The All Blacks overturned a half-time deficit to claim a 39-22 bonus-point win over Argentina in New Plymouth on Saturday. JON CARDINELLI reports.
The Pumas certainly made their physical presence felt in this rain-affected match. While they wanted for accuracy (missing 17 tackles in the first half) their intensity on defence caused the All Blacks problems.
A new-look All Blacks starting XV struggled for rhythm in the early stages of the contest. Beauden Barrett missed all three shots on goal in the first stanza and the hosts failed to take control on the scoreboard.
The Pumas took the fight to the All Blacks at the set pieces and breakdowns. Nicolas Sanchez and long-range specialist Emiliano Boffelli made the visitors’ goal-kicking chances count.
Argentina competed well at the lineouts to force a telling turnover before half-time. The visitors went on to score through Sanchez. A successful conversion edged the Pumas into a 16-15 lead at the break.
Argentina looked to be well in control after 50 minutes. Boffelli nailed another penalty goal from inside his own half. Sanchez added three more after Barrett was sanctioned for killing the ball under his posts.
That latter offence resulted in Barrett receiving a yellow card. The opportunity was certainly there for Argentina, who led 22-15 at that stage, to ram the advantage home and possibly claim a shock win in New Zealand.
One special play, however, provided the All Blacks with momentum to hit back. Flank Vaea Fifita scooped up the loose ball on his own 10m line and then rounded the Pumas defence to score. Replacement flyhalf Lima Sopoaga nailed the touchline conversion to level the scores.
The All Blacks, via their dominant scrum, continued to apply the pressure. Captain Kieran Read turned down several kickable penalties, and the hosts eventually crossed the line for their fifth try through Damian McKenzie.
Sopoaga nailed another touchline conversion as the All Blacks moved into a seven-point lead. That advantage swelled to 10 points after Sopoaga sunk a penalty in the 70th minute.
The Pumas never looked like coming back in the final 10 minutes. In fact, it was the All Blacks who would have the final say.
Yet another dominant scrum set the platform for the hosts. Barrett broke the line and then rounded the posts to complete a convincing win for the All Blacks.
All Blacks – Tries: Nehe Milner-Skudder, Anton Lienert-Brown, Israel Dagg, Vaea Fifita, Damian McKenzie, Beauden Barrett. Conversions: Lima Sopoaga (3). Penalty: Sopoaga.
Argentina – Try: Nicolas Sanchez. Conversion: Sanchez. Penalties: Sanchez (2), Emiliano Boffelli (2). Drop goal: Sanchez.
All Blacks – 15 Damian McKenzie, 14 Israel Dagg, 13 Anton Lienert-Brown, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 11 Nehe Milner-Skudder, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Kieran Read (c), 7 Ardie Savea, 6 Vaea Fifita, 5 Brodie Retallick, 4 Luke Romano, 3 Nepo Laulala, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Joe Moody.
Subs: 16 Codie Taylor, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 19 Scott Barrett, 20 Sam Cane, 21 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 22 Lima Sopoaga, 23 Ngani Laumape.
Argentina – 15 Joaquin Tuculet, 14 Santiago Cordero, 13 Matias Moroni, 12 Jeronimo de la Fuente, 11 Emiliano Boffelli, 10 Nicolas Sanchez, 9 Tomas Cubelli, 8 Benjamin Macome, 7 Javier Ortega Desio, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Matias Alemanno, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 2 Agustin Creevy (c), 1 Lucas Noguera Paz.
Subs: 16 Julian Montoya, 17 Santiago Garcia Botta, 18 Enrique Pieretto Heilan, 19 Marcos Kremer, 20 Tomas Lezana, 21 Martin Landajo, 22 Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias, 23 Matias Orlando.
Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images
