New Zealand’s bench took them away from a potential Argentinian comeback as Samisoni Taukei’aho struck twice from short range to take the visitors to a bonus point win in their opening fixture in Cordoba.
Here are our five takeaways.
The top line
Six tries from Ardie Savea, Sevu Reece (2), Taukei’aho (2) and Cortez Ratima were enough to keep the All Blacks a score or more ahead for almost the entire match, as their accuracy around the breakdown, in the air and at the setpiece saw them home.
Argentina had contrasting fortunes; a lacklustre first half saw them down to 14 men for a key period, and for that opening 40 minutes, they struggled to get any sort of vim or vigour into their carrying work or their competition at the breakdown.
Nevertheless, a much better second half saw Tomas Albornoz in fine fettle, scoring one himself to add his brilliant work in the first that created a score for Rodrigo Isgro, whilst Joaquin Oviedo, who put in a long and committed shift at eight, crossed from short range to add a third for the hosts.
On balance, the All Blacks won this match at a canter; they never looked fully stressed by Argentina, and it will be interesting to see how Los Pumas react to this defeat as they look to get back to the heights of their game that saw them take the British and Irish Lions out in Dublin in June.
All Blacks basics shine
In a match that started slowly but ignited into a crescendo of Los Pumas’ passion in the second half, it was fitting that it was the basics of All Black rugby, a powerful scrum, breakdown nous and a brilliant effort in defence, that saw the visitors home.
They managed a tackle completion of some 89%, an outstanding effort and one that really frustrated the Puma attacking line, causing a lot of lateral movement against the suffocating black wall.
Whilst Albornoz was easily the best Argentinian on the park (and was great value for his try in one of the few All Black defensive misses by Jordie Barrett), his half-back partner, Gonzalo Garcia, really struggled with passing accuracy and tempo, often looking and stepping due to the pressure the New Zealand defence exerted.
In the setpiece, New Zealand were near flawless, winning four scrum penalties in a really impressive display, although they might have got away with one when Ethan de Groot clearly went to ground and from the ensuing mauls, the All Blacks scored at close range.
New Zealand are often characterised as a wonderfully talented broken field team, but more often than not, it’s the basics that provide their platform that’s their key differentiator – and that was certainly the case in this match.
All Blacks withstand Argentina fightback as late Samisoni Taukei’aho brace seals opening round win
Yellow card chaos
Argentina’s yellow card in the 17th minute was an absolute game-changer for their fortunes. A moment of madness saw prop Mayco Vivas driving over the top of a ruck, and the loosehead prop simply couldn’t resist making contact with the All Black half-back, Cortez Ratima, at the foot of the breakdown.
Whilst the new laws about playing the nine in those situations are clear, given it happened in the middle of the park, Pierre Brousset’s card seemed to be a very harsh call, and the moments that followed demonstrated just how costly Vivas’s actions were.
With Los Pumas choosing to remove a back, we saw Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro come on to prop the scrum and Bautista Delguy leaving the pitch on the right wing.
New Zealand are a high-intelligence side and knowing the lack of covering defence in the Argentine backline, their focus was on getting extra numbers into their attacking movements- and it didn’t take long to expose the mismatch.
With Santi Chocobares tracking across the pitch to cover the 13 and 14 lines, Will Jordan took one moment to see his chance, and stepped off his right to leave the Argentinian centre for dead, although in fairness to Chocobares, nobody had gone with him to cover the hole his drift had created.
Jordan made the hole, but it was the supporting Cortez Ratima that finished the move off quite brilliantly, running a lovely line off Jordan’s left shoulder in a moment that effectively put paid to Los Pumas’ challenge in this match.
The game in numbers
New Zealand once again demonstrated their huge efficiency in their red zone efforts as they hit a 5.6 points average from their eight entries into Los Pumas 22, an absolutely outstanding return, way ahead of the Argentinian effort of an average of three points from their eight visits, despite them gaining a huge 54-46% possession advantage. Their driving maul was a key weapon in their efficiency, with two tries coming from no pass efforts, and the maul contributing to one more in the first half.
In defence, only 14 missed tackles outlined the excellence of the All Black effort, and the turnover count, 13 to nine in New Zealand’s favour, again demonstrated the superior accuracy of the visitors in their defensive effort. New Zealand also managed six clean steals, three from Ardie Savea, as their forwards had a field day on the floor.
Los Pumas struggled to penetrate with ball in hand, making only four line breaks (three from the outstanding Albornoz) from a massive 129 carries, a real concern given the number of options Los Pumas have in terms of direct carrying options.
With the All Blacks gaining a late lineout advantage, stealing two crucial throws in the last ten minutes, it’s a victory that, whilst clunky, was at times dominant, giving them a bonus points win to kick their campaign off in style.
Los Pumas work-ons
Argentina’s second-half display, one that was far more committed in the carry and far more accurate in their breakdown work, was a great illustration of what this talented team can do when they get things right.
There’s little doubt that the introduction of two world-class forwards in Guido Petti and arguably the form flanker in the world, Juan Martin Gonzalez, made a huge difference in those key aspects of carry and breakdown. Petti, the scourge of Toulouse in the EPCR Champions Cup semi-final, assured clean lineout ball and metres with ball in hand, whilst Gonzalez carried on his superb form, creating nuisance in some wonderfully timed carries and making a huge difference in Los Pumas’ accuracy at the ruck and contact area. There’s little doubt that when these two players are on the pitch, Argentina thrive, and their coaching team needs to acknowledge the impact they provide.
Add in some greater accuracy and more direct carrying from their midfield, and Los Pumas will return to their competitive selves.