It was ugly, but the All Blacks continued their undefeated run in the Rugby Championship with a plucky 36-10 win over a spirited Argentinian side.
The game started slowly for both sides, handling errors and ill-discipline the order of the first 10 minutes. That saw Beauden Barrett and then Nicolas Sanchez trade penalties to leave the score at 3-3.
The first try eventually came in the form of Kieran Read, who was the last pass beneficiary of a nice bust from Damian Mckenzie and Waisake Naholo. Barrett’s kick faded to the left, and after 13 minutes, the All Blacks had the five-point advantage.
They were the next to score, too, when, after repeated scrum infringements close to the Pumas line, Mckenzie tapped quickly off a penalty and dove under two Argentinian forwards to score. At 15-3, the Argentinians were ruing their early absence of discipline at the breakdown and in the defensive line.
They would’ve been frustrated even further when, not three minutes later, Barrett slipped past a weak tackle in the midfield, and threw a delightful no-look flick pass to Waisake Naholo who bumped off Mattias Moroni to score under the posts. At this stage it was 22-3, and the All Blacks were going at better than a point a minute.
It went from bad to worse for Agustin Creevy and his side two minutes later when Tomas Lavanini was yellow carded for a no-arm tackle on Sonny Bill Williams.
Off Barrett’s kick, the All Blacks built considerable territorial pressure, and eventually made full advantage of the numerical mismatch, Barrett flicking between his legs for Mckenzie who found Read inside for his second of the night.
The remainder of the first half was a bit of a lull as both sides dropped a number of balls, and teams swapped penalties without a lot of success. That was until the 37th minute when Sonny Bill Williams was pinged for hands in the ruck.
Off the resulting kick for touch, the All Blacks collapsed two mauls in a row – the second resulting in Matt Todd being sin-binned for 10 minutes.
The second half started in a similar vein to the first. The Argentinians gaining early possession and territory, but time and time again, their rolling maul was disrupted and they couldn’t land the killer blow. Romano’s tackle on Motera was spectacular on one such occasion.
When the Kiwis did clear their line, it only resulted in a Kieran Read yellow card for a high tackle on Matias Orlando. Off the resulting kick to the corner, the maul was again, disrupted, and again, the Pumas knocked on and couldn’t capitalise.
The Kiwis were out on their feet, but as the clock rolled into its 55th minute, the scores were unchanged from the break 15 minutes earlier.
Something had to give, and eventually the veteran Juan Manuel Leguizamon hustled over from close range to score in the 56th minute. Sanchez’ kick was spot on, and the margin was back to 19 points.
It was a tight tussle from there, with the Pumas side playing with the passion and tenacity rugby fans globally have come to expect from them at home.
The Kiwis could’ve shut them totally out of the game, but for a few basic errors close to the line, not least of them a denied try after a Naholo forward pass in the 61st minute.
Whilst all this was happening, the Kiwis continued to smash the Pumas at scrum time, and repeated infringements resulted in a yellow card to Ramiro Herrera in the 70th minute – the fourth of the game.
Off the resulting penalty and lineout, again Steve Hansen would’ve been spitting chips, this time Ioane spilling his lollies close to the line.
The last 10 minutes, it has to be said, was decidedly average. There were more scrum resets, soft penalties and knock-ons than anything else, and both sides were guilty of forcing their hand in the pursuit of a miracle offload or half line break.
David Havili ended an otherwise dour second half on a positive note, the debutant finishing a nice 8, 9, 15 move after the siren to put a full stop on a very inconsistent performance from the number one team in the world.
Brizvegas
Guest
I have no problems when the ABs win playing ugly and their last game v boks they won playing pretty. The challenge is consistency. Like every team who plays them raises their effort by 10%. I read about the Wallabies or Boks or Poms improving etc but for me the ABs are also evolving and improving while also introducing new players every year.
Fox
Roar Guru
If anyone at the Roar is listening there is a pattern of repeat comment occurring here - the site loads it twice - can this be fixed please?
Ralph
Roar Guru
Thoughts on the game: Fafita - showed awesome upper body strength when he wrestled Creevy then drives him over the touch line. Didn't get the ball off Creevy, but not to lose an upper body strength test against Creevy is something. SBW - had a great game, strong in contact and over the ball in tackles. I found him hard to fault. Naholo - what a come back game, did he do anything wrong? Speed, skill, timing and balance, beautiful to watch. Read - into everything and leading from the front, which is what you want in your captain. Barrett - so many magic touches with the ball in hand. Todd - really showed some great dominant tackling. A.Smith - industrious, great vision, accurate and some awesome defence on some big forwards. Crockett - fantastic work rate and schooled Hererra in the scrums. MacKenzie - starting to look settled and making better decisions, his natural game shining through. Scrums - has been going very well in general, but totally demolished the Puma's. Puma's did very well to keep the ball under huge pressure more than once. Yellow cards - didn't think any of them were needed. Learning - what a great learning and depth building game it was for the AB's.
