The All Blacks must be favourites to down Argentina and clinch the Rugby Championship title in Buenos Aires on Saturday, writes JON CARDINELLI.
Steve Hansen’s side has accumulated 19 out of a possible 20 log points in the first four rounds of the 2017 Rugby Championship. The All Blacks need one more win to take an unassailable lead at the top of the standings and claim their fifth Rugby Championship title in six years.
Several All Blacks stars have been ruled out for the rest of the season due to injuries, while first-choice fullback Ben Smith has opted to take a break from Test rugby. A handful of players have been left in New Zealand to prepare for the final Rugby Championship match against the Springboks.
That said, Hansen has managed to select a powerful side for the clash in Buenos Aires. One would expect the All Blacks to record a comfortable win against a struggling Pumas side.
Argentina have conceded more than 40 points per match in this year’s Rugby Championship. They’ve missed nearly 30 tackles per game on average. One cannot see their defence living with an attack of this quality.
The Pumas have competed strongly at home against the likes of Australia and South Africa in past Rugby Championship clashes. Their record against the All Blacks, however, has been less commendable.
Four clashes between the Pumas and the All Blacks have been staged in Argentina since the advent of the Rugby Championship. The All Blacks have won every one of those Tests by a margin of 18 points or more.
Hansen has made six changes to his starting side, and a further two to his bench. Vaea Fifita, who was the star in the All Blacks’ most recent clash against Argentina, will be looking for another big performance. The selections of Waisake Naholo and Anton Lienert-Brown certainly won’t weaken the All Blacks’ backline.
The visitors may be susceptible at the scrums. While the All Blacks smashed the Boks 57-0 in Albany two weeks ago, Kane Hames was less than impressive at the scrums. New Zealand do boast some quality scrummagers on the bench, though, in the form of Wyatt Crockett and Ofa Tu’ungafasi.
Argentina were competitive for 50 minutes in the previous match-up in New Plymouth. Thereafter, the All Blacks shifted gears and won by a comfortable 17-point margin.
The All Blacks should be aiming for a stronger start in Buenos Aires this Saturday. One cannot see the Pumas living with them in the second stanza or avoiding yet another heavy defeat.
Stats and facts
o The All Blacks are undefeated in 25 previous encounters with the Pumas and have won 23 on the bounce since a 21-21 draw in Buenos Aires in 1985.
o The All Blacks are enjoying an 18-game winning streak against sides from the southern hemisphere, their last such defeat coming at the hands of Australia in 2015.
o New Zealand have scored four or more tries in seven of their last eight games against Argentina.
o The Pumas have lost nine of their last 10 matches, a solitary win against Georgia the only positive result in this run.
o New Zealand are on target to break the record they set last year for points and tries in the Rugby Championship. Currently they are averaging 6.8 tries and 46.3 points per game, last year’s totals averaged out at 43.7 points and 6.3 tries.
o The All Blacks are the only side yet to lose a scrum this season in the tournament (32/32). They also have the best lineout success rate (93%) and ruck success rate (96%).
o Rieko Ioane has beaten more defenders (24) and made more breaks (12) than anyone else in this edition of the competition, while Sonny Bill Williams leads the way for offloads (11).
o Beauden Barrett has been involved in nine tries in this tournament already (three tries, six assists), more than any other player and two more than Argentina have managed in total as a team.
o Despite playing only 55 minutes, Kane Hames has conceded more penalties than anyone else in this tournament (six).
Argentina – 15 Joaquin Tuculet, 14 Matias Moroni, 13 Matias Orlando, 12 Jeronimo de la Fuente, 11 Emiliano Boffelli, 10 Nicolas Sanchez, 9 Tomas Cubelli, 8 Juan Manuel Leguizamón, 7 Tomas Lezana, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 2 Agustin Creevy (c), 1 Lucas Noguera.
Subs: 16 Julian Montoya, 17 Santiago Garcia Botta, 18 Ramiro Herrera, 19 Marcos Kremer, 20 Javier Ortega Desio, 21 Martin Landajo, 22 Juan Martin Hernandez, 23 Santiago Cordero.
All Blacks – 15 Damian McKenzie, 14 Waisake Naholo, 13 Anton Lienert-Brown, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 11 Rieko Ioane, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read (c), 7 Matt Todd, 6 Vaea Fifita, 5 Scott Barrett, 4 Luke Romano, 3 Nepo Laulala, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Kane Hames
Subs: 16 Codie Taylor, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 19 Patrick Tuipulotu, 20 Ardie Savea, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Ngani Laumape, 23 David Havili.
Photo: Marty Mellville/AFP Photo
