© (Photo by Steve Haag/Gallo Images/Getty Images)

It was the weekend where the Rugby World Cup became even less straightforward. Any semblance of All Blacks invincibility was dispelled by a spirited Wallabies side in Sydney while Ireland gate-crashed Wales' party at the Millennium Stadium and Argentina stunned South Africa to win in Durban. Monday Maul looks back at some key talking points.

Pumas ready to emulate the heroes of 2007?

Back at the 2007 Rugby World Cup, those attending the third-fourth play-off probably walked into the stadium expecting a dead-rubber of a game between Argentina and France. It was a match to be played out between two teams who would not have wanted to be there. But the Pumas put together the most wonderful, sweeping exhibition of rugby as they brushed aside the host nation to win 34-10.

In the half-empty Kings Park on Saturday, South Africa supporters would have gone there in expectation. They expected their team to end their run of three Test losses on the bounce but instead Argentina ruthlessly exploited their poor defence and gave the Boks a lesson in focus and clinical finishing.

Argentina are a team of unsung heroes. Horacio Agulla and Juan Imhoff stay under the radar but are wonderful wingers, while their pack - complete with the marvellous Marcos Ayerza and Agustin Creevy - will give anyone the frighteners in the World Cup. And then there is El Mago Hernandez at fly-half.

Just how well can the Pumas do? Well, prior to the 2007 World Cup few would have predicted their rapid ascent to the bronze medal. On paper this is a less talented team than back then but if they back up this win with another in Buenos Aires next weekend then underestimate Argentina at your peril.

The stumbling Springboks

Those of green and gold persuasion would have felt aggrieved at a couple of incidents: other officials could have ruled out Juan Imhoff's try at the start of the second half when he quick tapped a penalty after an injury break while there looked to have been more than a hint of a knock-on in Marcelo Bosch's drop-goal.

But those two incidents aside, it cannot take attention away from the Boks' shortcomings. They were poorly organised in defence and looked leaden-footed after what was reportedly a hard week of fitness-based training. While Handre Pollard's talent is not in doubt, his loss of form is a concern. With that wonderful benefit of hindsight, it was a poor call to exile Jesse Kriel on the wing when he reacts so much better to broken field with more space. It was an opportunity missed to see Willie Le Roux on the wing - his defensive capabilities were called into question again - and Kriel at fullback.

Far too often the Boks were looking to bulldoze their way through the Pumas' defence but the moment they spun it wide and let their flair players Kriel and Le Roux link up down the right flank, they scored. Springboks legend Naas Botha's sentiments in a recent interview with ESPN seem poignant.

"We are obsessed with getting over the advantage line," said Botha. "You can do it in other ways! You can drift and beat the defender instead of just running over the man. If you have a tree in front of you, you go around the branches rather than straight into the trunk of the tree. We have the ball players to do that."

The benefits of playing your best players

It is a seemingly obvious headline but teams in the past have fallen foul of trying to shoe-horn players into unfamiliar positions. Look at Italy and their Mauro Bergamasco scrum-half farce in 2009. But Michael Cheika judged the Michael Hooper-David Pocock axis perfectly. Their performances were sublime and will have their fellow Pool A colleagues - most notably England and Wales - sleeping a little more uneasily. The Wallabies' win also showcased just how unique a talent Matt Toomua is and if they persist with him as an impact option, teams will not have a moment to switch off come the World Cup. As one journalist pointed out in the media room within the Millennium Stadium on Saturday: "To quote Blackadder - The Pool of Death is now a fate WORSE than a fate worse than death.... That's pretty bad." And that was before Wales' thumping at the hands of Ireland.

The greenhouse of shame

It was a lovely day in Cardiff on Saturday. As you walked up through the packed Prince's Street, the pubs spilled out with those in red and green basking in the glorious sunshine. Head into the Millennium Stadium and those Wales players who recently had a warm-weather training session in Qatar could have been forgiven for thinking they were back there. With the roof closed, the atmosphere was thunderous as always, but the ball was a bar of soap in the stuffy conditions. It was meant to be with a view to simulating World Cup conditions, when the roof will be closed as both Wales and Ireland play key group games there as well as potentially a quarter-final each, but you doubt the matches in September and October will be played in such balmy conditions.

Performance gives Gatland food for thought

Simply put, those on the fringes of Wales' World Cup squad failed to repay Warren Gatland's faith. The pack were on the back foot and with that Mike Phillips and James Hook did not have a chance to get going. Wales looked much more assured when Gareth Anscombe and Lloyd Williams were paired at half-back when they came on in the second half. That Gatland was asked about how both sets of half-backs did and only talked about the substitutes spoke volumes.

Now come the cuts. Later this week Gatland will trim his squad down by about nine players. Hallam Amos did his claims no harm with a solid performance while Justin Tipuric was the stand out performer for Wales. But other than that, there were few positives.