Hosts serve up nice starter

Rumours of Australia's demise do indeed look premature. The hosts kickstarted their attempt to become the first side to retain the William Webb Ellis Cup by ultimately overcoming the feared Pumas threat with something to spare.

They could have won by more and they'll assuredly play better.

Even allowing for their inability to be more clinical, either in finishing well-orchestrated moves or in pressing home a first-quarter lead of 11-0, this was possibly their best performance of a hitherto unconvincing season as well.

Not alone did their previously unimpressive pack provide a good platform in the set-pieces, but for the first time in six outings, the Wallaby pack freed up quick ball at the breakdown and allowed a talented and potent back division to attack with depth and width.

Outside them, Stephen Larkham was back to his vintage best (even if this included some trademark howlers with attempted touch-finders) scything through himself or firing out miss passes invitingly for the outside runners. With a bit more precision they'd have put daylight between themselves and Argentina long before Joe Roff's 74th-minute try sealed the outcome.

The biggest blight on their performance was the severe concussion suffered by lock David Giffin, but coach Eddie Jones confirmed that Giffin had regained consciousness and would be rejoining the team at their hotel last night.

Wallabies captain George Gregan, who has withstood the heightening pressure and expectation with typical aplomb, was studiously content afterwards.

"It wasn't a perfect performance," he admitted, "but we don't want to play our best rugby now. We are an improving side and we are going to get better.

"It was a normal Test once you got into the game but the occasion was fantastic," he added. "The first game of the World Cup in your country is quite special. I think the whole team would have been energised by the cheer out there and it was great to be a part of it."

Home advantage came into effect particularly in the first quarter and was effectively worth 11 points. Argentina looked almost too wound up, even in the preliminaries. Though the penalty count wasn't especially high against them, they spent too much time querying penalties, especially Agustin Pichot, and seemed to miss the calming influence of Lisandru Arbizu.

Their defence had too many holes and individually, players were missing first-up tackles and with Mario Ledesma unable to buy a throw (one was pinched and four were crooked in the first half alone) they were constantly on the back foot.

They manoeuvred an attacking throw on the Australian line early on after a typical dart off a quick tapped penalty by Pichot, but Ledesma's throw was nicked at the front of the line by Giffin and the after-effects appeared to last until half-time.

"When you don't obtain the ball in a position like that then it is like a quagmire for the rest of the game," reflected their coach, Marcelo Loffreda, ruefully.

They also needed Felipe Contepomi to convert whatever chances came his way, but as when he missed seven out of nine in their last clash in Buenos Aires a year ago, Contepomi once again gave the lie to the notion he is "a world-class goal-kicker", as Matty Williams described the Puma outhalf in capturing him from Bristol at the end of last season.

Loffreda's gamble in leaving the more reliable if comparatively ponderous Gonzalo Quesada on the bench failed. Contepomi missed four out of five, as well as a kickable drop goal, for a combined tally of three from 14 in two meetings with Australia. You can't win matches with those sort of ratios. Donnybrook be warned.

Larkham was the catalyst for much of the Pumas' early problems. The lineout, with Nathan Sharpe pre-eminent, went well, while David Lyons's strong ball-carrying would have done much to allay Aussie fears about the absence of Toutai Kefu.

Roff's return is a huge boost for the Wallabies. He still looks like he's doing everything in between puffing cigars.

After Elton Flatley's early couple of penalties it was Roff who looped around Larkham to scamper up the wing and then linked with Flatley before switching play back across field. A couple of phases later Wendell Sailor crashed through some feeble tackling by Gonzalo Longo and Pichot to score.

Sailor looked Lomuesque in barrelling over and through players, but repeatedly failed to find team-mates, while Mat Rogers ultimately promised more than he delivered and the midfield will benefit from Stirling Mortlock's return.

The Wallabies were streetwise enough to survive in the scrums, by concentrating on swift feeds or twisting or bringing it down. The Pumas were, harshly, more often penalised in the scrum for pushing too soon.

Most of the marginal calls went to the home side. A blatant example was a moment early in the second half, when Felipe Contepomi hacked on after a knock-on in the tackle by Flatley as referee Paul Honiss shouted "advantage". The ball had scarcely landed 20 yards upfield, with Contepomi easily outnumbered by three Aussies, when Honiss deemed "advantage over" and Australia found touch 50 metres upfield.

Toward the hour mark, and still just about in touch at 17-3, the Pumas pack started to crank it up. Multi-phase attacks followed, veteran backrowers Rolando Martin and Longo especially pounding away on the blindside. Ledesma got his hands on the ball plenty of times, too, but for all their close-in mauling and straight running, their loose possession was often too static, and the backs only tended to get the ball when the forwards were finished.

Given their pace and trickery out wide, their rugby was crying out for some width, and when they suddenly, if belatedly, applied it, Jose Orengo's round-the-corner pass gave Ignacio Corletto the chance to score a fine try in the corner.

It was the least they deserved but it served only to rouse the Wallabies, and Roff's cutback try off Matt Giteau's skip pass emphasised his and their superior cutting edge. Had it been a bit sharper (most of their 14 handling errors were committed out wide by the backs) they'd have won by a deal more.

Scoring sequence: 6 mins: Flatley pen 3-0; 14 mins: Flatley pen 6-0; 20 mins: Sailor try 11-0; 27 mins: Contepomi pen 11-3; 40 mins (+4): Flately pen 14-3; (half-time 14-3); 52 mins: Flatley pen 17-3; 72 mins: Corletto try 17-8; 74 mins: Roff try, Flatley con 24-8.

AUSTRALIA: M Rogers; W Sailor, M Burke, E Flatley, J Roff; S Larkham, G Gregan (capt); B Young, B Cannon, A Baxter, D Giffin, N Sharpe, G Smith, D Lyons, P Waugh. Replacements: D Vickerman for Giffin (47 mins); B Darwin for Baxter, M Cockbain for Smith (both 68 mins); M Giteau for Larkham (69 mins); C Whitaker for Gregan, L Tuqiri for Roff (both 77 mins).

ARGENTINA: I Corleto; JM Nunez Piossek, M Contepomi, J Orengo, D Albanese; F Contepomi, A Pichot (capt); R Grau, M Ledesma, O Hasan, I Fernandez Lobbe, P Albacete, S Phelan, G Longo, R Martin. Replacements: J Hernandez for Corleto (58-60 mins); M Reggiardo for Hasan (68 mins); M Durand for Phelan (69 mins). Sinbinned: M Contepomi (23-33 mins).

Referee: Paul Honiss (New Zealand).