Player ratings: Heavy work
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The Wallabies beat the Pumas on the gold Coast, but they made heavy work of it as the visitors finished strong.
The home side had dominated the opening hour, but allowed the South Americans back into the game in the final stages and found themselves having to hang on for dear life.
The Wallabies showed just how dangerous they can be in patches, but were not able to find the consistency to put the Pumas away.
They managed to frustrate the superior Pumas scrum, and scored three tries but fell away worryingly towards the end of the game and nearly gave it away.
We rate the Australian players:
15 Israel Folau
Good under the high ball as usual with a few neat touches on attack, but did not really make the most of the space given to him.
6/10
14 Peter Betham
Missed an important tackle on his opposite number Manuel Montero, but did well to stay on his feet in the tackle and finished his try well.
6/10
13 Tevita Kuridrani
A fairly quiet outing for him compared to his stand-out game last week, but he did the basics well and did not let his side down.
6/10
12 Matt Toomua
Acted as a second playmaker and took the ball at first-receiver, did some good work in the tackle but a few sloppy mkoments as well.
7/10
11 Rob Horne
Looked for work and made ground when he got the chance to run in space, but was also blown up a few times.
6/10
10 Bernard Foley
Took the ball flat and attacked the line well. Showed some great footwork to break the line but held on too long when he could have put Horne over for a try.
7/10
9 Nick Phipps
Provided quick service and made life difficult for his opposite number with his abrasive manner. Great break to set up Peter Betham's try.
8/10
8 Ben McCalman
Made ground on defence and attack, did plenty of hard work but was not given the space he needed to really impose himself.
6/10
7 Michael Hooper
Another all-action game from the captain whose hunger was rewarded with two tries. He ran good angles and worked hard as ever at the breakdown but also got blown up a few times.
7/10
6 Scott Fardy
A disappointing performance with too many sloppy moments as his handling let him down and he got blown up at breakdown as well.
5/10
5 Rob Simmons
Impressive in the line-outs and tackled hard but threw a few dodgy passes at crucial times.
6/10
4 Sam Carter
Did plenty of hard work in the tight phases and stole some line-out ball as well in an industrious game.
7/10
3 Sekope Kepu
Made a few good runs and held up well in the scrums against the powerful Pumas front row.
6/10
2 Tatafu Polota-Nau
Brought his typical physicality in his 50th Test, putting his body on the line and solid in the set-pieces.
6/10
1 James Slipper
Carried the ball well and often, although he did lose it in contact a few times. Solid at scrum-time and won a few penalties in that area.
7/10
Replacements:
16 James Hanson (On for Polota-Nau, 40 mins)
Came on at half-time but battled a bit in the set-pieces.
5/10
17 Pek Cowan (On for Slipper, 50 mins)
Got shoved backwards in the scrums as the Pumas took control.
4/10
18 Ben Alexander (On for Kepu, 58 mins)
Battled at scrum-time as the Pumas got the ascendency, but made a few telling tackles.
5/10
19 James Horwill (On for Carter, 62 mins)
Tackled hard but did not get much of an opportunity to impose himself.
6/10
20 Scott Higginbotham (On for Fardy, 49 mins)
Came on at blindside and made an impact as he charged around and threw himself at the Pumas.
7/10
21 Matt Hodgson (On for McCalman, 70 mins)
got stuck in on defence and attacked the breakdown in his time on the pitch.
7/10
22 Nic White (On for Phipps, 74 mins)
Added some urgancy on defence as he managed to disrupt the Pumas.
7/10
23 Kurtley Beale (On for Toomua, 52 mins)
Added some attacking flair with a few neat touches but failed to have the impact expected.
6/10
By Michael de Vries
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