How the world’s media reacted to the All Blacks’ 41-24 victory over Los Pumas.
Tony Harper, The Roar
The All Blacks, freshly restored to the summit of world rugby’s rankings, overcame a poor start to the second half to quell an Argentine uprising in their Rugby Championship clash in Cordoba.
The final score of 41-24 suggested an easier ride than the reality in the second half. After cruising to the break with a handy 31-10 lead, the All Blacks were guilty of a lapse in concentration as the Pumas got back to within a converted try after Billy Proctor was sent to the sin bin.
The All Blacks went into No 1 on the world rankings earlier on Sunday courtesy of the Wallabies’ shock win over South Africa that sent the Springboks below Ireland into third on the rankings.
And the Kiwis avoided the surprise comeback that brought down South Africa in Johannesburg, by recovering their composure with two tries from replacement Samisoni Taukei’aho.
Winger Sevu Reece was also on form with a try double while Cortez Ratima continued to shine at No 9 before being replaced by Finlay Christie.
Ardie Savea was in imperious form and was in charge down the stretch as the visitors brought home the victory.
Lynn McConnell, Action Press
Dominant on the scoreboard but cluttered during the third quarter, the All Blacks opened their Lipovitan-D Rugby Championship campaign with a 41-24 win over Argentina in Cordoba on Sunday (NZT).
Out by 31-10 at halftime, the All Blacks struggled as Argentina battled back to [31-24] as loose forwards Pablo Matera and Marcos Kremer and hooker Julian Montoya pushed the All Blacks hard, while first five-eighths Tomas Albornoz controlled their performance and scored a superb try.
But once they cleared their mistakes, the All Blacks looked the dominant side, especially in lineouts, where loose forward Tupou Vaa’i, lock Fabian Holland and replacement Patrick Tuipulotu took charge.
In the loose, Ardie Savea was in his element and Vaa’i continued his growth on the blindside flank.
Consistency and fluidity across the game were still elusive for the All Blacks, but they showed that when they were able to gain control, they had too much skill for the Argentinians to contain.
Mark Gleeson, Reuters
Winger Sevu Reece and substitute hooker Samisoni Taukei’aho scored two tries each as New Zealand saw off an Argentina resurgence to open their Rugby Championship campaign with a 41-24 win in Cordoba ... Cortez Ratima and Ardie Savea also scored tries for New Zealand while Rodrigo Isgro, Tomas Albornoz and Joaquin Oviedo went over for the home team.
Beauden Barrett kicked a penalty and four conversions while Albornoz slotted over a penalty and three conversions for a personal tally of 14 points.
The All Blacks’ superiority showed through, although they had to see off a second-half surge from Argentina who were 31-10 down at the break but fought back to trail 31-24 before New Zealand closed out the match.
Lawrence Nolan, PlanetRugby
Argentina’s ambition to start the new Rugby Championship season with a first-ever home win over the All Blacks was shattered in Cordoba as the six-try visitors bagged a deserved 41-24 round-one win.
The hosts had hoped to overcome the disjointedness of their recent series loss to England, but the plethora of errors that cost them in that [2-0] loss weren’t eradicated.
They fought back admirably in the second half to cut a 10-31 deficit to seven points, but they could have no complaints about their eventual 17-point demise, confirmed by a pair of late maul tries from Samisoni Taukei’aho.
There was a 77th-minute yellow card for Anton Lienert-Brown following his head contact with [Santiago] Chocobares, but that second sin-binning wasn’t going to spoil the New Zealand party. They will now go to Buenos Aires confident of securing a repeat win next weekend in round two.
Liam Napier, NZ Herald
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.
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 the composure to finish the job was evident, the spotlight will shine on their impact from the bench and their second-half performance that compromised their previous dominance and undermined the potential to make an early Rugby Championship statement.
Ben Smith, RugbyPass
The All Blacks have withstood a fierce Argentinian comeback in the second half to come away with a 41-24 win at Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes in Córdoba.
The visitors went to their rolling maul regularly and profited with three tries directly from it, including two in the final quarter to Samisoni Taukei’aho, which lifted the All Blacks after a strong fightback.
Having led the home side 31-10 at halftime, a resurgent period by Los Pumas saw the gap close to 31-24 before the All Blacks got away.
After the Wallabies secured a famous 38-22 win over the Springboks, the All Blacks move to top spot on the Rugby Championship ladder with a points differential of +17.