Argentina: The stunning stats behind Los Pumas’ magician Tomas Albornoz’s perfect performance against the Springboks
Tomas Albornoz inspired his side to a historic victory over the Springboks
It might be an easy comparison to make between any Argentina fly-half and the great ‘El Mago’ Juan Martín Hernández, but Tomas Albornoz is certainly earning them.
The Benetton ace has enjoyed a break Rugby Championship campaign, and against the Springboks, it was no different as he played a crucial role in guiding his side to a historic victory over Rassie Erasmus’ men in Santiago.
Here is an in-depth look at the numbers behind El Mago Nuevo’s stellar performance.
Consistent attacking threat
Albornoz was at the heart of everything Los Pumas did well against South Africa, and he proved a consistent attacking threat all night.
He led the charge on the carrying front, topping the charts with 11 carries in his 80-minute shift, and he was able to make decent in-roads through the Boks’ defence. Albornoz chewed up an impressive 62 meters in his carries – an average of 5.6 meters per carry – and he was only bested by one meter by Mateo Carreras (63). Elsewhere, he had the Boks defence on strings too, beating nine defenders – again, the most of anyone in the Pumas squad.
His distribution skills were also immaculate in the victory, and he played a massive part in getting the backline purring. He notched 18 passes in the game – which was only bested by fellow half-back Gonzalo Bertranou – and they were so important in getting the likes of Mateo Carreras and Santiago Chocobares involved in the game.
Albornoz also collected a significant points haul on the night, notching 14 points thanks to a try, three conversions and a penalty.
Clever kicking
Los Pumas also deployed some very shrewd kicking tactics to put the Springboks under pressure; and again, Albornoz was the main driver of this with 13 kicks out of hand across the match, the most of any player on the pitch.
Importantly they were all targeted at pinning the Springboks deep in their own half. Whilst Aphelele Fassi is solid in the air, the likes of Carreras and Bautista Delguy are just as good, so this limited Fassi’s ability to counter-attack from deep.
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These kicks also put the Springboks lineout under pressure too, and they got some decent change from it too as they notched two lineout steals.
Busy in defence
The focus might be on his attacking masterclass, and so it should be, but he also put himself about in defence when called upon as he made four of his five tackle attempts in the game.
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