All Blacks pummel paltry Pumas
Defending champions New Zealand put down a massive World Cup marker when they pummelled a paltry Argentina 39-18 in the opening Rugby Championship match of the season.
The five-tries-to-two win, in Christchurch on Friday, is far more convincing than the scoreline suggests.
It was only a 10-minute slump, midway through the second half and when the game was already long over as a contest, that gave the Pumas' scoreline some credibility. For the best part of 70 minutes the visitors were not in this game.
New Zealand showed a lot more intent than they did in their pre-season opener against Samoa last week. The tempo of their play and their intensity in the contact shocked the Pumas.
It also didn't help the Argentinian cause that their much-vaunted scrum failed to make an impact – from the outset being bullied by the more physical All Black pack.
Apart from their two maul tries, when the Kiwis let their guard down briefly, the Pumas did not look like threatening the All Blacks in any way.
Argentina made most of the early play, but a penalty on their own 10-metre line – when Richie McCaw got his hands on the ball at a breakdown – saw Dan Carter opened the scoring in the sixth minute.
McCaw was also at the heart of the next score, this time being penalised for an offence at the breakdown – allowing Nicolas Sanchez levelling the scores at 3-all after 13 minutes.
Another ruck offence allowed Carter to regain the lead in the 17th minute.
The penalties continued to mount against the Pumas and in the 21st minute – from a line-out five metres out – McCaw sniped around the blindside for the first try. Carter was wide of the mark with the conversion attempt – 11-3.
Another breakdown offence saw Marcelo Bosch take a shot from halfway on the half-hour mark. However, he pushed it wide.
McCaw was at the wrong side of the referee's whistle in the 33rd minute, with Sanchez narrowing the gap to 6-11.
A penalty against Jaun Martin Fernandez Lobbe allowed Carter a shot at goal, but he again drifted wide of the mark.
The All Blacks continued to bash away and right on half-time Ma'a Nonu found his way through a few sloppy tackles, using his power to barge over for New Zealand's second try. Carter slotted the touchline conversion to make it 18-6 at the break.
The second half started with Jerome Kaino winning a penalty at the breakdown on halfway and Carter just pushing it wide. However, from the 22-metre restart some sublime handling saw Charles Piutau go over in the left corner. Carter's conversion made it 25-6 four minutes into the half.
Kieran Read got the bonus-point try five minutes later, when he ripped the ball from the Pumas in the tackle and raced 20 metres for the score. Carter's conversion made it 32-6.
Argentina finally found some rhythm and from a line-out five metres out, Augustine Creevy peeled around the edge for the visitors' first try. Sanchez couldn't add the extras – 11-32, with just over a quarter of the match remaining.
Minutes later another maul from a five-metre line-out gifted Creevy his second try against the All Blacks, with Sanchez adding the extras – 18-32.
However, the tide was quickly stemmed when Cody Taylor got a try on debut, after the All Black scrum demolished the Pumas pack five metres from their line. Under pressure the Pumas turned the ball over in the tackle and Taylor pounced. Carter's conversion made it 39-18.
That is how it stayed to the end.
Man of the match: As was to be expected, Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe was Argentina's most productive player, even though he was on the wrong side of the referee at times and captain Augustine Creevy worked hard and deserved his two tries. Jerónimo de la Fuente toped his team's tackle count, perhaps because they kept running at his channel, but he made his tackles count. Israel Dagg had his best game in a long time for New Zealand and earned a stay of execution, Ma'a Nonu was powerful with ball in hand and Dan Carter has regained his mojo. Among the forwards there were the usual suspects – Richie McCaw (including his usual collection of penalties), Jerome Kaino (powerful beyond belief), Brodie Retallick (a monster on defence, amongst other things) and Luke Romano (defence and ball carries). However, our award goes to New Zealand No.8 Kieran Read, who showed why not so long ago he has rated the best in the world in his position – making all his tackles (which were into double figures), winning line-outs and making more metres with ball in hands than the backs.
Moment of the match: There were five good New Zealand tries, but it was Charles Piutau's score four minutes into the second half ended the match as a contest – although Ma'a Nonu's try on half-time also did a lot of damage in terms of scoreboard pressure.
Villain of the match: No real nastiness, although the weather was decidedly unpleasant – just fresh or chilly by New Zealand standards. Freaking cold for the rest of us.
The scorers:
For New Zealand:
Tries: McCaw, Nonu, Piutau, Read, Taylor
Cons: Carter 4
Pens: Carter 2
For Argentina:
Tries: Creevy 2
Cons: Sanchez
Pens: Sanchez 2
Teams:
New Zealand: 15 Israel Dagg, 14 Waisake Naholo, 13 Ma'a Nonu, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 11 Charles Piutau, 10 Daniel Carter, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (captain), 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Brodie Retallick, 4 Luke Romano, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements: 16 Codie Taylor, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Nepo Laulala, 19 Jeremy Thrush, 20 Liam Messam, 21 Andy Ellis, 22 Colin Slade, 23 Ryan Crotty.
Argentina: 15 Joaquin Tuculet, 14 Horacio Agulla, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Jerónimo De la Fuente, 11 Cordero Santiago, 10 Nicolas Sanchez, 9 Thomas Cubelli, 8 Facundo Isa, 7 Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe, 6 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 5 Manuel Carizza, 4 Guido Petti Pagadizabal, 3 Ramiro Herrera, 2 Agustín Creevy (captain), 1 Marcos Ayerza.
Replacements: 16 Julian Montoya, 17 Lucas Noguera, 18 Nahuel Chaparro Tetaz, 19 Benjamin Macome, 20 Javier Ortega Desio, 21 Martin Landajo, 22 Santiago González Iglesias, 23 Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino.
Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Jaco Peyper (South Africa), Stuart Berry (South Africa)
TMO: George Ayoub (Australia)
