The Pumas threatened to win their first Rugby Championship match in 16 attempts against South Africa in their 2014 openers and almost got on the board against the Wallabies, but for Hooper’s heroics.
Australia were comfortable if not dominant as they went 29-17 ahead with a Peter Betham try after an hour, but the Pumas refused to lay down.
Marcelo Bosch and Joaquin Tuculet crossed for their second and third tries in a late surge, adding to Manuel Montero’s first-half effort to take it down to the wire.
They were on the front foot as the game ended, with the referee penalising sub scrum-half Tomas Cubelli for feeding an attacking scrum 5m out too early.
Hooper says the basics let the Wallabies down.
“Their comeback was due to our discipline and errors,” said Hooper. “We couldn’t exit, we knocked on in our own ‘d’ zone. We have got to get better, get clinical and take pressure off our backs. But that’s two in a row now.”
Pumas captain Agustin Creevy was humble in defeat.
“We were thinking about winning that game and scoring that try. But we made a mistake and didn’t get it,” Creevy said. “We know they are an excellent team. We know that we can beat other teams but Australia is a very good team.”
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