Without calling the season a failure, Wallabies coach Dave Rennie says his side will be judged on results and on that basis they have a “long way to go” after missing yet another chance to post a win on Saturday night.
On a wet night in Sydney which made using the ball difficult, Reece Hodge had a chance to break yet another stalemate and win the match with a penalty in the final minute.
But for the third in 2020, the long-range kicker missed to the right and the Wallabies had to settle for a 16-16 draw against the Pumas - their third draw in six Tests this year.
A devastated Hodge turned away and buried his head in his jersey as soon as he struck the ball in the pouring rain.
Only a fortnight earlier, Hodge missed a simpler chance against the same opposition as the Wallabies drew with Argentina 15-15 in Newcastle.
The near misses continued the theme from the start of the Test season almost two months ago, as Hodge hit the post in the 83rd minute from well beyond halfway during their 16-16 draw with the All Blacks in Wellington.
"I feel a bit sorry for him," Rennie said during his post-match press conference.
"He's kicked well and there weren't many lining up to make that shot. It would have been nice if he'd kicked that, but it is what it is."
Yet had it not been for his pressure-cooker conversion from out wide only a few minutes earlier, the Wallabies would likely have lost.
"It feels a little bit different to the draw a couple of weeks ago mainly because we found ourselves down on the scoreboard by 10 at one stage and by seven when we got a red card, so the boys did show a lot of character to fight their way back into that,” Rennie said.
Ultimately, however, the first-year Test coach said the Wallabies would be judged on winning and to that extent they hadn't achieved what they set out to.
"It's something we've talked a lot about, we've got to turn pressure into points," Rennie said.
"Having said that, they're a phenomenal defensive side and individually they tackle really well. We had our opportunities didn't we and they grabbed theirs as soon as they got them.
"We're a work in progress. We're good men who have worked hard and come together well, but, as I've said, we need to see that reflected in performance.
"There's no lack of heart and no lack of effort, but we've got to be way more clinical. Discipline was disappointing tonight and we made some dumb errors.
"We won one out of six, if you look at it from that perspective. It's disappointing, but I guess we've got an understanding of where we're at, the shifts we need to make and I look forward to seeing how these boys develop and apply pressure to us through Super Rugby."
The draw meant the Wallabies finished the year with just one victory – a 24-22 win over the All Blacks in Bledisloe IV.
Despite the third near miss of the season, Rennie didn’t believe the Wallabies’ inability to close out the match was psychological.
“We’ve put ourselves in a position to win all of them. I don’t think it’s psychological,” he said.
“All of those games shouldn’t have come down to a last-minute penalty attempt.
“We had opportunities tonight to convert and put a bit of scoreboard pressure on them.
“But the Argentinians are very good at hanging in games. They don’t play enormous amount of footy and conditions suited them a fair bit tonight and we had to resort to a lot of kicking, but as we found when we overplayed we made a lot of errors and gifted them field position.
“We’ve gone from a team that barely kicks to a team that managed that last part of the game pretty well.
“We’ve got so much more in us and I’m looking forward to showing that next year.”
Wallabies skipper Michael Hooper, who will head to Japan for a brief stint before returning to Australia before the Wallabies' series against France next July, cut a frustrated figure.
"It's a hollow feeling," he said.
"It's a bit disappointing that we haven't been able to get the results like Dave's talking about and converting that because it has been really good, but without results it doesn't show to everyone else. We're desperate for that, we really want to be able to show everyone some of the good stuff that we're doing, so hollow, disappointing."
Meanwhile, neither Rennie or Hooper said they had any issues with the cards that were handed out by Australian referee Angus Gardner.
Both Hooper and Pumas forward Marcos Kremer were shown yellow cards for high contact at the breakdown, while Lukhan Salakaia-Loto was sent off for a reckless high tackle in the open.
“In the end all we can do is play within the law. I know World Rugby are getting a committee together at the moment and they’re working early next week to discuss where things are at and how it’s going to be adjudicated,” Rennie said.
“Clearly contact to the head is something we want out of the game and it’s the way Gus saw it tonight and we have no issues with his decisions.”
