- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Round 3 of The Rugby Championship sees the white-hot All Blacks clash against Argentina in Napier, full of confidence after a demolition of Wallabies in Round 2. Join The Roar from 5:35pm (AEST) for live scores and coverage.
I believe the bookies aren’t taking bets for an All Black win. Yet, this is a match that the world champions may be nervous about.
Head coach Steve Hanson would have seen how the Euro-based Pumas forwards pummelled the ‘indestructible’ Springboks tight five in Pretoria.
A week after in Salta, they saw the Pumas dominate the Springboks in every way except the score line – but let the game slip away thanks to four missed kicks by Argentina’s local hero and flyhalf, Nicolas Sanchez, who otherwise had a blinder.
We can expect Sanchez to cause some damage if his Pumas can effectively deploy their most potent weapon – their dominant forward pack, and in particular their front-row.
Captain and hooker Agustin Creevy, a former flanker is a very fast in the loose and will look to disrupt the All Blacks breakdown in a third breakaway capacity
Loosehead prop and scrum-assassin Marcos Ayerza from Leicester Tigers will be looking forward to his contest with Owen Franks, and scrum-anchor Ramiro Herrera will have penalty enthusiast Wyatt Crockett on his radar.
New Zealand will want to prove to the naysayers that they can face and overcome the Pumas scrum.
At the lineout, while Retallick and Gloucester-man Mariano Galarza are almost equal, the All Blacks number four will try get himself over the slight shorter 130kg boy-mountain, Tomas Lavanini.
The Pumas backrow surprised even the Springboks and accordingly the All blacks will be wary of Juan Martin Lobbe, Juan Manuel Leguizamon and Leonardo Senatore who replaces injured Pablo Matera.
The All Blacks backrow, however, is one of the strongest in the world at present. The Crusader combination of Kieran Read and captain Richie McCaw, joined by Chief’s captain Liam Messam will have a field day if they are able to play a bit wider off the ruck.
The Pumas have done a good job in keeping the ball in hand and powering their loose scrum as hard as their scrum in recent weeks and will be something the All Blacks will want to contain from the start. In particular Read and his locks will fight for possession from kick offs, restarts and look to keep the ball in motion to limit the impact of Argentina’s powerful forwards.
For New Zealand, wrecking ball Ma’a Nonu has returned from injury, however, incumbent flyhalf Aaron Cruden has succumbed to a chest injury and will be replaced by Beauden Barrett.
Ben Smith will return to the wing, with Israel Dagg making a return at fullback in this home ground against the dynamic Joaquin Tuculet from Bordeaux Bègles. And as always, expect Julian Savea to wreak havoc upon the Pumas defence line on counter-attack.
The bookies have the Pumas at almost zero odds to win. Primarily, they don’t have the bench strength. They don’t players of the same calibre of Savea or Dagg. They do, however, have a good chance of spoiling their opponents form – not by illegal tactics, but by playing like a tier-1 nation.
It will be an interesting contest. Enjoy.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.