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Were we going to see another spectacular boilover?
As Argentina and the New Zealand took the field at Wembley, before a Rugby World Cup record crowd, you sensed the feeling that perhaps, just maybe, the Pumas might do to the All Blacks what Japan’s Brave Blossoms had done to the South African Springboks.
At half-time in what turned out to be a dramatic, bordering on melodramatic, first half the “just maybe” part of the upset possibility had been eliminated; the Pumas were leading 13 – 12. The All Blacks had two players in the sin bin, their iconic captain Richie McCaw and the veteran, heady centre Conrad Smith.
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The fact that the two experienced and rugby-smart All Blacks in the starting XV had committed obvious illegalities indicated the pressure the All Blacks were under from a fired up and imaginative Pumas side.
McCaw conceded a penalty at a ruck and as the Pumas played on quickly he stuck out a leg, while on the ground, which had the effect of forcing Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe to stumble and spill his pass. It is unclear whether McCaw’s leg actually touched Lobbe. But it was enough to force him to change his stride.
Why would the most successful Test captain in rugby history do something so stupid? Perhaps he thought he would get away with it? Perhaps it was an instinctive reaction from a frustrated warrior? Whatever the reason, it was a monumental lapse of judgment.
The crowd, rightly, booed the All Blacks captain to the naughty chair.
I have been critical of the use of the TMO in this tournament. But this was an occasion when the all-seeing eye on the multitude of events that occur in each play proved to be beneficial for the game. It is most unlikely that without the new technology, McCaw’s stupid action would have been picked up.
But picked up it was. Stand up and take a bow (don’t let it go to your head!) TMO George Ayoub.
Nicolas Sanchez kicked the penalty to give the Pumas a 10-7 lead.
The second yellow card against the All Blacks came minutes later when the Pumas surged forward in yet another brilliant ensemble play, a feature of their play in the first half.
Juan Imhoff, the big, powerful and speedy Pumas winger burst towards the All Blacks try line. Conrad Smith contested the ruck which was virtually under the All Blacks posts. He, cynically, turned the ball over to his defending All Blacks.
Once again, referee Wayne Barnes had no option or hesitation in sending Conrad Smith to the sin bin. Another successful penalty took the score line to Pumas 13-7.
There was time for only a couple of plays before the half-time break. And in those couple of minutes we had a lesson in why the All Blacks are a very good side, probably a great side, and why the Pumas remain just a good side.
The All Blacks kicked off long. This was the smart and obvious play, rather than the short kick-offs Dan Carter had used previously in the game. With only 13 men on the field, the All Blacks did not want play to become open and expansive.
But Pumas response was timid, bordering on dumb. The ball was caught, admittedly well inside their 22. But the All Blacks chase was cautious about committing too many players to the tackle. Despite this, the Pumas decided to kick the ball out.
Why didn’t they try to exploit their two-man advantage? A great side, or even a side with pretensions would have chanced their arm to see if anything was on.
Indeed, going back a couple of plays, why didn’t they take a scrum from the Smith penalty and perhaps force a push-over try or even another yellow card from what would have been an under-manned All Blacks scrum?
The kick was made and the All Blacks had a lineout throw not far out from the Pumas 22. They did the smart thing. They had a lineout drive. Why? Because this was the one set-up where they could control the numbers of players in the drive, thereby negating for a time the fact that two of their players were in the sin bin.
Perhaps inevitably, the Pumas conceded a penalty from the lineout drive. Dan Carter, who had a faultless day with the boot, kicked another relatively easy penalty. So, although the All Blacks had been two players down, they had scored the vital points just on half-time to make the score line Pumas 13-12 All Blacks.
You sensed that with Conrad Smith’s penalty, that he was prepared to concede three points to stop a try. If this is the case and we will never know, Smith was merely replicating an obvious Pumas tactic at the beginning of the Test.
