Wallabies outplayed by Argentina and out-coached by Michael Cheika

After a golden week atop the Rugby Championship ladder, the Wallabies are back in the doldrums after their 48-17 walloping by Michael Cheika’s Pumas on Sunday. On the strength of their courageous comeback win in the opening round, Australian rugby fans had dared dream the men in gold might repeat the dose in San Juan before marching over South Africa (as they did in 2021), then vanquishing a sickly All Blacks.

But the fumbling nature of their game in San Juan and the brutality of the scoreline has snuffed that hope and now, yet again, there is only tunnel at the end of that light. Defenders of the faith will find excuses in the departure of captain Michael Hooper before the first Test and the glut of injuries that has beset the side these past months, but the bare bones of this heavy defeat are the Wallabies were outplayed, out-enthused – and perhaps most worryingly of all – out-coached.

Although Dave Rennie continues to enjoy the strong support of Rugby Australia, the pressure on the coach is growing. With just two wins from his last eight Tests and an overall win-rate stubbornly sub-40% – the worst Australian record since the game turned professional in 1995 – the tremors of concern are now panicked shudders as the Wallabies wobble on their path to glory at the Rugby World Cup next September.

Since the seemingly indestructible Hooper succumbed to his “mindset” struggles, speculation has bubbled up in the media that Rennie is training his players too hard and that the punishing regime is impacting the minds and bodies on match day. Whether the scattered thinking of young men subjected to excess mental and physical fatigue is why Australia consistently start Tests so sluggishly remains up for debate.

Certainly, they