[2022 Rugby Championship] Round 1 Argentina vs Australia (06/08/2022)

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Venue: Estadio Malvinas Argentinas, Mendoza
Kick-off: 16:10 local (20:10 BST, 19:10 GMT)
Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Assistant Referees: Karl Dickson (England), Chris Busby (Ireland)
TMO: Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)

Argentina: 15 Juan Cruz Mallia, 14 Santiago Cordero, 13 Matias Orlando, 12 Jeronimo De La Fuente, 11 Emiliano Boffelli, 10 Santiago Carreras, 9 Tomas Cubelli, 8 Pablo Matera, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Matias Alemanno, 3 Francisco Gomez Kodela, 2 Julian Montoya (c), 1 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro
Replacements: 16 Agustin Creevy, 17 Mayvo Vivas, 18 Joel Sclavi, 19 Santiago Grondona, 20 Rodrigo Bruni, 21 Lautaro Bazan Velez, 22 Tomas Albornoz, 23 Matias Moroni

Australia: 15 Tom Wright, 14 Jordan Petaia, 13 Len Ikitau, 12 Hunter Paisami, 11 Marika Koroibete, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Nic White, 8 Rob Valetini, 7 Michael Hooper (c), 6 Jed Holloway, 5 Matt Philip, 4 Darcy Swain, 3 Allan Alaalatoa, 2 Folau Fainga’a, 1 James Slipper
Replacements: 16 Lachlan Lonergan, 17 Matt Gibbon, 18 Taniela Tupou, 19 Nick Frost, 20 Rob Leota, 21 Pete Samu, 22 Jake Gordon, 23 Reece Hodge

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

Yeah I'm going to record this one... State of that reffing line up.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

I think I've readjusted my expectations of Australia to something more realistic since July, but they have to be heavy favourites here surely? I'm not even clear what time of year an Argentine playing in Europe gets a break. They literally seem to play 12 months of the year.

I don't know the Aussie centres at all but they must be decent as I rate Hodge at centre.

Lavinini to sample his first taste of the 20 min red card rule inside the first 15mins. :D

Wallabies by 13

 

[Hmmmmmm]

Hooper out

 

[Pieter Steph du Teague]

Hooper out

Damn, this has gotta be the first Oz test Hooper hasn’t played since like 1992.

 

[pagliaccio_euforico]

Yeah I'm going to record this one... State of that reffing line up.

I was gonna make a joke about being asleep but this is in a proper timezone

nervous for this one cause I think Australia are actually good and Argentina looked iffy during the Scotland series. This should be a helter skelter game.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

Ah there is a thread for this match. My bad.

 

[Ferrari333SP]

Looks like Hooper is going home, at least for this game

Michael Hooper: Australian captain not in right 'mindset' to play for Wallabies

 

[pagliaccio_euforico]

It sounds pretty serious. Good on him to go to the team doctor and assess his options. Pretty dangerous game to play if your mind is elsewhere.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

At least the Aus union are saying the right things about Hooper. Good luck to him in getting to a better place. We've had similar things with tennis players and cyclists in recent years. I guess this becomes increasingly inevitable in societies that operate in a way where around 16% of the population take anti-depressants each year (Scottish statistic). Just because you a successful sportsperson doesn't make you immune to things.

https://5aial.com/australia-captain...ainst-argentina-to-protect-his-mental-health/
Kerevi was allowed to miss Argentina to play 7s at the Commonwealth games. Injured himself there and is out for the year. Pumas will never get a better crack at the title than this year. :p

 

[pagliaccio_euforico]

Yeah I had to take a couple months off from working out starting last December to about may due to anxiety. Went to doctor tried medications and they alone didn’t work. I just had to find a way to destress (finishing law school helped with that) before I was able to focus on a workout for more than 5 min.

Most people my age that I know are on some type of anti-anxiety or anti-depressant.

 

[RedruthRFC]

Went to doctor tried medications and they alone didn’t work. I just had to find a way to destress (finishing law school helped with that) before I was able to focus on a workout for more than 5 min.

It's a mad world when the first recourse is to throw drugs at the problem before trying to solve the problem and eliminate the need for drugs.

 

[BakkiesBokke]

Yeah I had to take a couple months off from working out starting last December to about may due to anxiety. Went to doctor tried medications and they alone didn’t work. I just had to find a way to destress (finishing law school helped with that) before I was able to focus on a workout for more than 5 min.

Most people my age that I know are on some type of anti-anxiety or anti-depressant.

