The Gold Coast may soon lose its spot on the Test venue schedule, the Wallabies continue to lose the plot at crucial times, and Argentina's sequence of Rugby Championship losses will soon end. It was a lost opportunity Test match- where everyone left the ground feeling undernourished and forced to talk about inadequacies. All up - another flat experience.

After the high intensity of the All Blacks-Springboks Test, where both teams displayed admirable skill levels under enormous pressure, the standards dropped considerably when the Wallabies and Pumas appeared in front of a disappointingly poor crowd and played accordingly. The Wallabies were once again reminded they have a lot of work to do to regain the trust of the faithful, after luring just 14,281 spectators- the worst attendance to an Australian Test match in years.

That is an embarrassing crowd figure, and the Australian Rugby Union now must seriously consider whether playing Test matches on the Gold Coast has any value.

Considering the success of Saturday afternoon Test matches at Allianz Stadium in Sydney, it surely is time for the ARU, who bang on about their diminishing revenue stream, to play internationals only where they know they will get a sizeable crowd. Image is crucial.

Despite being a star-studded side the Wallabies failed to draw a crowd © Getty Images

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Watching the Wallabies playing in front of virtually no-one is hardly a dazzling advertisement for the code, especially when you can click to the next television channel and observe capacity crowds relishing the non-stop action of AFL finals football.

People will come if they know they will be entertained and enlightened. At the moment, there remains considerable doubt over whether the Wallabies provide value for the buck. The punters quickly grow sick and tired of watching a team that has abundant talent such as Israel Folau, but fail to show their potential due to a lack of poise and glaring problems with their basic skills.

It becomes an exasperating experience observing a team wasting great opportunities through an inability to finish off manoeuvres because of a wayward pass, an ill-directed kick, an inability to hold onto the ball for any length of time, or dumb decisions. A lot of the errors the Wallabies make are elementary.

The Wallabies have a reasonable recent Test record, but they still do not look like a group comfortable with each other. They too often play one out, back-up play is often non-existent, and important combinations are static, rather than improving.

The main positive from the night was that it provided further proof that Argentina is now a viable Rugby Championship participant. Their three years in the Championship have been tough, as they are yet to experience a victory in 16 matches; with the closest being a 16-all draw with South Africa in Mendoza.

But the nought out of 16 statistic is misleading. The Pumas have not been easy-beats, especially this season where they have at last shown a semblance of an attack. Argentina's major problem in the previous two seasons was that their game was focused almost entirely on the bullocking power of their pack, and backline play was often only an after-thought.

But this year there has been moments of flight and fancy, and all of their four games so far have seen them threaten their opponents, especially the Springboks. They also seriously tested the All Blacks.

The Pumas could have easily got away with a draw against the Wallabies if referee Glen Jackson had not been so finicky about replacement Pumas half-back Tomas Cubelli's service in the final scrum of the night. A Pumas pushover try was looming.

So for the Pumas coach Daniel Hourcade to utter straight after: "This was the worst game we played in the tournament" said plenty about the flaws in the Wallabies performance. As for the Pumas first Rugby Championship triumph, it could easily occur on October 5 in Mendoza.

Their opponents? The Wallabies.

The Wallabies may have won but they are sure to be tested again in Argentina © Getty Images

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