The Stats Don't Lie: Nonu and Smith out to equal world record

Name: All Blacks: 'Pumas will be pumped'
Uploaded: 2013-09-24T13:34:48+12:00
Duration: 187 s
Description: Conrad Smith and Israel Dagg are cautious of the power of the Pumas at home, while Asst coach Ian Foster warns of a physical battle and a much improved Argentinian side.

Herald online

27 Sep, 2013 12:14 AM2 mins to read

Conrad Smith and Israel Dagg are cautious of the power of the Pumas at home, while Asst coach Ian Foster warns of a physical battle and a much improved Argentinian side.

Tracey Nelson crunches the numbers ahead of Sunday's test between the All Blacks and Argentina.

In the 17 games Argentina have played the All Blacks, they have lost 16 times with one draw. When the two sides met in Wellington on the 7th of September this year, the All Blacks won 28-13.

Ma'a Nonu and Conrad Smith will equal Brian O'Driscoll and Gordon D'Arcy's world record of 50 tests as a midfield pairing this weekend.

Argentina only contested 2 of the All Blacks' 12 lineouts in Hamilton last month. The All Blacks contested all but 3 of Argentina's 16 lineouts.

Andrew Hore is back at starting hooker this weekend, the All Blacks won all of the lineouts that Hore threw to in that Hamilton test. Hore made 12 breakdown arrivals and 5 tackles in the 47 minutes he played of that game.

It is Aaron Cruden's 4th test match against Argentina, he has scored 4 conversions and 4 penalty goals against them but has yet to score a try.

Pablo Matera and Juan Manual Leguizamon are the leading ball carriers in the competition having both made 36.

Ben Smith is the compeition's top line breaker with a total of 7. He has scored a total of 9 test tries, 5 of which he has scored this year against Australia. He is yet to score a try against Argentina.

The All Blacks are conceding an average of 11 penalties per game in this year's Rugby Championship, while their three opposition are averaging 10 penalties conceded against the All Blacks per game. Argentina have conceded an average of 10.75 penalties per game in their 4 played so far.

Argentina have scored the first try of the game in all 3 of the Rugby Championship matches they have played against the All Blacks. They have scored a try against the All Blacks in the last 10 consecutive matches, the last time they failed to cross the line against New Zealand was in 1991.

This will be Jaco Peyper's third time in control of an All Blacks' test match. He refereed the Argentina v All Blacks game in La Plata last year, when the All Blacks won 54-15.

If the All Blacks can beat Argentina this weekend it will be their 5th consecutive away win in the Rugby Championship, surpassing their record of four which they've achieved twice - in 1996/97 and 2009/10.