Michael Hooper scores two tries as Wallabies escape with 32-25 win over Argentina

THE Wallabies have held out a fast-finishing Argentina to claim a 32-25 victory in their Rugby Championship clash on the Gold Coast. 

Herald Sun -- THE switch-off boys of world rugby nearly sunk in sport’s Bermuda Triangle when the Wallabies were too soft to bury Argentinia.

The smallest Test crowd to watch the Wallabies on home soil this century gave the 32-25 victory the muted applause it deserved on the Gold Coast.

Whole rugby league, soccer and basketball clubs have disappeared on the Gold Coast and there would have been ghost-like Wallabies joining them if this Test had been blown as it nearly was.

The Wallabies were embarrassed. They led 29-13 with 20 minutes to play, fresh reserves running on and a four-try bonus point at their mercy.

Instead, they fizzled. The Argentinians struck back with two tries and should have drawn the Test in the dying minutes.

It took a courageous last-line tackle from replacement halfback Nic White and prop Ben Alexander to fell Pumas flyhalf Nicolas Sanchez seven metres out when he looked headed for a try under the posts.

The Pumas knocked on but that was not Australia’s only blessing.

The Argentinians had another chance in the final 90 seconds with two scrums set in the shadow of the Australian goalposts. Alexander was penalised in the first scrum and from the second the Australians earned a get-out-of-jail short-arm penalty. It was an escape.

“Ill discipline and errors ... we’ve got to sharpen up,” lamented Wallabies captain Michael Hooper, Australia’s two-try force.

Flyhalf Bernard Foley and halfback Nick Phipps were standouts in the error-prone Test. Foley made two clean breaks and put Hooper over for his first try while Phipps was sparky.

The crowd of 14,281 was the poorest to watch a Wallabies Test on home soil this century and 8000 fewer that when Argentina played on the Gold Coast two years ago.

It’s a malaise amongst Gold Coast sports fans as much as anything because only three of the 12 home games hosted at Cbus Super Stadium this year by the NRL’s Gold Coast Titans topped that number.

Rugby league figures can hardly chuckle at the figure when only a poor 25,733 crowd turned up on Friday night in Sydney to watch headliners Manly and Souths duel in the first week of the NRL finals.

The first half from the Wallabies was a frustrating snapshot of the inconsistency that is their current curse.

The sustained 90 seconds of brilliance that netted Michael Hooper a superb try after just two minutes had everything crammed into the 10-phase assault over 75m.

Twice, there was Hooper’s explosive running power, the ball was swept sideline-to-sideline, Israel Folau got an early touch and flyhalf Bernard Foley threw one of his flat pass specials to send his skipper over.

Michael Hooper dives over to score for the Wallabies Argentina

It was if the Wallabies were impervious to the rain that painfully arrived on cue just before kick-off because the handling was dry-day slick.

It was a 10-out-of-10 start but too much of the first half to follow was three or four-out-of-10 stuff littered with errors.

That the Pumas struck back so quickly was the first sign of the Australian mistakes.

Poorly controlled ruck ball flipped free possession to Pumas halfback Martin Landajo who gave winger Manuel Montero a shot down the blindside touchline.

He motored 55m, shed the clutches of Peter Betham, Hooper and Foley and streaked over.

In an instant, the tall 105kg finisher had a price on his head. That’s the cash the Western Force or another shrewd Australian Super Rugby club will tempt him with to join them next year because he is an exciting free-agent.

The frustration of the first half was that so many things went the Wallabies way. Lock Rob Simmons was commanding with sure ball and steals at the lineout, the pack earned two penalties against the mighty Pumas scrum and penalties flowed the gold way.

The rushing speed of the spirited Argentinian defence forced several of the mistakes but there was no excuse for Matt Toomua flinging one pass over the touchline, a poor Scott Fardy pass that was knocked on and inaccurate passing.

The Argentinians wised up quickly that the Wallabies were going wide and flat in attack at every opportunity and the home side did not vary their play enough to punch metres up the middle to get the Pumas back-pedalling.

Foley made his first fine inside break but seemed to ignore winger Rob Horne with the tryline five metres away.

There were plenty of empty seats at Cbus Super Stadium.

