The Match That Made Real Madrid Sell Cristiano Ronaldo

In Perth, here we go. Longbottom gets up, out-left there from the kick-off, and Argentina come away now through Mournetta. A rugby player of the year nominee, could easily have taken the top prize such as his class. Across the field here goes González, the Argentinian muscle man. Longbottom aims up and makes the stop. On they come, Argentina at pace. There's a rare mistake from Mournetta. Lost forward, and Australia hold firm early. Well, Argentina starting fast. You can see the temper that they're trying to play at, the mistake there with the pass, but this guy here is just so brutal on the edge. González, not only the strength, but the footwork as well, but great sweeping from Longbottom. You spoke about his defense pre-game. It comes up, trumps right there, and there's a mistake you don't see very often from Mournetta. Well, the Aussie man managed to keep Fiji to seven points in their cup semi-final. See Chucky Stannard there, James Stannard, who played in Australia's last cup final win here in Australia. And Longbottom, the only two part of this matchday set up who tasted victory that night. Six years is a long time, Carl Tanana. Chucky Stannard knows the importance of aiming, especially up front. It's going to be a big day for Hutchinson, the skipper Malou and Lawson. Australia's first handle, here we go. Through Lancaster, had a huge day too. Can move, can Lancaster. Does he have enough to get away from Mournetta? It's play on for the moment. Now a trickles to touch. That's a spicy matchup near side Lancaster. The gun 20 year old up against Mournetta. I like that though. The young man has a go on the outside. He says, I'm not going to be intimidated about what you got on your CV. I'm going to back myself. And I like that kick downtown as well. Filandini with a throw for Los Pumas. Good weight on it and finds his target and spins it away. Malouf makes the stop there for Australia. Now pressure coming in defence from the men in gold. Here it is for Mournetta. Switching play late. Australia pressing, nicely hit. Malouf goes low and makes the chop. Now they number up over the right. Argentina, Hutchinson, a crossing coverage sends Osadjouk back infield. He in turn found Filandini. Good hands here from Argentina. That one's going forward, has it? No. The locals far side said, yes. Here now for Mournetta. Mournetta up over halfway. Still groaning on that far side in the sunshine here at HBF Park. That one catches the hand of Lawson. Play on. Yeah. And it falls here for Gonzalez. Gonzalez using feet, now clearing it away. That's a great take. Wider out. No advantage is the call. Well, I've got to say, Carl Tanana, that is one of the longest advantages I've ever seen in servants. And I want to see this pass. It is. Jeez, I think that's going to touch forwards. I think they're very unlucky there, Australia. But yeah, it was a very long advantage as well. Normally that's way over. Normally it's two passes and you're run and done. Interesting interpretation coming from Francisco Gonzalez. Yeah. Okay. Wait. Are we going to be able to TMO with this pass, are we? Australia. So, there's not another one. He's out there number 12. He'll be yellow card. Okay. Where is number 12? Yeah, here. Okay. He's definitely ready to go. Can I just ask you about the foul play-off? Yeah. I was playing advantage. They were both coming at each other, okay? Lawson looks up and he's bemused. So are the crowd here in Perth. Trying to work out what's just played out. It was in the act of tackling, Lawson. And he's deemed it a deliberate knockdown. Let's have a look here. He's coming in back in. That's it there. He's facing his own tri-line. That's come from the TMO. That hasn't come from him directly. Crouch. That sums it up, I think. Well, Papa Smurf's not on board, then. Find. What are we to think? Set. Anyhow, nil-nil the score. Anyhoo, indeed. And Argentina just released their speech. So, one pass and it'll likely be one score here. How quick is Marcos Monemaneta? Well, this is a tactic they employ at scrum time. They'll chuck him in first receiver. And when he gets the ball, he's already running. So, it's hard for defence with seven players on the field to catch him. But he just makes it look so easy. Marcos Monemaneta. And more importantly, he brings it all the way around. They need to pose to try and take the maximum. There goes the conversion, and it's 7-0. And the Aussie fans here at HVF Park, of which there are 18,000-odd, are still scratching their heads. Come on, please. They need the ball here. The Australians need a good lift. So, seven on six, still for another minute with Nate Lawson off the field. Down comes Farmer. Come to the air. Come to your