Wallabies player ratings from the second Test at Estadio Malvinas Argentinas, Saturday 5 September: Argentina 28-28 Australia, every mark with its evidence.
Australia had fifteen men against thirteen, the ball, and nine minutes. Nobody in gold scores above 7.5.
The Wallabies drew 28-28 in Mendoza, took the series by one win and one draw, and became the first Australian side to win a tour in Argentina, with the Puma Trophy going home with them. The match report has the night. These Wallabies player ratings have the marks: the captain and the openside share the top one, the front row shares the bottom, and the scrum-half’s 7 is the one to argue with.
Who’s your Wallabies man of the match? Tell us below.
Wallabies player ratings: the match in numbers
| Australia | Argentina | |
|---|---|---|
| Tries | 4 | 4 |
| Conversions | 3 of 3 | 4 of 4 |
| Yellow cards | 1 | 3 |
| Tries from a quick tap | 2 | 1 |
| Tries disallowed | 1 | 0 |
15. Tom Wright — 6.5/10
Kicked to the corner on 12, and the Pumas’ return found touch to give Australia a lineout in their half. Hauled the Pumas’ corner kick back into play on 58 to stop a 50-22. Kicked across the field on 38 in the exchange that ended with Argentina throwing to the lineout that produced Ignacio Mendy’s try, and led with a forearm into Simón Benítez Cruz after the hooter, penalised without a card, which gave Argentina two scrums five metres out. Toed ahead on 76 for the best chance of the last ten minutes and could not hold the pass on 78.
14. Max Jorgensen — 6.5/10
Scored on 28 with three men outside him and no intention of passing, the finish that made it 14-0. Hauled down going for the corner on 46 under advantage, and was combining with Wright down the right on 72 when Pablo Matera got over the ball. An 8 in Jujuy, and quieter here because the ball reached him less.
13. Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii — 7/10
Hit the angle at pace off Carter Gordon’s short pass on 21 and Harry Wilson’s try followed a few phases later. Shot up on Benítez Cruz’s floated pass after the hooter, knocked it on, and ended a half Argentina were about to win from five metres. A defensive read that saved seven.
12. Len Ikitau — 6/10
Eighty minutes and three recorded involvements: Ben Donaldson wrapped around him on 12, Matera ran through him one-handed on 13, and he was a link in the chain on 76. For a 12, that is the review.
11. Filipo Daugunu — 6.5/10
Dropped the kick-off, spilled Donaldson’s offload on five, and knocked on again on 42, his third. In between, put the hit of the first half on Faustino Sánchez Valarolo on 13 and forced the ball out, left the field for a head assessment on 14 and came back on 29. Then, on 50, with Argentina building inside the Australian 22 off a scrum, left his wing, spotted the gap and got over the ball for the steal. Was the intended receiver when Santiago Carreras’s arm brought the penalty try on 70. Off on 74. Three spills and one of the turnovers of the night.
10. Ben Donaldson — 6.5/10
Broke the line on 12 and wrapped around Ikitau in the same passage. Offloaded to Daugunu on five and watched it spilled, then failed to find his wing with a tip-on inside his own 22 on 23 before kicking clear. Charged down Nicolás Roger on 43 and kicked ahead on 44 for the lineout five metres out that ended in Fraser McReight’s try. Moved to fullback during Daugunu’s assessment. Off on 55.
9. Ryan Lonergan — 7/10
Kicked three from three, box-kicked Australia out of their own red zone on five, and was at the base for the two quick-tap tries, Jorgensen’s and McReight’s, the tempo Matt Giteau asked for after Jujuy. Then the other half. Kicked over the top on nine into the dead-ball area, shanked a clearance into a teammate on 49, and on 76 got to Wright’s toe-through first inside the Argentine 22 and lost it in the slide. Taken cleanly, that was the winning try. Moved to fly-half on 69 and threw the pass on 78 that Wright lost forward. The 7 is for eighty minutes and two tries served, and it is the mark most likely to be argued down to a 6.
Read also: the Jujuy marks, where McReight took a 9 and a wing a 5.
1. Angus Bell — 6.5/10
Held up over the line on 27 with Wilson a metre short beside him, the moment that sent Franco Molina to the bin. Packed into a scrum that won penalties on 19 and 44 and conceded the free kick on 52 that Argentina tapped for Ignacio Ruiz’s try. Off on 58.
