The Wallabies have their fans dreaming again. Producing two famous victories over the Springboks, they executed a full 80-minute performance in the second to put the World Champions to the sword and elevate themselves to third on the World Rugby rankings, but now their attention turns to Argentina.
With two matches left of the Rugby Championship, the Wallabies have surprised many by finding themselves within striking distance of overtaking the Springboks and finishing the tournament in second place, but first they have to manage expectations and defeat the Pumas
The Wallabies executed their game plan to perfection against the Boks, shutting down their set piece and slicing through their defence, but the Pumas present a different scenario that will have Australia on their toes and changing tactics.
Read on as we discuss some of the key talking points for the first Australia vs. Argentina clash.
BACK-TO-BACK WINS ARE GREAT, BUT THE WALLABIES MUST MAKE WINNING A HABIT
Last week the Wallabies produced their most complete performance yet under Dave Rennie; their defence emulated a brick wall, their attack was potent while their disruption of the Springboks' set-piece laid the foundation for their more than impressive 30-17 win in Brisbane.
But it's not enough to do this just once, it's time the Wallabies produced repeat performances.
Throughout 2021, the Wallabies have bounced from masterful displays to some truly poor outings - Bledisloe III anyone? - but on Saturday night against the Springboks, Australia overcame the biggest challenge of the year to repeat and build from the Gold Coast and get their first back-to-back wins since 2019. With that accomplished, they face a new challenge - claiming three straight wins for the first time in four years.
With momentum building and belief growing, their two wins over the Boks will count for nothing if they don't make it two from two against the Pumas, and luckily it seems the players won't be taking Argentina lightly.
"From a team perspective, that means bugger all if we don't go out there and do it again this week," lock Darcy Swain said on Wednesday.
"No-one will remember winning against South Africa, everyone will remember us losing against Argentina. We've got to be just as good if not better this week, against the passionate Argentina."
The Wallabies have had more than one banana skid against the Pumas before. Last year they failed to put Argentina to the sword twice, finishing with two draws from their two clashes, while they lost to the Pumas on the Gold Coast in 2018 and there appears to be so much more on the line this time around.
But so far, the Wallabies appear to be a different beast in the backend of the Rugby Championships and dominated the game against the Springboks.
"We're well-conditioned now, we've put a lot of work into that and our skillset's improving, our game awareness has been better to," Rennie said.
"I think the ability for the players to stick to the plan over the last couple of weeks has been very strong, so we're learning and getting better."
In the end though, all the hard work the Wallabies put into the Springboks must now carry over to the Pumas.
DO THE WALLABIES HAVE A NEW SECRET WEAPON?
Argentina are famed for their scrummaging, it's been one of their biggest weapons in the international game for decades, but for the Wallabies it's the opposite, for many years it's been perceived as one of their weaknesses. Could that be about to change?
Across two weekends, the Wallabies managed to push and niggle at the Springboks' scrum, one of their biggest threats on the field, and in doing so collapsed the Boks game plan. It's imperative they do the same this week against the Pumas.
Retaining last week's starting front-row, it's clear Rennie is determined to maintain continuity and reward his players for their ability to disrupt the Springboks, and one player who was awarded much of the credit was Taniela Tupou.
Questioned over his scrummaging ability in the past, his 77 minute showing on Saturday in Brisbane included some of his best work at scrum time where he was instrumental in pinching two of the Boks scrums, while his short time on the field on the Gold Coast saw him help shove the Boks off the ball in the final scrum of the match, which resulted in a Nic White penalty that Quade Cooper kicked to seal the win.
Folau Fainga'a and James Slipper have been equally as dominant, while the Wallabies won a similar moment ahead of the halftime break in their opening clash on the Gold Coast.
Several pundits have questioned whether the Wallabies prop had been using completely legal tactics in order to disarm the Boks, but the scrum is well known for it's mysterious, dark arts, where props and hookers do what they can to push the letter of the law in order to gain the ascendancy and it seems the Wallabies are starting to use these tactics to their advantage.
It's a massive step up from a scrum that was decimated on several occasions against the All Blacks, and it will be tested again against the Pumas.
CAN THE PUMAS STRIKE A BLOW
It's been a hard and long 12 months for the Pumas, with the South Americans winning just one match since their stunning boil over of the All Blacks in November last year.
Claiming a draw against Wales before they beat them a week later in July, they've since lost twice to the Boks before they suffered big losses to the All Blacks. They currently look nothing like the side that shocked New Zealand last year, especially with the amount of injuries hampering the squad.