left. Dowling, rather. Just lost him in the sun there for a moment. Jeez, that was well executed with the lift and the catch there from the restart from Australia, directly in that sunlight. That is tough work. It was nice and high, too, from the restart. Cup titles are home to the Australian team, too. But look at this. Oh, yeah, Dowling does fantastic. Chilts just takes it out. Clever here from Longbottom, goes over the top, but then it's lost. Wired out. It was Sargent, who's been so good for Australia, not just this weekend, but in Cape Town and the tournament before Christmas as well. And Argentina get the ball back to Australia. Now, welcome back, Lawson. I'm not sure you want that trick play at the line-out time. You're so good there in that area. I know Lawson was off, but Malouf's still very good. Hutchison as well. What a security ability. You don't want the trick plays like that. Dowling's just been hurt here, but I think he's given it the OK. You'll make it out. You'll make it. Crouch. Find. Watch out for Gonzalez in the centre for Argentina. He loves these positions. You've seen how dangerous they are after that opening try. Just the one pass. Zumaneta and up the middle now. Steaming onto it is the captain, Alvarez. They want it wide out. Offsets Pellandini. Now back in field for Schultz. Good pick-up down low, and then he's crunched by Lawson. Looking to get a little bit of his own back, taking out some of his frustration there after that questionable call that saw him off for two. Good feet. Good muscle again from Gonzalez. Zumaneta stacking up possession here, Argentina. Take that out of the way. Oh, and Lawson was over, but unfortunately Hutchison couldn't get out of there. And one concerning thing for Australia is that the ball hasn't got in the hands of Maurice Longbottom. That's what they need to do. He controls everything for them. Argentina at the moment just locking down possession, dominating passes, more than 27 compared to Australia's two at the moment. Crouch, find, sit, hold. I'll take some stopping here. Argentina, there's another penalty. They might just take the scrum again. Going down. Just need to be wary here, Australia. Try to fall, which is they pull out right at the end. That's what collapsed it. Well, there was that period wasn't there, KT, over in Cape Town where it was just a minute or two before half time where Argentina went berserk and blew the game out. Blew it open and locked it up on their way to a 45-12 win. Australia need to hang on here somehow. Murray lays it off at the line. Good hands, though, on the other side for Gonzalez. Juanita wants it out wide. Enforcer grabbing her jerseys and now dropped inside the Australian 22. Peeling away goes Osadzuk. Osadzuk dummies the switch. Malouf just hangs on. And Osadzuk hurls the ball out the side. His teammates look over and go, Mateusz, what's doing? Australia, though, crucially, turn them away. And at the break in the cup final, it is Argentina up by just seven. It's a full house. It'll erupt if the Aussies could find a way to come back here. Good weight on the restart. There it is for Australia. Argentina get in and it's ripped away and then tidied up. It's tidied up by Argentina. And Argentina will have the scrum feed. They were the ones that ripped it out. Here it is here, competition. Try and hold him up. Oh, he rips it out, Sargeant, there. That's what is deemed as the knock-on. Again, defensively, Australia have to answer here. All right, Argentina back in possession. Gonzalez, crash-running midfield. Nice and fast here for Alvarez. Trying to commit the Aussie attack to chase him cross-field. That's a great ball away for Rodrigo Isgro. Uh-oh, look out. They have got men in motion. And there's no stopping German Schulz. Well, pretty simple. Give it to your big boppers and let them roll. First, it was Gonzalez with the carry. Then they give it to Isgro, who's so good. And Schulz had a man outside. But he's running at full noise. Just a little bit of a body shift. And he's going to get Argentina second. Conversion is good too. And it's now Argentina up by 14. Ready? Time mark one. Just carries the 10 here. Lost four this one by Los Pumas. The Aussie coach, John Minetti, at halftime said, give it to our weapons. They haven't really fired a shot. There'll be one chance in the first half. But this is the opportunity now. They don't need to rush it either, Australia. They don't need to score off first base. Just got to be patient here. Well in this game, well in the fight. Just need to make them work, as John Minetti said. Crouch. Bind. Set. Longbottom, nice and clean from the base of that scrum. Roach. Dietrich Roach. Stands and sends it back to Longbottom. Longbottom trying to create something, anything. Malouf has