All Blacks: Fired-up pack pile pressure on Pumas

Different conditions, different attitude - if you want to know why the All Blacks put the squeeze on Argentina last night, look no further than numbers one to eight.

It is understood one or two of the forwards received a rocket from the coaches after what was a relatively lacklustre performance in Apia last week, but this time a statement was made in the first set piece - a scrum on halfway in which the Pumas almost conceded a tighthead such was the pressure coming from the black pack.

However, there is still much to do. The game was all but gone by the time hooker Agustin Creevy scored the first of his two tries from lineout drives, but the ease with which he got over the line will be a concern to the All Blacks and a boost for the rest of the world.

It is an area which will not only be tested by the Springboks in Johannesburg next weekend, but also in the knockout stages of the Rugby World Cup.

Creevy's first try came from a drive down the vacant right wing, the next towards the posts. Clearly more work is needed to defend what will probably be a common sight in England in September and October.

After the scare, came the response, though, as if the All Blacks were suddenly aware of the criticism which would be coming their way.

Codie Taylor's try on debut after the All Blacks executed a tighthead after the Pumas won a lucky decision from Craig Joubert for a 5m scrum was a case of poetic justice and a step back in the right direction. So was another tighthead on halfway in the final minutes.

During the week, some of the constructive criticism of the pack by coach Steve Hansen might have reached the ears of No8 Kieran Read, who had one of his best games of the year to set the platform for this victory.

Read was intelligent when challenging kick-offs - roaming around the back of the Argentines and allowing for the curve of Dan Carter's delivery - showed pace and awareness down the wide channels where he has traditionally been so clever and destructive in equal turns, and was often brutal on defence. That brutality was ever-present, too, in Jerome Kaino, also much better for his run last week in temperatures about 30C hotter than here.

Read's try - when he picked the pocket of wing Horacio Agulla to score untouched by the posts - was a testament to his line-speed and attacking instincts, but credit too must go to his loose forward partner Richie McCaw, who executed a perfect around-the-ankles tackle to stop a Pumas counter in its tracks and then bounced up and attempted the turnover.

Lock Luke Romano, fully recovered from a black and blue left eye suffered in Apia when colliding with Owen Franks, was another man transformed.