Who’s hot and who’s not: Argentina’s famous win, sell-out in Brisbane and Wallabies woes
It’s time for our Monday wrap of who has their name in lights and who is making the headlines for all the wrong reasons after the weekend.
THEY’RE ON FIRE!
Argentina conquer Wellington: A stunning performance from Los Pumas as they kicked off their Rugby Championship campaign with a bang in Wellington, beating the All Blacks 38-30. We’ll get to singling out players for individual praise in a moment but what a team showing that was by Felipe Contepomi’s men. They were hugely physical, intelligent and pressured the All Blacks into uncharacteristic mistakes, with this result blowing the Rugby Championship wide open. Agustin Creevy is already eyeing the win at Eden Park, which shows their mindset.
Springboks thump Wallabies: There were no such close encounters in the opening fixture of the tournament in Brisbane where South Africa dismantled Australia. The Springboks ran out to a 33-0 lead with 66 minutes played at Suncorp Stadium thanks to tries from Siya Kolisi, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Kwagga Smith before Hunter Paisami crossed for a consolation try late on. It was men against boys for a large part of the game as the Springboks look in ominous form, sitting pretty at the summit with this bonus-point result.
Pablo Matera and company: Jumping back to the events in Wellington and we had to applaud the performances of the likes of Matera, Marcus Kremer, Juan Martin Gonzalez and also super-sub Creevy. The Pumas back-row was outstanding throughout, with Matera earning 10 out of 10 in our player ratings for his hulking effort. This trio are criminally underrated in our sport as their destructiveness and balance as a unit is second to none, with the All Blacks unable to live with them. A word on Creevy too who finally tastes victory on New Zealand soil.
🗣️"Los Pumas captain Pablo Matera produced a performance for the ages to inspire his side to a historic 38-30 win over the All Blacks yesterday."
🇦🇷 @LCCJournalist takes an in-depth look into the stats behind Pablo Matera's display on Saturday.https://t.co/7Jk48luPkO
— Planet Rugby (@PlanetRugby) August 11, 2024
Ireland capture England ace: Out of the blue on Thursday came the news that England head of strength and conditioning Aled Walters was leaving Steve Borthwick’s backroom team to join Ireland men’s set-up. Walters, who has ties with Ireland after his time with Munster, is highly regarded in the game after enjoying stints at the Brumbies, Leicester and a successful Rugby World Cup period with the Springboks. It is therefore a blow for England to lose him after just one year in the role, but for Ireland they will be delighted to have recruited his services.
Sold-out Suncorp Stadium: 52,500 were in attendance at the Brisbane venue and while the result was not what the majority of the fans in attendance were hoping for, a sell-out crowd is fantastic for the sport in Australia. Joe Schmidt and his charges are trying to put bums on seats after a dismal period for the team so to see Suncorp Stadium sold-out with a couple of days to spare is promising. It’s a crucial period for rugby in Australia with next year’s British & Irish Lions series looming large before the World Cup in 2027 so attracting fans is a must.
COLD AS ICE!
All Blacks well below standard: Scott Robertson and Ardie Savea cut dejected figures in the post-game press conference as both had to sift through their under-par performance against Los Pumas. That it certainly was as New Zealand lacked a clinical edge in Wellington and one moment summed up their day when Savea acted as scrum-half on halfway – when Cortez Ratima was behind him – firing a stray pass to his backline before Damian McKenzie threw an even worse one that ended up behind his own try-line. So much to work on before Auckland.
Wallabies discover their level: The fear pre-match was that Australia’s three wins leading up to the Rugby Championship, against Wales (twice) and Georgia, were nowhere near the standard of opposition they would face in the Rugby Championship. That, unfortunately for the Wallabies, proved to be the case as the Springboks dominated throughout. It was a result that will no doubt hurt in the short-term but will be beneficial further down the track. This weekend in Perth is about chipping away at the gap between the sides before they head to Argentina.
Sad news from South Africa: Truly tragic news from South Africa was reported this past week when it emerged that France U18s player Medhi Narjissi had died in Cape Town. The 17-year-old was swept out to sea during a team bonding session and emergency services were swiftly deployed to search for the son of the legendary Agen hooker Djalil Narjissi, who represented the club for 12 years. Unfortunately, Agen have since put out a statement confirming the player’s death in what is an awful event. Our thoughts are with his family and friends.
Bradley Roberts retirement: The Wales international and Dragons hooker was forced into early retirement through a back injury this past week. The Durban-born star debuted for Wales against the Springboks back in 2021 and earned five caps in his short career which ends at the age of 28. Roberts returns to the country of his birth in the short-term and we wish him well with what comes next in life after rugby.