Are you in a better place now sir?

 

[Johnny Storm]

Watching this game is worse than watching paint dry. I'm off to get an early night.

 

[pagliaccio_euforico]

It's a mad world when the first recourse is to throw drugs at the problem before trying to solve the problem and eliminate the need for drugs.

Tbf I was also looking for a silver bullet but yeah you can’t take shortcuts. It also doesn’t help when the whole take a deep breath and go on a run don’t help.

Are you in a better place now sir?

oh yeah it was just stress related to finishing up law school. Got a good therapist that was more like a stress coach. I had a good support system but none of my friends are doctors/therapists so there was only so much they could do. It did take some hard work though.

So it sucks for hooper that him and the staff decided that playing right now wasn’t for the best but if it was bad enough to go to a doctor it was enough to keep him off the field.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

The defending for the first couple of tries looked almost like JRLO or MLR.

Went pretty much as expected. I fear we may see a more comfortable Wallabies victory next time out.

 

[Tooting Carmen]

It was horrible how Argentina let their lead go like that.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

I'd imagine that the Pumas players probably get prematurely tired in games due to the accumulated fatigue of never having a proper rest during the year. Dropping off in the last 20 might be a recurring theme.

 

[Frankie123]

I'd imagine that the Pumas players probably get prematurely tired in games due to the accumulated fatigue of never having a proper rest during the year. Dropping off in the last 20 might be a recurring theme.

They had the same problem when al the players played in Super Rugby tbf

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

They had the same problem when al the players played in Super Rugby tbf

Yes, but at least those players should have had December and January as an off season. I think then it was more that the were additionally knackered because they had the most unhealthy travelling schedule for the other 10 months that possibly any sport has ever seen.

Is living out of a suitcase for 10 months more or less draining than playing with less travel for 11.5 months? Horrible choices in terms of player welfare I'd imagine.

 

[BPM]

What is Carreras like at 10? I’ve only ever seen him playing on the wing or at 15, where he’s always looked more like a running type of fullback rather than a playmaker.

 

[Seeker]

At half time I thought Argentina would go on to win it. Kudos to the Aussies for proving me wrong.

 

[Umaga's Witness]

Was too busy to catch this one sadly. and now I may never see quade in a wallaby jersey again

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

What is Carreras like at 10? I’ve only ever seen him playing on the wing or at 15, where he’s always looked more like a running type of fullback rather than a playmaker.

By all accounts he is looking like a long term project. Miotti seemed like the obvious successor to Sanchez, moved to Glasgow and has disappeared. I don't know if its injuries or what.

 

[Cruz_del_Sur]

What an embarrassing 2H that was. I don't have a single data point to back it up but i can't believe this is a physical thing. I'm inclined to believe this is a mental thing.

Miotti seemed like the obvious successor to Sanchez, moved to Glasgow and has disappeared. I don't know if its injuries or what.

What they've done to our FH line of succession is worthy of a trial in den haag.

Bit of history: Sanchez leaves Jags after 2018 SR season in which he virtually played 100% of the time. Everyone, myself included, expected that to be a hard spot to replace. What happened? Diaz bonilla steps up and shuts my piehole making me a very, very happy man. Not only that. Miotti does brilliantly every single second he spends on the field.

So not only do we've got someone who replaced Sanchez and could actually give him a run for his money but we also got a youngster willing to be thrown in the mix too. The future looks promising.

Kindly remember 2019 was a WC year so nearly all of us expected Sanchez/DB/Miotti to be the 3 FHs selected for the world cup. Nothing controversial about it and to be honest, pretty ******* obvious. Remember UAR had pretty much stated that only those playing for Jaguares+SR franchises+domestic clubs were eligible for the Pumas. Players made their decisions accordingly, many of them sacrificing tons of money in the process. Sanchez was still in because he played 2018's SR season and that still counted. A technicality, whatever.
So what happened?

First, they decided to go to the world cup with TWO FH's. Let me say it again. TWO FHs! Arguably the most critical position, one replacement only.
To add insult to injury they chose Sanchez and... Urdapilleta. I've got nothing against Urdapilleta, I actually like him, but he didn't fit the criteria that UAR set out to be eligible to play for the Pumas as he played in France the entire time. You have to understand how insulting this must have been to everyone who decided to sacrifice a lot of time and money on a rather limited career horizon just to play for the national team.
What they did to Diaz Bonilla and Miotti was criminal. They pushed him onto the stage to sing after Sinatra, and he performed very, very well when it mattered only to be thrown under the bus after that.

