All Blacks send strong warning to Springboks

MATCH REPORT: New Zealand sends a strong warning to South Africa, ahead of their two-Test Rugby Championship series in the Republic.

The All Blacks bounced back from last week’s horror show in Wellington to demolish Argentina 42-10 in a very wet Auckland on Saturday.

That stretched their unbeaten run at Eden Park to 50 matches.

Los Pumas were a pale shadow of the team that upset the Kiwis last week – trailing 3-35 at half-time.

Even with the monsoon-like conditions considered, the 17 turnovers ensured they could not get a foothold in the game.

In contrast, the All Blacks were clinical and tactically superior in conditions they were more familiar with than the visitors.

They now head to South Africa, where they will face the Springboks at Ellis Park on August 31 and in Cape Town a week later – two encounters that could decide the outcome of the Rugby Championship.

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Flyhalf Damian McKenzie scored 17 points as the All Blacks defied wet conditions in a skilled attacking display to maintain their 30-year unbeaten record at Eden Park.

It was a vast improvement on the 30-38 loss in Wellington last week, with an explosive first-half performance pushing the hosts 35-3 ahead through five converted tries.

It was built on a dominant display from the forwards, who heeded the call for “redemption” issued to them by coach Scott Robertson after they were outplayed a week earlier.

Argentina’s scrum was overpowered and they weren’t the same force at the breakdown in a performance punctuated by mistakes.

Their lone try came late in the match to fullback Juan Cruz Mallia, meaning the second half was drawn 7-all, helped by tighter defence from the visitors.

It was New Zealand’s best performance under first-year coach Robertson in his fifth match in charge.

Victory continued New Zealand’s remarkable record in Auckland, where they’ve won 50 Tests since their last defeat, against France in 1994.

McKenzie landed all his six conversion attempts and his general play was superior to the first Test, mixing an astute long kicking game with some clever chips to counter the Pumas.

The playmaker also opened the scoring with a try after pouncing on a chip from Jordie Barrett.

Santiago Carreras responded with a Pumas penalty goal before New Zealand captain Ardie Savea powered over for his 27th Test try – lifting him level with former skipper Richie McCaw for the most by an All Blacks forward.

Wings Caleb Clarke and Jordan were both put into space for tries – the latter capitalising on a blindside break from scrumhalf TJ Perenara.

McKenzie’s sweetly timed pass put Beauden Barrett across just before the interval.

Jordan continued the rout soon after the break, lifting him to 33 tries in as many Tests in his first starting appearance since last year’s World Cup.

The game entered a lull before Mallia’s try and a late yellow card was shown to All Blacks hooker Asafo Aumua for a high tackle.

Man of the match: Pablo Matera tried gamely, but received very little support from his teammates – most of whom seemed to be sleepwalking. The front row of Tyrel Lomax, Codie Taylor and Tamaiti Williams deserve a mention – a mixed bag, with some dominant and powerful set pieces, interspersed with sloppy penalties in general play. In the backs, flyhalf Damian McKenzie, along with brothers Jordie and Beauden Barrett were the pick of the bunch. Our award goes to All Black captain Ardie Savea. He produced his usual all-action display – eight carries for 50-odd metres, two line-breaks, 11 tackles.

Moment of the match: You can look at the first scrum or the first downfield kick. However, the build-up to the All Blacks’ first try – when Damian McKenzie went over in the fifth minute. It was a glimpse into what was to come in that manic first half. Los Pumas failed to control possession, allowing the All Blacks to pin them inside their 22, where more sloppy play gifted the home team possession again. A sublime Jordie Barrett chip-kick saw McKenzie pounce and set the tone.

Villain of the match: Los Pumas coach Felipe Contepomi for changing a winning recipe – naming loose forward Marcos Kremer at lock. The latter looked out of his depth in the second row and massively impacted on their set piece stability. By the time he sent Franco Molina on and moved Kremer to the flank, the game was over as a contest.

Scorers

For New Zealand
Tries: McKenzie, Savea, Clarke, Jordan 2, B Barrett
Cons: McKenzie 6

For Argentina
Try: Mallia
Con: Albornoz
Pen: Carreras

Yellow card with bunker review: Asafo Aumua (New Zealand, 75 – foul play, head-on-head contact) – stayed a yellow card

Teams:

New Zealand: 15 Beauden Barrett, 14 Will Jordan, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Caleb Clarke, 10 Damian McKenzie, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Ardie Savea (captain), 7 Dalton Papali’i, 6 Ethan Blackadder, 5 Sam Darry, 4 Tupou Vaa’i, 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Tamaiti Williams.
Replacements: 16 Asafo Aumua, 17 Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 18 Fletcher Newell, 19 Josh Lord, 20 Sam Cane, 21 Cortez Ratima, 22 Anton Lienert-Brown, 23 Mark Tele’a.

Argentina: 15 Juan Cruz Mallia, 14 Matias Moroni, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Santiago Carreras, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Joaquin Oviedo, 7 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Pedro Rubiolo, 4 Marcos Kremer, 3 Lucio Sordoni, 2 Julian Montoya (captain),1 Thomas Gallo.
Replacements: 16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Joel Sclavi, 19 Tomas Lavanini, 20 Franco Molina, 21 Lautaro Bazan Velez, 22 Tomas Albornoz, 23 Bautista Delguy.

Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy)
Assistant referees: Angus Gardner (Australia), Nic Berry (Australia)
TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa)

* Additional reporting by AFP