Naming the same team that was dominated by the All Blacks last week, Argentina coach Mario Ledesma is hoping his youthful team can strike a meaningful blow against the Wallabies and Rennie knows a wounded beast like the Pumas can be a dangerous opposition.
"They are a bit different, they'll want to express themselves, their forwards throw a hell of a lot more passes. They'll counter when given the opportunity - they're very good at it," he said on Thursday.
"They're also really good at filling the field, very disciplined around the defence and it can be hard to break down.
"The All Blacks, lots of points came from a little bit of individual brilliance - you beat someone you get an offload away and they score.
"What we've learned over the last few weeks is you've got to hang on in the fight for a long time and sometimes it takes 60 or 70 minutes to crack a side, so we need to see that resilience on the weekend."
Even if the Pumas continue with their all-out attacking game plan, they'll need to raise their game significantly in order to strike. Over the tournament, they've made just 10 clean breaks, while they've missed 31 and 24 tackles in their respective losses to the All Blacks. Meanwhile, they're determination to throw the ball around has seen them squander several opportunities to build on their possession.
This doesn't mean the Wallabies shouldn't be wary though, with heavy expectations on them to dominate this match, it presents the perfect opportunity for the Pumas to bring Australia back down to earth and as we've seen in the past they've brought the Wallabies unstuck before.
HIGH BALLS AND DISCIPLINE THE WALLABIES STICKING POINT
In one of their most complete performances yet under Rennie, the Wallabies looked unstoppable in almost every facet of the game. But it's clear there still remains two sticking points that they must overcome; their ill-discipline and their wobbles under the high ball.
In their first match against the Boks, the Wallabies were able to nullify the high ball, regularly creating 50/50 chances in the air and in most cases coming out on top. But last week there appeared to be a lack of communication between the back three - especially once Reece Hodge was brought on. It resulted in the Boks winning several high ball battles, while Hodge struggled to lay claim to several, spilling many in the air.
Their fumbles kept the Boks in the game early in the second half, and Rennie has no doubts it'll be an area their opposition will target.
"Every other team we play from now on (will utilise the high ball)," he said.
"We've given them pretty easy access around us to get to our jumpers which creates a contest in the air.
"What we know is we can legally get them on the outside shoulder, run next to them shoulder to shoulder and deny them access in.
"We've done a pretty poor job around that, we've done a lot of work on it, we haven't seen that transfer.
"If we can't secure the ball in the air it's an opportunity lost."
Meanwhile, their discipline has been an issue Rennie has been focused on for some time, with the Wallabies conceding 17 penalties last week - including a yellow card to Lachie Swinton for a dangerous tackle - which was one less than what they conceded a week earlier as well as two yellow cards.
These errors, especially their many 'dumb' penalties that have riddled their game for the past 12 months -- Matt Phillip in the opening minute last week, we're looking at you -- have cost them many times before and it could easily cost them this week against a fiery Pumas side that would more than enjoy seeing the Wallabies shed their composure.
A SELECTION CONUNDRUM AS HODGE WINS FULLBACK BATTLE FOR NOW
In the only forced change to the side for the weekend, Rennie has shown his trust in Reece Hodge, despite his off night against the Boks last week, to earn the No.15 jersey against the Pumas.
In a position coaches love to be in, Rennie had somewhat of a selection headache on his hands after Tom Banks was sidelined for the remainder of the Rugby Championship through a broken arm, with the returning James O'Connor putting his hand up for selection alongside Jordan Petaia who is seen by many as the long-term future option in the position.
Despite his many fumbles under the high ball last week, Hodge has won the position for the time being. With a booming kick, he's the perfect cog in Rennie's game plan as witnessed last week when he thumped the ball downfield - coming close to a 50/22 - before flying through to smash Damien de Alende and knock the ball loose.
His massive boot fits perfectly into Rennie's plan for better "balance" and he provides another valuable kicking option with his long-ranging penalty kicks. Playing alongside both Marika Koroibete and Andrew Kellaway for the Rebels also gives him a slight advantage - but better communication must be seen between the three this weekend.
"Hodgey put down a couple of high balls last week but outside of that he was excellent. His kicking was great, his defence was really strong and I guess he's a guy who's filled a lot of holes for us and he's really keen to try and establish himself somewhere and 15's his favourite spot.
"There's no doubt we think [O'Connor] can play 15; he won't give us the wheels of other guys from the back but a calm head, smart kicking game, strong organiser. So will just see how things pan out in the next few weeks but really happy with our selection around Reece."
Making just his second start at fullback means there'll be plenty of eyes on him and if there are any early wobbles under the high ball the Pumas be sure to bombard him.