Wallabies vs Argentina in Jujuy finished 27-21. Australia scored 19 of those points in the first twenty minutes at altitude and eight in the hour that followed. The scoreline hides how close it got.
Fraser McReight was named player of the match and takes the highest of these Wallabies player ratings. Harry Potter takes the lowest. The ten minutes Potter spent in the bin cost Australia nothing, which is the oddest fact in a Test that ran away from them and came back.
Get the WeTalkRugby Test-week briefing in your inbox, free.
Les Kiss changed his entire front row and gave the captaincy to Allan Alaalatoa, with Harry Wilson rested. The pack he named for Jujuy was the experimental part of a side on a three-Test winning run. It scored three of the four tries, and it takes the top of these Wallabies player ratings.
The front row picked to be the weak point
1. Isaac Kailea — 7.5.
First start since 2024, and Australia had a scrum penalty inside five minutes with Francisco Moreno standing up under him. Australia won three scrum penalties in the match. Kailea set the terms in the first.
2. Brandon Paenga-Amosa — 7.5.
Scored on eight minutes off Jeremy Williams’ offload, gathering from a standing start and twisting to ground it. He lost one lineout at the back on 43. The Guardian pinned an early high shot on him too, without being certain which Australian threw it.
3. Allan Alaalatoa — 7.
Seventh Test as captain, and the scrum was his win as much as anyone’s. Then O’Keeffe’s warning on 51 for repeat offending in his 22. The Guardian’s correspondent thought his hit on Simón Benítez Cruz on 36 was late and off the ball.
Two locks, and a try that was taken off the board
4. Josh Canham — 8.
Best of the tight five. He broke down the left in the move that made the first try. He flattened Ignacio Ruiz on 15 to give Hooper the steal, then won the lineout on 18 that started the maul.
5. Jeremy Williams — 7.5.
Wrapped around Canham, carried to the left corner and found the offload for the opening score. He thought he had ended the Test on 71. The TMO found a knock-on before the line.
The back row won this Test
6. Tom Hooper — 8.5.
First start of the year at blindside, borrowed for Argentina and already promised elsewhere. He stole the ball on 48 to end an Argentina attack. Then he dummied over from five metres on 55 for the try that settled the margin.
7. Fraser McReight — 9.
Try on 20 from close range. A jackal on 76 with Argentina inside the 22 and the crowd up. He also came away with a McDermott box kick on 67 that nobody else got near.
8. Rob Valetini — 8.5.
Turnover on his own line on 27, then the clearing kick. Scrum penalty won on 69. His offload on 54, putting Hunter Paisami through a gap, was the most valuable pass an Australian threw all afternoon.
“Here at altitude, the shoulders are sore, the lungs are sore, the legs have a bit of chaffing on them. It was a bloody hard Test match.”
Tom Hooper, to Stan Sport after full time on Saturday 29 August
The halves: three from four, then a forearm
9. Ryan Lonergan — 7.
Missed the first conversion from the touchline, landed the next two, then the 30-metre penalty on the hooter for 22-14. His cover tackle on Gerónimo Prisciantelli on 44 saved a try. He stayed down holding a forearm and took no further part.
10. Carter Gordon — 7.5.
Scored on 11 by taking on two defenders on the short side. His kicking to touch built the first-half maul platform, which is the more direct Wallabies Kiss asked for against Japan. A clearance on 27 missed touch and let Argentina straight back in.
The centre pairing that made the winning try
12. Hunter Paisami — 8.
Took Valetini’s offload on 54, went to ground, got up and made another ten metres. Tim Horan praised him for a big game on the Stan Sport coverage. Hooper’s try came off the back of that carry.
13. Isaac Henry — 6.5.
No errors, and no line-breaks conceded in his channel. Australia held five Argentine entries into the 22 to seven points in the first half. Some of that belongs to the 13.
The back three, and ten minutes that cost nothing
11. Harry Potter — 5.
Sin-binned on 25 for knocking down a pass to Faustino Sánchez Valarolo, a professional foul by any reading. Rodrigo Isgró stripped him on 58. His offside penalty on 78 gave Argentina the lineout for their final assault.
14. Max Jorgensen — 8.
Won the penalty on 10 with a chase on Ignacio Mendy that led to the second try, then hit the line on 11 to create the space Gordon scored in. On 76 he turned in front of his own line and eked out ground under contact.
