Will Genia and Quade Cooper showcased their attacking flair to guide the Wallabies to a 36-20 bonus-point win over Argentina in the Rugby Championship Test at nib Stadium in Perth on Saturday.
Genia was influential throughout, scoring two tries in a man-of-the-match performance, while Cooper set up two tries with beautiful inside passes that cracked open Argentina's defence. The fly-half's good work was overshadowed somewhat, however, by his ill-disciplined shoulder charge in the 66th minute, when he was handed a yellow card after collecting Argentina's flyhalf Nicolas Sanchez with an off-the-ball no-arms tackle.
The Wallabies scored two early tries in their 29-15 win over Argentina in the 2015 Rugby World Cup semi-final, and they went on another early rampage in Perth - posting three tries in the opening 12 minutes, and finishing with five to delight the vast majority of the 16,202 fans on hand.
Outside centre Samu Kerevi started the onslaught, touching down after just 43 seconds following a scuffed clearance kick from Argentina.
Hometown hero Dane Haylett-Petty was the next to score, after a well-worked lineout and a nice inside pass from Cooper, and the score was 21-0 after 12 minutes following some magic from Genia. The scrum-half unleashed a heavy tackle to knock the ball loose from Sanchez before soccering the ball forward, and he outsprinted Pumas counterpart Tomas Cubelli to collect the ball and crash over the line.
Argentina worked themselves into the game, dominating territory and possession but two penalties were all they could muster and the Wallabies, for whom Scott Sio was sin-binned in the 33rd minute, for foul play, went to the break with a 21-6 lead.
Pumas winger Santiago Cordero scored in the 44th minute to jangle the Wallabies' nerves, but Sean McMahon, a 36th-minute for David Pocock, dispelled any thoughts of a boilover when he bounced off four defenders to set up Genia for his second try in the 52nd minute.
Cooper then unleashed a no-look inside ball to set up Michael Hooper's try in the 64th minute, and the game was as good as over with the margin blowing out to 20 points.
Facundo Isa scored Argentina's second try in the closing stages, but that was as close as the visitors would get and the Wallabies moved to second place on the ladder.