Noel Brown
Guest
What game were you watching ! Argentina earned the label of being the biggest whingers . The ABs showed great restraint by putting up with Argentina's infantile altitude.
lassitude
Guest
Yes. His work at the breakdown has really come on - he was impressive at times in this game.
rebel
Guest
Link doesn't work. I'll take your word he said both. I only heard try no try which is why I was confused about the decision. If he asked the other one then that makes sense.
lassitude
Guest
Yes Barrett's game management and control has gone backwards this year after a breakout season last year. His defence is continually getting better though - in fact it's becoming a real asset.
The Neutral View From Sweden
Roar Guru
LOL! Yeah, I am the only one saying Shag and Bender or any other nicknames of the AB's staff and players. I think the only one with a poor connection to reality is you, Maddie. And on top of that you are a poor - or ignorant - reader also, hence you will find others in this thread calling Aaron Smith Nugget.
Maddie
Guest
So you must know Hansen very well to call him Shag? Neutral.. everyone on this thread calls him Hansen.. so I take it you guys are on "nickname" basis now. Just like you use Bender when referring to Ben Smith.. etc Get real Neutral..
aussikiwi
Guest
SBW's work in defence and at the breakdown for the ABs has been generally very good - and underappreciated - all season.
Dontcallmeshirley
Guest
I agree regarding the halfbacks. The 2 SA ones are particularly poor. I don't know if the importance of super quick clearance is really appreciated. Hansen certainly seems to understand and always picks A Smith when he can. Springbok's back play is generally poor. Thankfully their forwards are very good!
The Neutral View From Sweden
Roar Guru
You are right rebel, he does say try or no try once, but if you see the full sequence it is clear that he means any reason I can't award the try, hence he says that twice. Watch from 1.19.30 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdKpGbvVoM0
rebel
Guest
Then he may have said both because he certainly asked try or no try at one point I would not have bought it up otherwise.
The Neutral View From Sweden
Roar Guru
You are right MJ. Two years is a long time and I very much doubt that Kaino will be a starter in the WC 2019, that spot is Squires at the moment. But I can see Kaino be around as a daddy in the WC-squad, especially if any of other experienced players would get injured. History has shown us that no team wins the WC without a big bunch of experienced men both on the pitch and on the bench. I am somewhat surprised that Fifita does not impose himself more and makes a mark in the nitty gritty stuff. He seems to have all the physical abilities that are needed to be an absolute beast who could dominate in these areas. And I am not only talking about the AB's now, we have seen this with Hurricanes also.
Mike Julz
Guest
Aren't anyone is glad that hes back to his absolute best. I mean ever since his errm toilet thing, he was just not the same player since. But the start of the RC against the Wallabies, he was back at being his annoying best. Passing, ref complaining, shouting and screaming to his players, kicking game,- that was the Aaron Smith that went missing since that incident. Im so glad he's back.
Mike Julz
Guest
Yup, Fifita was hardly spectacular in Argentina, compare to his performance in NZ. Maybe he was a marked man after what he did to them in the first test. But for Squire, its life after Kaino. Just as Cane after Mcaw and Barrett after Carter, and was Kaino himself after the late Jerry Collins. I think Squire will be the successor to that six, unless Fifita steps up his game. World Cup is still two full seasons of SR and RC away,a lot of time to develop these two guys.
The Neutral View From Sweden
Roar Guru
Fifita was spectacular - in some regards - in his debut against Pumas. But in the Test in Buenos Aires, he was far from convincing IMHO. I say he has a lot of work to do if he wants to get ahead of Kaino in the pecking order. And as much as I admire Squire, let us keep it real and acknowledge the fact Squire is still very "fresh" at Test level and to call him a certain starter is premature.
The Neutral View From Sweden
Roar Guru
Love to see him play that Mealamu role if required – the way that Kevvy would come on for 20 and make some crucial tackles, Those last 20 minutes from Keven in the WC final were spectacular. A perfect way to finish his rugby career!
Mike Julz
Guest
The funny thing is, if it wasn't for his hotel infidelities, he would've still be playing at 6, with Squire and Scott as his backups. Fifita would've still be playing in the itm cup. But ever since Kaino got dropped, Fifita and Squire have took their opportunities at 6, and they did not disappoint. Scott on the bench as lock/6 cover. I said before that Kaino might miss that flight to Japan. I still think he is. There's already enough old heads players there to take on Mealamus role-Whitelock,Read. And Rettalick, Cane, Coles are seasoned All Blacks. Kaino might be a tad bit too slow come World Cup. Squire, Fifita will be fit and ready come 2019.
Major_Boothroyd
Guest
Didn't mean to offend any 'mighty' blues fans ;-) I hope for his sake you're right. And you may well be - he's always been a player who has been solid for the blues and then looked spectacular when he gets in AB camp (Nonu was similar in this regard). I think Kaino is one of the great AB blindsides of my lifetime and he has dominated in important games for the ABs and back to back WCs and he plays his core role so well and fits perfectly with cane and read. I'd expect him to be there through to the 2019 WC. Love to see him play that Mealamu role if required - the way that Kevvy would come on for 20 and make some crucial tackles, link work and scrum and throw immaculately is what we need in WCs. And I believe Hansen and co shouldn't get seduced by all out firepower when they need a few experienced heads in some tight knock out games.