My take is that was a very frustrating result in which we just weren’t able to finish things off and as the game went on it sapped us and invigorated them. Has to be said that Argentina are a very good defensive team and they deserve a lot of credit for the last two weeks. Actually thought we were great in the first half, we dominated almost across the board.
A few thoughts:
Hodge - I absolutely love at 10. Maybe I have a different view of a 10 than a lot of people here but this is by far his best position for me. He is a well rounded and considered player with a cool head, with a good kicking game to boot. Move him anywhere else in the backline and his lack of ball running ability and skill under the highball make him a weak option. Not solely on him but we are winning the territory battle and I for one love it.
Paisami - What a great game from him. I feel like people think being hard running and a ball player are mutually exclusive but he is showing otherwise. Exactly what I’d want from a 12 and I look forward to seeing him play over the years.
Philip - Another huge game, I’d have him as our top lock, overseas options included.
Selections - I think Rennie has made some pretty big mistakes here across all the games, mostly in terms of the bench. Having Lolesio on the bench for the first game, when he stated afterwards that he wasn’t confident in him, given it was a close game was incredibly dumb. Did he plan on losing and throwing him on at the end to experience that? Liam Wright has shown nothing but more importantly, unless he is coming on at 7 isn’t the style of player you want on the bench. Gordon likewise has shown nothing, incredibly slow getting the ball out and also poor at his box kicks, which he is apparently selected for. Hosea should probably have got experience at some point too.