Argentina player ratings: Los Bomb Squad goes nuclear to ‘destroy whimpering Wallabies’ as new ‘El Mago’ gets full marks
The Pumas put on a show to hammer Australia 67-27, here is how we rated Felipe Contepomi's men.
Following Argentina’s sensational 67-27 victory over Australia in the Rugby Championship, here are our player ratings.
Argentina player ratings v Australia
15 Juan Cruz Mallia: With the Wallabies on the ropes, the fullback took full advantage grabbing a brace in the final ten minutes in a stunning showing of ruthlessness. He got his hands on the ball plenty making 13 carries and 16 passes in a memorable victory. 9
14 Bautista Delguy: Perhaps the quietest backline player as the Pumas pounced on the leaky Wallabies defence but he was by no means poor. He was replaced shortly after the break. 6
13 Lucio Cinti: Rounded off the scoring to secure the biggest-ever victory over Australia and it was thoroughly deserved after a strong showing on both sides of the ball including a try assist. A real running threat in the latter stages but he knew when to hold and when to release and did so well. 8
12 Santiago Chocobares: A game where he again showed his world-class qualities with a stunning showing that included a superb defensive shift and some wonderful flowing attacks. A couple of poor passes but none will remember that as his team tore the Wallabies to shreds with him being the glue in the backline. 8
11 Mateo Carreras: We are running out of superlatives for the livewire winger who punished the All Blacks in Wellington and did so again today against Australia. It was clear that there was a directive to just get the ball into the wingers hands today as he topped the carry count and a tactic that worked remarkably well as he gained over 100 metres with ball in hand and beat five defenders. 8
Halfbacks
10 Tomas Albornoz: An inspired performance from the fly-half in just his second Test start for his country. He was magnificent off the bench last week but he kicked it up a gear today with a marvellous showing of attacking rugby akin to that of El Mago, Juan Martín Hernández. He racked up a wonderful 18 points and dictated play wonderfully while also making a sublime cover tackle. It’s seldom that we give full marks but he was just that brilliant. 10
9 Gonzalo Bertranou: The scrum-half is never shy to throw his body on the line on defence and did so again today racking up over 10 tackles. On attack, he improved as the game went on which was the case for most of the Pumas’ players. 7
Australia butcher 17-point lead as Julian Montoya’s milestone inspires Argentina to record win
Back-row
8 Juan Martin Gonzalez: Scored the try that put Argentina into the lead for the first time and he was an attacking threat throughout the game. Another sterling performance from the superb back-rower. 8
7 Marcos Kremer: A defensive animal, Kremer hammered Australian ball carriers backwards and was far more accurate with his clear-outs than last week. 8
6 Pablo Matera: Another Matera epic as he bossed the breakdown and was heavily involved throughout proceedings even when the Pumas were down on the scoreboard. The powerhouse scored and assisted a try while racking up double digits for carries and tackles. Another sensational shift in a famous win, something of a habit of his. 9
Tight five
5 Tomas Lavanini: Solid without being exceptional, along with his fellow locking partner, he laid the platform for the bench to explode from. 6
4 Gudio Petti: Brought into the starting XV to help improve the breakdown performance where the Pumas were undone last week and he did a fine job in doing so. The veteran is always busy around the park and today was no different. 6
3 Joel Sclavi: Played his part in a much improved scrummaging effort but was rather quite around the pitch and departed shortly after half-time. 5
2 Julian Montoya: 100 up and shows no signs of slowing down as he produced another special performance in his milestone match. His try was a momentum shift and while there were lineout issues, the skipper lead by example with everything he did. 8
1 Thomas Gallo: After a testing few weeks at scrum time and a horrible blunder last week, the loosehead prop responded emphatically and put in a far more competent shift in the front row. He is always a fantastic player around the pitch and that was the case today but he backed it up with a solid scrummaging performance. 8
Replacements: Joaquin Oviedo was simply sensational off the bench as he grabbed two tries off the bench as the Los Pumas’ bench went nuclear and blew Australia off the park. The back-rower was the real standout but overall, it was an inspired showing from the replacements who more than delivered on providing an impact and something akin to that of the famed Springboks’ Bomb Squad but of epic proportions. Test rugby is now an 80-minute game and the Pumas gave a clear indication of that in an emphatic fashion as they destroyed the whimpering Wallabies. 10