No excuses for Wallabies
Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie refused to blame off-field distractions for his team's defeat to the Pumas in Mendoza.
Argentina came from behind to secure a 21-17 victory, their first-ever win in the Rugby Championship at the end of their third season in the competition.
The Wallabies have been surrounded by controversy this week after playmaker Kurtley Beale was involved in an altercation with Wallabies business manager Di Patston, but McKenzie dismissed the suggestion that the incident had an influence on the team's performance.
"The game is played in the 80 minutes," he told AAP.
"I can tell you that we arrived 15 minutes late because we were stuck in a traffic jam or whatever. Do you want me to blame that?
"The game's played on the field and you prepare.
"We had tactics, we had a game plan and we got through all the stuff we needed to get through.
"You've got to give some credit to the opposition. You don't look for excuses.
"There's things on the field that we can do better," he added.
The Wallabies coach added that the intense travel schedule had not made things any easier for his side who had come within ten minutes of beating the Springboks at Newlands the week before.
"This is a different competition. People don't seem to appreciate the complexity of travelling around the world in two weeks – the wrong way around; the long away – and all the time zones and things like that.
"We used to make a song and dance about going to South Africa in Super Rugby 15 years ago. Now we're doing way beyond that.
"But I'm not using it as an excuse at all. That's the reality of it," he said.
Things do not get any easier for the Wallabies who next face the All Blacks in a Bledisloe Cup match in two weeks time.
New Zealand are coming off their first defeat since 2012, after going down to the Springboks at Ellis Park, but McKenzie says his side will embrace the challenge.
"I've said a thousand times, you love playing the All Blacks and I know how difficult that is and they won't be any happier for their loss," McKenzie said.
"But I look forward to the game."