I am particularly fond of a few Arg players (Moroni, Montoya, etc) but Diaz Bonilla is a player i'd like to buy a beer to and say "thanks, what you did didn't go unnoticed". Dunno why. I expected little from him, and i wasn't alone. And again, and again, and again he shut me up.
I feel he was severely mistreated and in return, he behaved nothing but gallantly, at least from an average fan's pov.

And I like Carreras, a lot actually, but we've got Boffelli as a kicker and i really, really, really don't like him. He's rather good with ball in hand but he is a huge liability on defence and being the designated kicker pretty much guarantees him being in the starting XV every, single game.

Gonna go on quite a limb here: both Miotti and Diaz Bonilla could have been just as good if not better than Sanchez in the national team with better management containing and supporting them. I remember vividly what i saw in them when they played: talent. Not Dan Carter material, sure, but good enough to be the first choice for the national team. The kind of player that could be thrown in any mix as FH and tells you 'stfu and move aside, i know what to do. Just give me the bloody ball'.
I haven't seen that from them since 2019 and that is a tragedy.

Apologies for derailing. You touched a never.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

What an embarrassing 2H that was. I don't have a single data point to back it up but i can't believe this is a physical thing. I'm inclined to believe this is a mental thing.


What they've done to our FH line of succession is worthy of a trial in den haag.

Bit of history: Sanchez leaves Jags after 2018 SR season in which he virtually played 100% of the time. Everyone, myself included, expected that to be a hard spot to replace. What happened? Diaz bonilla steps up and shuts my piehole making me a very, very happy man. Not only that. Miotti does brilliantly every single second he spends on the field.

So not only do we've got someone who replaced Sanchez and could actually give him a run for his money but we also got a youngster willing to be thrown in the mix too. The future looks promising.

Kindly remember 2019 was a WC year so nearly all of us expected Sanchez/DB/Miotti to be the 3 FHs selected for the world cup. Nothing controversial about it and to be honest, pretty ******* obvious. Remember UAR had pretty much stated that only those playing for Jaguares+SR franchises+domestic clubs were eligible for the Pumas. Players made their decisions accordingly, many of them sacrificing tons of money in the process. Sanchez was still in because he played 2018's SR season and that still counted. A technicality, whatever.
So what happened?

First, they decided to go to the world cup with TWO FH's. Let me say it again. TWO FHs! Arguably the most critical position, one replacement only.
To add insult to injury they chose Sanchez and... Urdapilleta. I've got nothing against Urdapilleta, I actually like him, but he didn't fit the criteria that UAR set out to be eligible to play for the Pumas as he played in France the entire time. You have to understand how insulting this must have been to everyone who decided to sacrifice a lot of time and money on a rather limited career horizon just to play for the national team.
What they did to Diaz Bonilla and Miotti was criminal. They pushed him onto the stage to sing after Sinatra, and he performed very, very well when it mattered only to be thrown under the bus after that.

I am particularly fond of a few Arg players (Moroni, Montoya, etc) but Diaz Bonilla is a player i'd like to buy a beer to and say "thanks, what you did didn't go unnoticed". Dunno why. I expected little from him, and i wasn't alone. And again, and again, and again he shut me up.
I feel he was severely mistreated and in return, he behaved nothing but gallantly, at least from an average fan's pov.

And I like Carreras, a lot actually, but we've got Boffelli as a kicker and i really, really, really don't like him. He's rather good with ball in hand but he is a huge liability on defence and being the designated kicker pretty much guarantees him being in the starting XV every, single game.

Gonna go on quite a limb here: both Miotti and Diaz Bonilla could have been just as good if not better than Sanchez in the national team with better management containing and supporting them. I remember vividly what i saw in them when they played: talent. Not Dan Carter material, sure, but good enough to be the first choice for the national team. The kind of player that could be thrown in any mix as FH and tells you 'stfu and move aside, i know what to do. Just give me the bloody ball'.
I haven't seen that from them since 2019 and that is a tragedy.

Apologies for derailing. You touched a never.

Yes, people were screaming at the Pumas to select European based players but:

a) it was dishonorable to those who made financial sacrifices to stay with Jaguares
b) we are seeing now the potential upside of such a move was exaggerated (which was my suspicion)

Although he plays in my city, I agree Boffelli is a bit overrated. He's useful to have and probably international standard, but I'd be hoping for better options across the back line. I hope Miotti finds his mojo. He is young enough to become an asset to club and country.