Toomua, Beale combo a work in progress

[Nergal]

 

Matt Toomua has dubbed his combination with Wallabies five-eighth Kurtley Beale a work in progress, but one he believes will soon bear attacking rewards.

Despite the result, Toomua rated last weekend's Rugby Championship loss to South Africa as one of the best showings from himself and Beale since their deployment in the key playmaking roles at the expense of longtime five-eighth Bernard Foley.

Toomua was serviceable but Beale had a shocker in Port Elizabeth, coughing up an early intercept try that ensured the Wallabies would start on the back foot.

Assuming coach Michael Cheika sticks with them, Sunday morning's (AEST) clash with Argentina looms as their last match together until November's spring tour of Europe.

Toomua and hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau will both be back at Leicester while the rest of their Wallabies teammates take on New Zealand in Japan on October 27, with the third Bledisloe Cup Test falling outside the World Rugby window that compels clubs to release players for international duty.

It will mean a likely starting return for Foley and a shift back to inside centre for Beale.

It also means Toomua and Beale need to leave a lasting impression on Cheika if they get the opportunity against Los Pumas, with the jury still out on whether they are Australia's best options in the 10-12 axis.

"We need to perform obviously," Toomua told reporters in Buenos Aires.

"I thought (the 23-12 Springboks defeat) was probably one of the better games that we've linked up with in attack and we've got to keep building that.

"Unfortunately we all wish it was an overnight thing but it's not.

"These things take time and it's something we're consistently working on so hopefully we can get a breakthrough - one with a result, and two with a good performance as well."

Every statistic, bar the final score, suggests the Wallabies are doing all the right things in attack - except planting the ball over the tryline.

They ran for more metres and had more line breaks, offloads and multi-phase plays than the Springboks but crossed for only two tries, three minutes apart in the first half.