All Blacks ready for rain dance
Captain Richie McCaw says that the All Black pack are relishing the prospect of wet conditions during their clash with Argentina in Wellington on Saturday.
New Zealand have never lost to the Pumas, and the world champions head into the Rugby Championship match as heavy favourites having brushed off the challenge of the Wallabies to claim the Bledisloe Cup.
The visitors will enter the contest with some confidence from their 16-16 draw with the Springboks in Mendoza which showed that they will not be easy to beat in their first year in the Southern Hemisphere competition, but the All Blacks are taking inspiration from past confrontations against the Argentines, with photos of their matches splashed across the walls of their team room.
With stormy weather forecast, McCaw said the All Blacks are looking forward to an intense battle against the formidable Argentine forwards.
"Regardless of whether it's wet or dry it's going to be a battle up front and our boys talked about it and they're quite excited if it is wet as it gives them a chance to get stuck in," he said.
The All Blacks will try to shut down two key players – captain and No.8 Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe and flyhalf Juan Martin Hernandez, McCaw added.
"Lobbe is certainly one of the players who gets them going. They look to him for inspiration. They key for us is to limit his effectiveness," he said.
"They're quality players and we've got to make sure we don't give them a chance to show what they can do."
Lobbe knows that his team will have to play the "perfect" game if they are to have any chance of beating New Zealand for the first time in their history.
"For us, the most important thing is to go one step ahead of what we did two weeks ago against South Africa," Lobbe said when they wrapped up training on Friday.
"We need to be perfect in defence, we need to be perfect in attack, I think the word for tomorrow is to try to be perfect in everything we do."
Coach Santiago Phelan indicated that with the World Cup-winning All Blacks coach Graham Henry now in the Pumas camp his side is starting to develop the attacking skills that have been lacking in their forward power-game.
"We are trying to develop our game, our attack with our ball, so he is working on that," he said.
Argentina have mixed memories about playing in Wellington where they beat Scotland 13-12 in the World Cup but also suffered their worst loss to the All Blacks, going down 93-8 in 1997.
AFP