15. Tom Wright — 6.5.
Good hands on the wraparound that opened the second-half attack. He sliced a kick on 64 in an eight-kick exchange Argentina won, and had skewed another on 43 that sent them at the Australian 22.
The bench that shut it down
16. Billy Pollard — 6.5. Threw into the lineout on 69 that produced the chalked-off try.
17. Angus Bell — 6.5. On around 50, into a scrum still winning penalties.
18. Massimo De Lutiis and 19. Lachlan Shaw — not rated. No recorded involvement, two weeks on from the debut that made De Lutiis Wallaby 1000.
20. Charlie Cale — 7. Stole the Argentina lineout on 79. It was ripped straight back, but winning that ball with a minute left is the job.
21. Tate McDermott — 6. On at 44 for the injured Lonergan. His box kick was charged down on 51 and Boris Wenger scored from it. Held up over the line on 73.
22. Ben Donaldson — 5.5. Missed the conversion of Hooper’s try from a kickable position. Australia led by six instead of eight, and Argentina stayed inside one score for 25 minutes.
23. Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii — 7. Back from injury for the last quarter. The Guardian had Australia playing with more pace once he arrived, and two good touches inside his first minutes.
Best on ground
Fraser McReight, comfortably. The 9 is the least arguable number in these Wallabies player ratings. He scored, he came away with a box kick nobody else reached, and on 76 he got over the ball with Argentina camped inside the Australian 22. That penalty ended the best field position the home side had all half.
“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, player of the match, to the host broadcaster in Argentina on Saturday 29 August
The one who has to improve
Harry Potter takes the lowest mark in these Wallabies player ratings, and the 5 is smaller than it looked at the time.
Australia were 19-7 up when he threw a hand at a pass he was never close to intercepting. Potter was walking before the card came out.
And then nothing happened. Argentina had ten minutes and an extra man and did not score a point with either. It was still 19-7 when Potter came back on at 35, and Joaquín Moro’s try arrived two minutes after that, against fifteen. The card was a bad decision that his teammates erased.
What holds the mark down is what followed. Isgró stripped him on 58, and his offside penalty on 78 handed Argentina their last lineout of the match.
What the Wallabies player ratings say about Mendoza
The sides meet again in Mendoza next weekend, and Kiss is still unbeaten as Australia’s coach. Wilson was rested here. The back row that replaced him produced the player of the match, and what Ewen McKenzie wanted this fixture to prove got an answer nobody was looking for.
Australia player ratings in full
| # | Player | Position | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Isaac Kailea | Loosehead prop | 7.5 |
| 2 | Brandon Paenga-Amosa | Hooker | 7.5 |
| 3 | Allan Alaalatoa (c) | Tighthead prop | 7 |
| 4 | Josh Canham | Lock | 8 |
| 5 | Jeremy Williams | Lock | 7.5 |
| 6 | Tom Hooper | Blindside flanker | 8.5 |
| 7 | Fraser McReight | Openside flanker | 9 |
| 8 | Rob Valetini | No.8 | 8.5 |
| 9 | Ryan Lonergan | Scrum-half | 7 |
| 10 | Carter Gordon | Fly-half | 7.5 |
| 11 | Harry Potter | Wing | 5 |
| 12 | Hunter Paisami | Inside centre | 8 |
| 13 | Isaac Henry | Outside centre | 6.5 |
| 14 | Max Jorgensen | Wing | 8 |
| 15 | Tom Wright | Fullback | 6.5 |
| 16 | Billy Pollard | Hooker | 6.5 |
| 17 | Angus Bell | Prop | 6.5 |
| 18 | Massimo De Lutiis | Prop | not rated |
| 19 | Lachlan Shaw | Lock | not rated |
| 20 | Charlie Cale | Loose forward | 7 |
| 21 | Tate McDermott | Scrum-half | 6 |
| 22 | Ben Donaldson | Fly-half | 5.5 |
| 23 | Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii | Centre | 7 |
That is the full set of Australia player ratings from Jujuy. Lonergan kicked three from four off the tee, Donaldson none from one. First-half ruck count 38-27 to Australia, per the Guardian’s in-play data.
Potter at 5 will read as harsh next to Isaac Henry at 6.5 for an afternoon nobody will remember. Every one of these Wallabies ratings is built on what the man actually did. Name the ten minutes Henry cost his team.
