In a second row, silence is the verdict.

5out of 10

5

5. Tomás Lavanini

Carried close on 36, and argued hardest that Argentina had grounded the ball under the posts on 22. He was probably right. It did not matter.

6out of 10

The back row: one who carried, one who got warned, one who vanished

6

6. Pablo Matera, captain

Carried well off Simón Benítez Cruz on 22 with Argentina hammering the line. He also took a formal warning from Ben O’Keeffe on 19 about repeat lineout offending, reported as a sin-bin threat by the ABC and as a penalty try by the Guardian.

5.5out of 10

7

7. Benjamín Grondona

Australia won the first-half ruck count 38-27 and stole ball through McReight and Hooper at the moments that decided field position. Argentina’s openside left no mark on it.

5out of 10

8

8. Joaquín Moro

Tapped and went from the free kick on 36 and came close. Tapped again on 38 and split Ryan Lonergan and Carter Gordon to score. Then the step on 52 that fractured the Australian goal-line defence for Wenger.

8out of 10

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Half an hour of brilliance from the 10, then forty minutes of it draining away

9

9. Simón Benítez Cruz

Sniped intelligently in the opening ten and faked the shift right before releasing Carreras for the opening try. He knocked on at a five-metre scrum on 36 with Allan Alaalatoa bearing down, then threw the pass that killed the try on 49.

6.5out of 10

10

10. Santiago Carreras

Three from three off the tee. A breakdown steal inside two minutes, and the line-break that released Rodrigo Isgró for the opening try. Then the restart straight out on 41, a clearance straight out on 58, and the spilled ball on 64 the Guardian called almost inexplicable.

6.5out of 10

11

11. Ignacio Mendy

Caught in possession by Jorgensen’s chase on 10 and penalised for it. Australia scored their second try from the lineout that followed. Ran a kick back on 76 and was hammered.

5out of 10

12

12. Faustino Sánchez Valarolo

The thumping carry on 14 that built the platform for Gerónimo Prisciantelli’s try, and the man Harry Potter took a yellow card to stop on 25. Being the reason an opponent gives away a professional foul is a compliment.

6.5out of 10

13

13. Lucio Cinti

No recorded involvement in a Test Argentina lost by six. Their attacking shape ran through Carreras and the forwards, and the 13 channel never became part of it.

5out of 10

14

14. Rodrigo Isgró

Broke the Australian line for the opening try and ripped the ball from Potter on 58. He also gave away a soft penalty on 39, playing the ball while sitting on the ground on halfway. His knock-on on 79 ended the last attack.

6out of 10

15

15. Gerónimo Prisciantelli

Scored on 14 and caught his own up-and-under on 29. Lonergan’s cover tackle denied him on 44, and the TMO found a forward pass on 49 with a second try already awarded. Their most dangerous runner and their unluckiest.

7.5out of 10

The bench that could not shift it

19

19. Efraín Elías

Won the obstruction penalty on 50 that put Argentina inside the 22 and led to Wenger’s try.

6out of 10

21

21. Agustín Moyano

Rushed his return kick on 78 and hoofed it straight out. Argentina got the ball back only because Potter was offside.

5out of 10

16. Leonel Oviedo, 17. Rodrigo Martínez, 18. Tomás Rapetti, 20. Juan Penoucos, 22. Nicolás Roger, 23. Matías Moroni — not rated. No recorded involvement. Martínez back in a Test 23 after five years is the note worth keeping.

Best on ground

Joaquín Moro, and the 8 at the top of these Argentina player ratings was never in doubt. Australia solved most of this pack inside twenty minutes and never solved him. Two of the three tries came from his carries, one of them finished himself from a tap nobody saw coming. His step on 52 broke a defence that held everywhere else.

Argentina’s five-metre problem

That second row is the one that should keep Argentina awake. Ten minutes, an extra man, a lineout five metres out, and the scoreboard did not move. It read 7-19 when Potter walked and 7-19 when he came back.

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The one who has to improve

Francisco Moreno takes the lowest mark in these Argentina player ratings, and 4.5 is about consequence rather than effort.

The first scrum of a Test sets what the referee expects from the next 79 minutes. Moreno popped up and Isaac Kailea got the back slaps. O’Keeffe had his picture of that contest inside five minutes. Australia went back to the scrum for two more penalties. The second gave them the lineout that produced a chalked-off try and a free kick McDermott nearly scored from.

Argentina were one try behind and better than Australia for long spells. They lost the one contest that hands a referee an easy decision, and they lost it in the fifth minute.

What the Argentina player ratings mean for Mendoza

The sides meet again in Mendoza next weekend, without the altitude that was supposed to help here, and the rest of Australia’s year gets harder after it. Nine’s coverage had the defeat dropping Argentina below Australia in the world rankings.

The selection call is the tighthead. Wenger has earned another start on the other side of the front row. Rodrigo Martínez is sitting on the bench with five years of waiting behind him, and what this fixture was supposed to settle now runs for a second week.

Ratings summary

Tries: Prisciantelli 14, Moro 38, Wenger 52, all converted by Carreras. Six replacements have no recorded involvement in any feed, so they carry no mark rather than a guessed one.

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