Gregor Paul: All Blacks won't leave Argentina satisfied

Dane Coles fires a flick pass away against Argentina. Photo / Getty

An easy win with moments of magic, but the All Blacks won't leave Buenos Aires with the deep satisfaction that comes with a job well done.

They will look back and wonder where the second half went - why they drifted out of the game and couldn't find any ways back in.

There's enough realism within the group to know that there will be times in every test when they are under real and sustained pressure. It's not sensible to believe otherwise or for them to fear those moments.

They need to experience adversity to grow their experience and the key is not avoiding it, but showing astute ways to deal with it and work through it.

That desired control and composure never really came through in a second half that was dominated by Argentina and it's that which will be causing the most disappointment.

The All Blacks will also have a fairly harsh review of some of their micro skills and look at why two kickoffs were simply not dealt with and why their ball retention became as sloppy as it did.

That's how it has to be for this team as they search for perfection. They can't be happy just beating teams at the moment - even when they do it with plenty to spare.

Their whole quest is about playing at, or close to their potential and there's no way they can say they did that for 80 minutes in Argentina.

Certain aspects they got right. Their defensive linespeed and tackling intensity and accuracy was bang on in the first half.

After not getting that part right against the Pumas in Hamilton, that was obviously one of the key priorities second time round.

The All Blacks shifted fast and hard off the line, swarmed the Pumas and forced them to play progressively further behind the gainline.

Their scrummaging, when they had eight forwards on the pack, got a big tick as well. The Pumas have added all sorts of thrills and spills to their game in recent seasons, but they still build everything from their scrum, still believe that is the epicentre of any contest and still know how to pack down and get a decent shove on.

The All Blacks took them on and cracked them in the first half. All good stuff - as were the individual performances of Anton Leinert-Brown and Patrick Tuipulotu.

The former ran direct lines, kept things simple and played with his head up - aware of who was around him. Tuipulotu produced the sort of athletic and muscular performance the coaching staff were after. He made some thumping tackles, ran over the top of a few defenders and clearly threw his considerable weight into the scrummaging effort.

The foundation was laid for the list of good to mount in the second half and for the performance to click into an even higher gear.

But instead the All Blacks lost their shape and dominance in nearly all aspects.

Their physicality and discipline slipped - they fell off tackles, left space to be exploited and Argentina were able to hold the ball for an age and play deep inside All Blacks territory.

They also became a little lazy in observing the offside line. They pushed up too hard, too soon and left referee Jaco Peyper with no choice but to keep penalising them.

The All Blacks made it impossible for themselves to get their attacking game going in the second half and there's just no way will they be able to get away with that this week in Durban.