All Blacks 41
Argentina 24
By Liam Napier at Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes
The theme of patchy performance continues for the All Blacks, but in their bid to reclaim the Rugby Championship crown, they bagged a valuable bonus-point victory against the Pumas in Argentina and will seek to amend another second-half fade.
Two late tries from replacement hooker Samisoni Taukei’aho pushed New Zealand clear after the Pumas threatened to pull off a spirited second-half comeback.
The All Blacks, playing their first test in Cordoba, were greeted by a festival atmosphere. The buoyant 55,725 crowd at Estadio Mario Kempes bounced and sang before kickoff but were soon silenced as the All Blacks scored three first-half tries – one of those after Pumas prop Mayco Vivas copped a yellow card – to fashion a commanding 31-10 lead.
All Blacks coach Scott Robertson, with the match seemingly out of reach, seized the chance to introduce his bench early in the second half, which included spelling captain Scott Barrett in his first match since early July after recovering from a calf injury.
Those changes, though, coincided with deteriorating discipline – highlighted by two second-half yellow cards – that allowed the Pumas to spark a serious revival and reignite the feverish crowd.
Two tries in quick succession from the hosts reduced the margin to seven points but the All Blacks, through two Taukei’aho tries, regained composure to preserve their now 17-match unbeaten record in Argentina.
The visitors will, though, be sweating on Anton Lienert-Brown’s availability after he was yellow-carded for a late tackle that involved a head clash.
There are many more twists to come in this year’s Rugby Championship but after the Wallabies stunned the Springboks at Ellis Park, scoring 38 unanswered points in a remarkable upset, the All Blacks’ six-tries-to-three victory maintains their quest to reclaim the title.
The Pumas, particularly on home soil, are no pushovers. Under Felipe Contepomi, they have knocked off the All Blacks, the Wallabies, France, South Africa and the British and Irish Lions in the last year to put the test scene on notice.
On this occasion, they were well short of their best for large periods, with their tactical kicking lacking accuracy. The All Blacks deserve credit, though, for methodically breaking down the Pumas in the first half.
Earning penalties by attacking the breakdown and scrum, disrupting the lineout, kicking to the corner, scoring three maul tries and pinning the ball behind the locals, the All Blacks were completely dominant in forcing the Pumas to play off the back foot – until the second half.
Will Jordan, as he so often is, was brilliant in the dominant first-half display. He set up two tries – one with a trademark hop, step and break to send Cortez Ratima over – and Sevu Reece bagged a brace, although he will regret throwing the ball out inside his 22 just after halftime.
Defensively, the All Blacks were opened up on occasions, with first five-eighths Tomás Albornoz waltzing through early in the second half. Their backline was also clunky at times.
Rieko Ioane made two first-half errors but, when in range of the line, the All Blacks clinically finished their chances. This will be pleasing as it is an aspect they struggled to achieve during last year’s Rugby Championship, when they finished with a 50% record.
Albornoz’s second-half try sparked the Pumas comeback and after Billy Proctor received a yellow card for repeated team infringements, Pumas No 8 Joaquín Oviedo dotted down to reduce the margin to seven and set up a tense, frantic finish.
Last year’s frequent and frustrating second-half fades threatened to return with a vengeance but just as the Pumas dared to dream of their maiden home victory over the All Blacks, Taukei’aho powered over from the back of the maul to re-establish some breathing space.
Missing influential halfback Cam Roigard and with starting forwards Wallace Sititi and Tamaiti Williams set to return from their injury layoffs for the rematch in Buenos Aires next week, the All Blacks will regain firepower and, therefore, should improve.
While composure to eventually finish the job was evident, the spotlight will shine on their impact from the bench, the poor discipline and their underwhelming second-half performance that compromised their previous dominance and undermined the potential to make an early Rugby Championship statement.
All Blacks 41 (Sevu Reece 2, Samisoni Taukei’aho 2, Cortez Ratima, Ardie Savea tries; Beauden Barrett 4 cons, pen)
Argentina 24 (Rodrigo Isgró, Tomás Albornoz, Joaquín Oviedo tries; Albornoz 2 cons, pen)
HT: 31-10
Liam Napier is a Senior Sports Journalist and Rugby Correspondent for the New Zealand Herald. He is a co-host of the Rugby Direct podcast.