Wayne Barnes was forced into the unusual situation of giving the first six penalties of the match to the All Blacks. Every time the All Blacks surged into attacking position, the Pumas rather blatantly gave away a penalty to disrupt the play.
Dan Carter converted all three of his shots at goal and after 20 minutes the All Blacks had a handy 9-0 lead.
From this time on, and into the first 10 minutes of the second half, the Pumas were on top and threatened at times to run away with the match. Guido Petti, the huge, young lock, powered over for his try to give the Pumas some momentum, on the field and on the scoreboard.
Then from the ensuing pressure, the Pumas forced the All Blacks into giving away two yellow cards. This momentum was carried on in the second half when Sanchez kicked an early penalty to make the score line 16 – 13 to the Pumas, while Conrad Smith was still off the field.
This was to be the Pumas last score in the match. If you had predicted it at the time, you’d be acclaimed as a genius.
The All Blacks made a couple of critical replacements. Ma’a Nonu, who had looked slightly out-of-sorts was replaced by Sonny Bill Williams, who had been very ordinary in his last All Blacks Test. So ordinary, in fact, that many New Zealanders queried whether he should have been selected in the squad.
Wyatt Crockett replaced Tony Woodcock.
These replacements created the needed quick fix. As soon as they were on the field, they lifted the speed and directness of the All Blacks play. Soon SBW was bursting through close to the Pumas line. He did one of his trademark off-loads to an un-marked Nehe Milner-Skudder.
The youngster snatched at the ball and dropped it. Minutes later he was subbed. Beauden Barrett came on at fullback and Ben Smith moved to the wing. The hooking was hard on Milner-Skudder. He had played quite skilfully.
But he had made a crucial mistake.
With the fresh legs, especially when the powerful Jerome Kaino was replaced by Victor Vito, the All Blacks powered on to a series of attacks. Aaron Smith finally darted through a gap in the Pumas defence to score near the posts.
All Blacks 19-16 Pumas.
Minutes later, after a another series of attacks which featured the All Blacks running and passing as casually as if they were in a practice run, Sam Cane trotted over for another try. All Blacks 26-16 Pumas. Game over!
27 per cent of play in the second half was inside the Pumas 22. There were occasions when they looked out on their legs. But they hung on, right to the end. Players were cramping up. Others were leaving the field with injuries. But the All Blacks’ avalanche of points at the end was somehow staunched.
Presumably, the Pumas will go through to the finals, although they are currently at the bottom of the pool C table. If they go through, they will be formidable opponents for their quarter-final opposition.
They are a vastly improved team to the quarter-finalists of RWC 2011. The year Sir Graham Henry spent with them in 2012 helping their introduction into The Rugby Championship was a crucial period in the evolution of the Pumas.
Their traditional forward power, in the scrums particularly but less so in the lineouts, has been matched with some powerful runners and smart play makers in the backs.
As for the All Blacks, sides reveal their true qualities when they are under pressure and not playing all that well. How they respond is the test. The All Blacks responded like the champion side their record of two losses in the last four years suggests they are.
The Springboks conceded a last-minute try to the Brave Blossoms. They could not entrench a lead which they held late into the match. And somehow they lacked the conviction of refusing to be beaten by allowing the New Zealand- born Japanese winger, Karne Hesketh, from scoring his historic try.
The All Blacks response to the Pumas’ challenge was different in intent and in toughness. They were far more direct in their running than the Springboks. And their defence was more punishing and accurate.
Keeping the Pumas to 3 points in the second half, after what happened in the first half, was a tribute to their resilience and sheer determination never to be beaten. They scored their two tries, as well, when they had to be scored. Again, this is a sign of a side that has possibilities of greatness.
This was the best-played match of the tournament, so far. It had the intensity of a final. Both teams, but particularly the All Blacks, are on track to go deep into the tournament.
The Pumas, despite their loss, were good on the day. The All Blacks, despite being put under the cosh for long periods of play, were very good.