Wallabies' time to deliver after impressive rugby redemption
Nothing less than a comprehensive win against a divided – literally - Argentinian team now counting the minutes until they can board a plane home is acceptable for an Australian side starting to walk the walk
The Wallabies will finish second in the Rugby Championship with victory over Los Pumas on the Gold Coast on Saturday night, and never has a silver medal been so welcome.
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This time last year the Wallabies finished last after just one win in four games.
It looked a long way back from there.
Wallabies coach Dave Rennie implored his team to take on a more ruthless approach in 2021 and back it with composure, skill execution, discipline and game management.
They've delivered on most fronts.
Australia bounced back from their All Blacks thrashings to beat the world champion Springboks twice and comfortably account for Los Pumas in Townsville last weekend.
They now sit third on the world rankings and can add to their growing reputation with wins against Japan, Scotland, England and Wales on the upcoming spring tour.
Typically, coach Dave Rennie is thinking Cbus before sea bass sushi, focusing on finishing off Argentina before placing Japan and the northern hemisphere trio on his to-do list.
"We're not trying to think too far ahead. We are still trying to grow our game," he said
"We've constantly talked about the quality of our performance and we're looking for a real clinical performance (on Saturday night)."
Argentina counting down to return after miserable tour
Los Pumas have been rebranded 'Lost Pumas' after six of their players crossed the Queensland-NSW border to visit Byron Bay and now found themselves locked out of the Sunshine State.
Their task was hard enough without shooting themselves in the foot and you have to wonder how much gasolina is left in the tank after a tour which has produced five losses in five games.
Rennie has given starts to Darcy Swain and Pete Samu after strong performances off the bench and added 38-year-old prop Greg Holmes, Japan-based backrower Sean McMahon, NSW half Jake Gordon and Brumbies duo Lachlan Lonergan and Tom Wright to his reserves.
It's the last hit-out before Rennie announces his squad for one of the more interesting and important spring tours in recent Australian rugby history, guaranteeing Argentina won't be given a moment's peace.
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