The Wallabies showed great signs against Argentina. Two of them were world-class

Second-rower Josh Canham continued his standout year and Max Jorgensen produced his best performance in some time in another promising display by the Wallabies in their 27-21 win over Argentina.

Canham is on the up in a big way. The Wallabies are starting to look relatively deep in the second row, but no one has Canham’s mixture of athleticism, lineout ability and toughness.

Jorgensen played like a loose forward in the tackle, and his ability to clear up a dangerous situation close to his own line late in the second half showed his strength and determination. In the air, he was also in the contest for those high balls, even if the Wallabies weren’t quite alert enough on some occasions to win the balls he knocked back.

Wallabies show they’ve got the right tough

There are Test wins that supporters will look back on fondly, and there are wins the coaches will take a lot from. The Wallabies’ win over Argentina was definitely the latter.

Head coach Les Kiss and defence coach Scott McLeod will certainly know they have a group of players willing to go to the well for them after a tough, gutsy win. Take the chat about an “understrength” Pumas team with a grain of salt: it was almost identical to the side that lost 17-10 to the Springboks last month, and they were unfortunate to lose that Test.

The Wallabies kept turning up in defence, even after they lost control of their kicking game in the second half, especially when Ryan Lonergan was replaced. The value of the win was in what it showed about the Wallabies’ togetherness – and it does become a habit.

The case for the defence

With the Wallabies defending their own line in the first half, captain Allan Alaalatoa cut Pablo Matera in half with a big hit and then was unlucky not to win a breakdown penalty with a second effort shortly afterwards. Rob Valetini also put his body on the line.

It summed up their determination to make the home side work for every point, and the rewards duly came in the second half as the Pumas started to make some errors against the resilient defence.

The Wallabies attack didn’t click after a fast start, but McLeod could be seen applauding his troops in the coaches box. It was a nice sign of progress in that area of the game.

There was some ugly footy as well

Australia’s kicking game was substandard in the second half. Tate McDermott, Carter Gordon and Tom Wright were all guilty parties, with kicks that were either too short or too long, while McDermott also had a kick charged down.

It is a crying shame that McDermott suffered a serious hamstring injury last year. At the time he was in excellent form, and has not yet rediscovered his rhythm. The Wallabies lose something when Lonergan is off the field, and they will simply need to be patient while McDermott works his way into some better form.

The poor tactical kicking was partially offset by a bright cameo from Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, who looked threatening with the ball, but the Wallabies knew after the Test they had made things difficult for themselves with some of those wayward kicks.

All Blacks off the pace

The Springboks tied up their series against New Zealand 1-1 with a 33-26 win in Cape Town, but the second Test resembled the opener in that the losing team will feel they didn’t do themselves justice.

The All Blacks looked just off the pace in thought and deed from the opening whistle, when Jordie Barrett cleared the ball unconvincingly to set up South Africa’s wave of early pressure. The All Blacks were still in a position to snatch a draw in the final stages, but that would have been harsh on the Springboks.

Veterans Siya Kolisi, Eben Etzebeth and Cobus Reinach delivered for coach Rassie Erasmus and the All Blacks will not win the series unless they find a way to play through South Africa.

With Peter Lakai and Asafo Aumua named on the bench thus far, Dave Rennie’s men look a bit shy of heavy ball carriers to take the fight to the Springboks from the outset.

The series is threatening to turn toxic as a war of words breaks out over the Springboks’ scrummaging, but the All Blacks are just poking the bear with that tactic: the real key to winning will be their decisions at the selection table this week.