to get loose. A way for Lawson is going to set up there for Argentina. And they are queuing up in field. They won't be required though. The hottest team on the circuit. He's starting to cook big time in Perth. Graziano with their latest try. Well, he's the one to come on and replace Herman Schilt. It was defensive pressure that caused this 50-50 pass. It's in their own 22. The bounce doesn't go Lawson's way. That's a nice in-ball in the fight to get over from Graziano. Unstoppable. And they hit 21 after the clever conversion from out wide off the bird of Murray as well. So Australia with just a quarter to run. Have to get loose in the chase to somehow maybe send it to Golden Point. At this stage looks unlikely. They are up against though the best sevens team in the world right now. There is no doubt about that. And after the youngsters get about their work, they bring on this man, the 37-year-old Gaston Revol, the Ironman from Argentina. Lancaster, for the last time we see him in Aussie sevens colours for a while. He'll be heading back to Super Rugby with the Melbourne Rebels. May just see him later in the year though at the Olympics. Roach. Malouf, long bottom. Staring right then left and now finding Dallin. Apparently Argentina not releasing the call. OK, come on. They're just so quick to that breakdown, aren't they? Ah, the Argentinians sending a lot of numbers there in Australia. Just can't get their hands on the pill whatsoever in this game. OK, one. Roach. Scoreline not dampening the spirits of the locals who have gone off three days straight now. Revol. Penalty Argentina. Malouf KT, I was speaking to former Aussie sevens coach Andy Friend yesterday and we were chatting around how well Paranozzi's side are doing and how well Argentina are doing. Some of them have been speaking with their coach, Andy Gomez-Correa. This has been an eight-year plan now, but he's put it into effect, committed to an eight-year plan to try and get them to the pinnacle of the world of sevens, and isn't he delivering? I think the environment that he's created, you've got superstars such as Escrow, who was a monster for the Pumas in the World Cup last year. He wants to come back and be a part of this programme because he's been part of that building process all the way from the start. When you get consistency of selections, you start getting consistency in performances, and you get self-belief, and that's exactly where they are right now. And there's not a single weak link in their matchday squad of 13. They're all match winners. Revolve. Mineta, speaking of match winners, look at this guy go. Oh, he's all money. Argentina are on fire in the west of Australia. And again, straight from the scrum, he is just so dangerous. One-on-one, he is so quick, he is so lethal. He is lights out. It's his ninth try of the weekend. What are you going to do? How do you get a mid on him? A rare miss, 26-0 the score. Don't tell me there's another one coming for Escrow. The offload's OK. It's another try. Oh, when you're hot, you're hot, and Argentina are smoking. Oh, the restart was on point. The run, he climbs the ladder, does Graziano. Inesco runs off his shoulder, gives an audacious pass, and it's Graziano who's the recipient, and he will get a double the number four. Argentina didn't give him a real shot in their last cup final match-up over in Cape Town, and they've just loaded up and gone again here in Australia. This one will fly along, and Australia will look up and grab the ball and say, well, it's been so long since we've had hands on it, what do we do? Sani Gomez-Cora. Yeah, muy bien, he says. He's such a great man, we know him personally, don't we? Shawnee and all the hard work he's put in over those eight years he's spoken about. Tranquila for the boss. We'll see some emotion post-game, that's for sure. Thankfully there's no pool for them to bust open here in Perth. His palm up. Oh, he gets eaten out there by Fraja. Longbottom, kick gets clipped to the outside, it goes. Rossi's trying to deliver something here for the home fans. Longbottom. Roche to Turner. Good hands across the line. Gonzalez will score the final try. Matty Gonzalez slams in the final try to give the locals something to get around before they come back next year. This, not a bad way to round that out, K2. Not a bad angle to see, don't get much closer than that, do you? And that's one of the weapons John Manetti was talking about, that they needed to get the ball to, they just didn't have the opportunities to get it done enough to really challenge Argentina in this final. But it's a good way to finish it. Los Plumas, do it again. Argentina, so hot right now. Full time, they've put away the Aussies in Perth, no less. The score, 31 points to five in your cup.