No good: Ewen McKenzie talks to Tatafu Polota-Nau at halftime.
The Wallabies may have denied Argentina on the Gold Coast, but they could travel to South Africa without the man who helped make the 32-25 victory possible.
Hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau, whose assured set piece work helped deny the Pumas their customary scrum dominance in the first half at Cbus Stadium, has injured his left ankle and is in “serious doubt” for the Wallabies’ final two Tests of the Rugby Championship.
Winger Peter Betham is also in doubt after aggravating the foot injury that caused him to miss the bulk of the Super Rugby season this year.
Coach Ewen McKenzie said after the match it appeared the Wallabies’ hooker and winger “curse” had struck again.
“[Tatafu] has to get a scan, he’s not looking great,” McKenzie said.
“The winger-hooker curse continues. We get players back and then they disappear, quickly, unfortunately.
“They’re both in pretty serious doubt to travel.”
It is a cruel blow to Polota-Nau, who made it back from a medial ligament injury in his knee to play his 50th Test on Saturday.
For the 40 minutes of rugby he played, the Wallabies scrum and lineout were solid, much to the chagrin of Argentina’s hooker and captain Agustin Creevy.
“The scrum was really tough in the first half, they [Australia] played it very well,” Creevy said.
“Only in the last 20 minutes did our scrum perform … and in the last scrum we felt we had it but the referee sanctioned us.”
Replacement hooker James Hanson will be the obvious choice to take over from Polota-Nau should McKenzie’s worst fears materialise, with Saia Fainga’a in reserve.
It was also a body blow for Betham, who missed more than three months of rugby after fracturing the foot against the Stormers in Cape Town in April. He made it back in time to come off the bench in the side’s Super Rugby final win in August and scored a try on Saturday in just his second Test.
NSW veteran Adam Ashley-Cooper should be available after missing the Gold Coast match with a neck injury, while Brumbies winger Joe Tomane looks set for the call up in Betham’s place after spending this week with the squad. Henry Speight was ruled out for at least a month with a hamstring injury last week.
“[Tomane has] only played 60 minutes of football, we’re lucky there wasn’t a Canberra NRC game this week so he’s in cotton wool at the moment,” McKenzie said.
The Wallabies have one week off before flying to Cape Town on September 22 for the final two-game block of the Rugby Championship.
Captain Michael Hooper said the Wallabies had to get better at “simple stuff” after an error-ridden win.
“I spoke about that last week against South Africa – the knock ons – and Link [McKenzie] touched on it, we put ourselves in these situations in our own zone,” Hooper said.
“To take pressure off ourselves is a must and we’ll be a better team if we can do that.”
Empty spaces: Yet another sparse crowd has the ARU concerned.
The Wallabies have vowed to win back the fans after drawing their lowest home Test crowd this century.
Only 14,281 patrons turned out at Cbus Super Stadium to watch Australia survive a late Argentine onslaught and win 32-25 on Saturday night.
There were six tries and plenty of attacking rugby from a hot-and-cold Wallabies outfit but the code is paying the price for a lack of Test success, and some dour play, in the past decade.
The fickle Gold Coast market also must shoulder blame for the paltry attendance – more than 1000 fewer than when Fiji played in Canberra in 2010 (15,438) – and the tourist strip is in danger of losing hosting rights.
“There’s lots of factors going on there but in the end we want to be playing in front of the biggest crowds we can find,” said Australia coach Ewen McKenzie.
“It’s a great venue and it would be nice to have a full stadium; that’s the objective, to fill stadiums.
“It’s up to us to do our bit as a team, we have to try and get people coming back and watching.”
McKenzie has attempted to shape an attractive, attack-oriented style since taking over from Robbie Deans but his side is still struggling to captivate the public.
Crowds in all rugby venues have dropped markedly over the past three years, with numbers only spiking for last year’s British and Irish Lions series.
Tests this year in Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth were also well down in a worrying sign for the cash-strapped Australian Rugby Union.
Despite having 80 per cent of possession in the first half, and playing 78 per cent of that time in Pumas’ territory, Australia scored only one try before the break.
They also squandered a 29-13 lead with 20 minutes left, to face a menacing Argentine scrum on their line in the last minute.
The Wallabies were then let off the hook when the Pumas pack engaged too early.
“To be honest, right throughout that whole game I felt really comfortable until those last two minutes,” skipper Michael Hooper said.
“To get that short-arm (penalty) at the end was nice. The heart was pumping pretty hard there.”