The Wallabies looked to have iced the Test with two Foley penalty goals to finish the first half and Hooper’s second try three minutes after the break to lead 21-7.

Folau chipped over the top and a Montero error left the ball on the turf for Hooper to simply swoop on and run 25m for the dot down.

First Test tries are always to be celebrated and a diagonal Nick Phipps run allowed him to link with winger Peter Betham for that pleasure.

Winger Rob Horne was the target for the groans at the 70-minute mark. He lost the ball in contact trying to run the ball out of his quarter.

In an instant, the turnover presented sharp flyhalf Sanchez with the chance to dab a kick through which fullback Joaquin Tuculet pounced on. At 29-25, the Pumas sniffed their first victory in The Rugby Championship and the momentum was all their way.

The Wallabies got the win but not the accolades because they failed to finish off the Pumas when they’d wounded them. 

AUSTRALIA 32 (Michael Hooper 2, Peter Betham tries Bernard Foley con 5 pens) bt ARGENTINA 25 (Marcelo Bosch, Manuel Montero, Joaquin Tuculet tries Nicolas Sanchez 2 cons 2 pens) at Cbus Super Stadium. Referee: Glen Jackson. Crowd: 14,281.

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All Blacks hold on in gripping finish

The New Zealand Herald -- New Zealand 14 - South Africa 10. No wonder everyone loves a game against the Springboks - they are what test football is all about.

The All Blacks were taken deeper into themselves than they have been at any other time this year to find the victory they desperately wanted.

The ending was World Cup tight. The All Blacks will know they were hanging on and maybe lucky to get home in the end.

But got home they did and for that they should be hugely proud. It was brutal, fast, no-mercy rugby from both teams and, while the Boks may have been poor in Australia last week, they showed they are a rising force.

There was balance and mix in their game and they were one play away from winning. But as good as the visitors were, it was the All Blacks who won again for the ninth time in their last 11 outings against South Africa.

And it was conviction that got them home. Conviction that if they believed in their game plan, they would eventually wear down a South African side that was about as corrosive as diamond. There was virtually no give in the Boks - certainly not from No 8 Duane Vermeulen who gave a masterclass around the tackled ball. He was seriously painful, quite brilliant at picking off turnovers and killing opportunities.

Nevertheless, the All Blacks persisted with their sweeping movements. They persisted with using Brodie Retallick as an early receiver around whom the forwards ran angled balls back into the set up. From there it was away to the backs and the intent was obvious.

The All Blacks were doing what they could to raise the tempo and run some fatigue into the Boks.

But they couldn't do it was well as they wanted. Partly that was about the Africans being so strong at the breakdown. Partly it was because the All Blacks made mistakes.

The All Blacks had no dramas getting into the South African 22. It was actually all a bit of doddle getting into the right position.

There was judicious use of some punchy running from the forwards - the angled ball to the second runner was a go to option - and some astute kicking.

But the accuracy and precision required to get the ball safely over the line - that was missing. Or rather, it wasn't always possible because the Boks defended with severity and ferocity in front of their goal-line.

They smothered ball carriers, shut down the space and fired into the breakdown to slow things down. To dominate territory like that and not the scoreboard - it can be a killer. So too was the pressure the Boks were exerting on the touchline.

Victor Matfield isn't quite the player he once was, but he's lost nothing as an aerial forward. If anything, he's even better now than he was in his pre-retirement stint and it was obvious the All Blacks were struggling for confidence there.

Late in the first half they pulled half their backline into an attacking lineout and chucked a wobbly, flapper to the front that reeked of nerves and uncertainty.

That's the battle playing South Africa - dealing with the pressure. They asked questions of the All Blacks in every department and made life harder again by getting maximum value from the scoreboard.

They had barely featured in the game when they scored their first try. It was a lightning raid and so beautifully done. When they next had a decent attack in the second half, Handrie Pollard had no qualms falling into the pocket and nudging over the dropped goal.

The crowd howled but smart test football is about winning games and to pot with how the points are actually taken. 

New Zealand 14 (R. McCaw tries; A. Cruden 3 pens) South Africa 10 (C. Hendricks tries; H. Pollard con, dg). Halftime: 6-7.

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