Player ratings: Puma pride
The Pumas were gallant in their 15-33 loss to the All Blacks at Estadio Ciudad de la Plata on Saturday.
The spirited hosts played some of their best rugby of the season in the first half when they went blow for blow with the defending champions and trailed just 9-11 at half-time.
Their desire was evident in their aggressive defence, their line-out was much-improved and they gave the visitors a scrummaging lesson.
Unfortunately for them, though, they couldn’t maintain their pace and intensity for the full 80 minutes and tellingly, couldn’t unlock the All Blacks’ defence.
It was a promising performance nonetheless and they should be confident ahead of their final game of the championship against the struggling Wallabies next weekend.
Quintin van Jaarsveld rates the Pumas players.
15 Juan Martín Hernández
Made a couple of unforced mistakes including a kick-off that went straight into touch and failed to trouble the defence.
6/10
14 Lucas González Amorosino
His hands let him down on a couple of occasions and he missed three tackles.
5/10
13 Marcelo Bosch
Made some aggressive hits and slotted a key long-range penalty shortly after the break to put the Pumas in the lead.
6.5/10
12 Santiago Fernández
Rock solid on defence and kept the visitors honest with some attacking grubbers.
6/10
11 Juan Imhoff
Made an excellent early break and continued to ask questions of the All Blacks’ defence.
6.5/10
10 Nicolás Sánchez
Missed just one kick at goal and made an unrivalled 11 tackles, although he missed three others.
6/10
9 Martín Landajo
A tad slow to the breakdown but his tactical kicking was an asset.
6/10
8 Juan Manuel Leguizamón
Dynamic with ball in hand, won two turnovers and defended well.
6.5/10
7 Pablo Matera
Tigerish in the tight loose but slipped off too many tackles.
5/10
6 Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe (captain)
Was the heartbeat of the side. Tackled like a Trojan (10 tackles), was the hosts’ most effective ball carrier and the go-to man in the line-out.
7/10
5 Patricio Albacete
Showed what a profound difference he makes to the side and their line-out in particular. With the veteran calling the shots, the line-out went from a weakness to a strength. He also contributed across the park with no less than 10 tackles.
7.5/10
4 Julio Farías Cabello
Dependable in the line-out and at the restarts.
6/10
3 Juan Figallo
Dominated an All Black centurion at scrum time.
8/10
2 Eusebio Guiñazú
His accuracy in the line-out was much-important but he was poor on defence.
5.5/10
1 Marcos Ayerza
Like his fellow prop, he ploughed straight through the All Black front row.
8/10
Replacements:
16 Agustín Creevy (on for Guiñazú, 63rd minute)
Not enough time to be rated.
17 Nahuel Lobo (on for Ayerza, 69th minute)
Not enough time to be rated.
18 Juan Pablo Orlandi (on for Figallo, 63rd minute)
Not enough time to be rated.
19 Mariano Galarza (on for Cabello, 58th minute)
Conceded a penalty and missed a tackle.
5/10
20 Benjamín Macome (on for Leguizamón, 71st minute)
Not enough time to be rated.
21 Tomás Cubelli
Not used.
22 Felipe Contepomi (on for Fernández, 60th minute)
Nothing groundbreaking but he was solid on defence.
6/10
23 Horacio Agulla (on for Amorosino, 60th minute)
Only afforded a couple of runs with little space to work with.
6/10
