By Rex Gowar
July 26 (Reuters) - Argentina have two big matches left against South Africa to prove they can make an impression when they meet world champions New Zealand in their World Cup Pool C opener on Sept. 20.
The Pumas, who wilted in the final minutes to lose 34-9 to Australia in the Rugby Championship on Saturday, continue to look for the complete performance, showing skill and competitiveness in some areas but failing short in others.
Coach Daniel Hourcade is an admirer of Australian rugby and tries to model his team's attacking game on the Wallabies but in Mendoza, where the Pumas had broken their tournament duck by beating the same opponents nine months earlier, it was men against boys.
Argentina attacked impressively at times, looking to pass the ball out in the tackle in the best Australian tradition but there was no deep penetration of the Wallaby defence which has improved remarkably since last October.
In terms of a gameplan, there was an improvement on last weekend's 39-18 defeat in New Zealand but errors in decision- making and the lack of strength in depth of Hourcade's squad were key.
"We improved in some aspects but we died physically and the rhythm they imposed cost us dear," captain Agustin Creevy told reporters.
"Australia always play a game in which the ball never stops for a minute. When we had it, there were moments when we didn't know what to do, we kicked and gave away two tries."
Pumas flyhalf Nicolas Sanchez, ignoring Argentina's plan to keep the ball in hand and run at Australia, made two kicks ahead that led to the concession of two tries on the counter.
In the last quarter, the Argentine scrum was no longer dominant with their second-string front row on the pitch while Australia's replacements provided a launchpad for their two late bonus-point tries.
"To play our way out of defence and not kick much is a premise we decided on It's not coming off well and we suffered pressure coming out of our half," said Argentina flanker and former captain Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe.
"But let's not lose sight of the objective which is the 20th of September, the World Cup debut," he said.
Argentina face South Africa in their last championship test in Durban on Aug. 8 and again in Buenos Aires a week later in a match to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Pumas' first tour abroad to Africa in 1965.
(Editing by Ed Osmond)