Sir John Kirwan was left bitterly disappointed by the All Blacks\u2019 defeat to Argentina in round two of the Rugby Championship, but isn\u2019t overly concerned about Scott Robertson\u2019s side\u2019s chances against the Springboks.<\/p>\n
Damian McKenzie\u2019s late penalty clinched a losing bonus point for New Zealand as they fell to their maiden defeat to Los Pumas in Argentina, going down 29-23 in Buenos\u00a0Aires.<\/p>\n
Argentina were outstanding<\/p>\n
Reacting to the match on the Rivals podcast<\/a>, legendary winger Kirwan slammed the performance of the All Blacks and sympathised with former Springboks<\/a> lock Victor Matfield after the latter\u2019s former team fell to a defeat to Australia in round one.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t want to take anything away from Argentina because I thought they were outstanding, but it was just a hard watch,\u201d Kirwan<\/a> said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s probably the worst performance I\u2019ve seen from the All Blacks for a while. I know how you felt last week, Victor, because I\u2019m feeling the same this week.\u201d<\/p>\n After the loss to the Wallabies at Ellis Park, Boks head coach Rassie Erasmus described his charges\u2019 performance as \u2018dogshit\u2019 and Kirwan used the same word to sum up the All Blacks<\/a>\u2018 showing in South America.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I analysed it and when I went and relooked at stuff, Rassie, who is never scared to make a headline, said \u2018we were dogshit\u2019 last week after that game, and it\u2019s a pretty fair summary of what happened with the All Blacks, I think,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n \u201cWe missed 40 tackles; a lot of the other tackles, I believe, were quite passive. So the defensive line wasn\u2019t coming forward because after a couple of rucks, the Argentinians were actually breaking through and getting that extra yard, yard and a half. So it started with that, our kick receiving game was the worst I\u2019ve seen.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s a little bit of a concern because you know that South Africa are going to bring that, but you know Argentina are going to bring it, too.<\/p>\n \u201cThen I think some of our superstars that sometimes can just break a game open and turn that feeling that you\u2019ve got \u2013 just didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was Will Jordan\u2019s quietest Test match ever, Ardie was quiet \u2013 there was just this combination of things.\u201d<\/p>\n Sonny Bill Williams snaps back at incredible rant from pundit who claims \u2018unforgivable\u2019 All Blacks are \u2018heading down the same path as Wales\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n Kirwan is not worried<\/p>\n While Kirwan was disappointed by the All Blacks\u2019 performance, he still feels confident ahead of the back-to-back Tests against the Springboks. He feels that Robertson\u2019s charges had an off-day.<\/p>\n \u201cArgentina were just outstanding, their tactics were outstanding, they had a good mix of playing expansively, but also their kicking game was next level, but they were just very, very good at the breakdown, defensive line, and tackle line. It was that bad that I\u2019m actually not that worried \u2013 if that makes sense,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n Victor Matfield names the \u2018one area New Zealand needs to sort out\u2019 and highlights modern-day trend he doesn\u2019t like in the game<\/a><\/p>\n Meanwhile, Matfield wasn\u2019t overly shocked by the result as he believes that the top six teams in the world are able to beat anyone on their day.<\/p>\n The legendary lock says there is an outdated arrogance among the Springboks and All Blacks fans and pundits who think the teams should be boasting 80 or 90% win records.<\/p>\n \u201cI used the word \u2018arrogant\u2019 with the Springboks team last week, and it was probably not the right word \u2013 I think we just wanted to push our game forward more. To go back to that arrogance, I think especially in South Africa and New Zealand, we [fans] still live in the \u201990s and early 2000s, where we think if we\u2019ve got a good team, we should beat everyone,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the rugby world has changed. Even South Africa against Australia, although I thought we were better, it was still a struggle. I really believe these days, there are five or six teams out there that on any day can beat anyone. It\u2019s not like in the old days, where the All Blacks will have a 90% or 85% win record anymore.<\/p>\n \u201cIt has changed, and it opens up the Rugby Championship. It\u2019s fantastic for the competition, and it\u2019s so close that if you have an off-day or your mindset is not right, these other teams can beat you on any day.\u201d<\/p>\n