2. Billy Pollard — 6/10
Lost a throw to the Pumas on 13. Hit his man for the short lineout that produced the disallowed try on 16, the lineout that produced Wilson’s try on 21, and the one five metres out on 44 before McReight’s. Off on 51, sharing the lowest mark with the man beside him.
3. Taniela Tupou — 6/10
Penalised at the scrum on six, which Roger then kicked dead. Stood at first receiver on 28 and moved the ball on as the pivot for Jorgensen’s try. Off on 51, in a scrum that won two penalties and gave up two decisions of its own.
4. Josh Canham — 7/10
Waited on the floor five metres from his own line on three, got low, and won the ball back from Argentina’s first attack. Isolated on 51 after a delayed pass and turned over. Was the first link in the chain on 76 that should have won the Test. Eighty minutes, and an 8 in Jujuy he did not quite reach.
5. Jeremy Williams — 6.5/10
Went to the sin bin on 34 for diving off his feet inside his own 22, and Argentina scored twice while he watched, on 36 and 39. A 7.5 in Jujuy for a lineout he ran well, and Australia’s lineout held here too. Off on 60.
6. Rob Valetini — 7/10
Produced the first heavy carry of the night on 26 and won the penalty that led to Molina’s card and Jorgensen’s try. Flattened Ruiz on 51, wrapped up Sánchez Valarolo on 52 with McReight for the maul that won a scrum, and spilled in contact on 57, a rare one. Off on 65 for Charlie Cale, which is what the back-row piece that wanted him on the bench for Mendoza had in mind, an hour later than it argued.
7. Fraser McReight — 7.5/10
Picked off the floor on 47 and put his body through three tacklers for the try that made it 21-14. Combined with Lonergan down the blind side for the try on 16 that was chalked off, and was the man free in the tramline on 69 when Lucio Cinti’s hand went out. Nearly stole the ball on the final play. “We were lucky right on that half-time break not to concede more points,” he told Stan Sport afterwards. “You look at that second half and it was quite up and down.” The 9 from Jujuy was not repeated because the breakdown was not his alone this time.
8. Harry Wilson — 7.5/10
Carried hard off the shoulder on nine, ran in the try on 16 that the flag took away, and rode two tacklers to spin over on 21 for the one that stood. Hit Ruiz backwards on 63 to slow the drive that still produced Argentina’s lead, slipped the soft pass on 69 that Cinti knocked down, and made the tackle on Roger behind the gainline with the last play of the Test. Back as captain after a week off, and the pick here for the best of the gold shirts, with McReight level on the mark.
Replacements
16. Josh Nasser — 6/10
On for Pollard on 51. Threw to the lineout on 57 that worked off the top before Valetini spilled, and to the one on 72 the Guardian called sloppy, which Argentina turned over through Matera.
17. Aidan Ross — 6/10
On for Bell on 58. Scrummed against 13 men on 77 and 79 with a penalty enough to win the Test, and did not get one.
18. Massimo De Lutiis — 6/10
On for Tupou on 51, Wallaby 1000 three weeks ago. The same two scrums as Ross, and the same result.
19. Lukhan Salakaia-Loto — 6/10
On for Williams on 60, and a minute later Argentina’s maul rumbled 15 metres from a lineout on the Australian 10-metre line. The second one, on 63, was stopped.
20. Charlie Cale — 7/10
On for Valetini on 65. Won the turnover on 76 that launched the chance down the left through Canham, Wilson, Ikitau and Wright. Eleven minutes, one steal with two men extra, and the Wallabies’ best moment of the last quarter.
21. Kalani Thomas — 6/10
On for Gordon on 69, which sent Lonergan to fly-half. Eleven minutes at nine. Both late chances broke down outside him.
22. Carter Gordon — 6.5/10
Covered Daugunu’s head assessment from 14 to 29 and gave the short pass on 21 that put Suaalii onto his angle for Wilson’s try. Overcooked a 50-22 on 25 with the kick on. Back on for Donaldson on 55 and forced off on 69, by ABC’s account.
23. Isaac Henry — 6/10
On for Daugunu on 74. Six minutes on the wing with no recorded touch.
Your turn
Lonergan has a 7 with three from three off the tee and two dropped chances inside the last five minutes. If that is a 6, say so below, and name the mark that covers both halves of that sentence.
