Under 20s scrum Argentina into ground

The Teams

Australia

The Aussies had a better programme than they had last year, starting in October, and the effect of the better preparation was obvious.

They had scrummed well against senior players in their last two warm-up games in Sydney, but one didn’t expect them to gain five tight head scrums against a nation that prides itself in that area.

They won all of their scrum ball and looked shaky only once. Don’t cry for your scrummaging Argentina: the truth is the Aussies never let you.

Their breakdown work was good and mostly timely and accurate, and their support play and offloading were exciting.

However their restart reception was poor. More often than not the reception pods were in the wrong place to receive a ball headed in their direction. Clearance from the rucks was often too slow and the scrumhalf nabbed, or his pass spoiled.  Handling errors dulled the effect of attacking play.

As good as their backs were in the second half they should have profited more in the first. A half-time lead of six points was small beer.

Argentina

They were commanding in restart attack and defence. The way their kicker and runners worked together on restart attack put the Aussie restart defence to shame. They also had the edge over the Aussies in the lineouts.

They had bouts of good play but apart from their lineout drive for their first try, where they aimed their maul where the Aussie defenders weren’t, or not enough of them were, they didn’t threaten a lot.

They didn’t look as fit as the Aussies did either.

Don’t mention the scrums.

 The Players

Australia

3 points: – 3. Allan Ala’alatoa the driving force of the Aussie scrum

2 points: – 7. Rowan Perry. I said this bloke had a whiff of Heinrich Brüssouw about him and now folks can see why.

1 point: – 6. Sean McMahon. A good captain’s knock including a try-saving tackle and some abrasive runs.

No points: Forwards coach Cam Blades, though he deserved some for the scrum.

As well as the Aussies played, the absence of tight-head lock Tom Staniforth was noticeable. One hopes that this dominant player will be available soon.

Assistant coach Cameron Blades (lower right 2001) – deserved some points

Argentina

3 points: 8. – Santaigo Montagner – scored a good try and made a good break but he should have noticed the winger on his left.

2 points: 6. – Tomas Leazana – he was a goer when he got the ball, and a savage tackler: just ask Jim Stewart

1 point: 10. – Patricio Fernandez – did the best with what was in front of him; (probably wished he had the Oz pack in front of him.)

The coach

Australian Head Coach Adrian Thompson was a lot happier than last year when his team lost to Ireland in the opening game:

I am very satisfied with the way we played today and it was a true team performance that enabled us to win.

He was particularly pleased with the forwards:

Our forwards laid an excellent platform for success by dominating the scrums throughout the match which allowed our backs to have a constant opportunity to attack.

But it wasn’t all roses:

Our handling errors was a cause of concern for me though and this is an area we will focus on before we take on England in our next match.

The Scoring

Australian Under 20s 36 (Andrew Kellaway 2, Allan Ala’alatoa, Brad Lacey tries; Jake McIntyre 2 con, 4 pen), def Argentina Under 20s 17 (Enrique Pieretto Heiland, Santiago Montagner tries; Patrico Fernandez 2 con, pen).