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All Blacks win Rugby Championship again

RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP REPORT: New Zealand won the Rugby Championship for the sixth time by beating Argentina 35-17 in Buenos Aires on Saturday as they put a stunning home defeat by South Africa behind them.

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The All Blacks led 21-3 at half-time before a sell-out 50 000 crowd and scored first in the second half through substitute Patrick Tuipulotu.

Victory gave New Zealand an uncatchable seven-point advantage over South Africa ahead of their showdown in Pretoria next Saturday.

New Zealand have 21 points, South Africa 14, Argentina eight and Australia five with one round remaining in the Southern Hemisphere championship.

A shock 36-34 triumph in Wellington this month gave South Africa a glimmer of hope that they could overtake New Zealand and win the competition a first time.

But they failed to secure a bonus point as they ground out a 23-12 win over struggling Australia in Port Elizabeth earlier on Saturday.

That result left the All Blacks needing a win to secure the title and they outscored the Pumas by five tries to two to collect a bonus point as well.

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No All Black was happier than flyhalf Beauden Barrett who was successful with all four of his conversion attempts after missing four of six against the Springboks.

Argentina were first to score with star flyhalf Nicolas Sanchez slotting an easy penalty after six minutes at the Estadio Jose Amalfitani.

But New Zealand reacted swiftly to falling behind and within two minutes were ahead as wing Rieko Ioane scored the first of his two tries.

Fellow wing Waisake Naholo came into midfield and played a key role in a move continued by Ben Smith before Ioane cut inside to score and Barrett converted.

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Sanchez seemed certain to cut the gap to a single point from a close-range penalty but, to the amazement of the crowd, fluffed it.

Naholo changed from creator to scorer on 17 minutes, stretching to dot the ball down on the line after the scrummaging weakness of the Pumas was laid bare.

Barrett added the extra points and the world champions were 14-3 ahead midway through the half.

Ioane struck again with 30 minutes gone, scoring a try that infuriated the home crowd.

Codie Taylor appeared to knock the head of Bautista Delguy, but big-screen replays showed the New Zealander had been pushed first by an Argentine.

French referee Mathieu Raynal correctly awarded a try and Barrett converted from the touchline.

In-form Delguy was forced to retire after the accidental blow and Sebastian Cancelliere took his place on the right wing.

Argentina finished the first half strongly after All Black Sonny Bill Williams was sin-binned, but could not translate territory and possession into points and the All Blacks led 21-3 at half-time.

Sanchez wasted an early second-half chance to reduce the deficit when his penalty intended for unmarked wing Matias Moroni fell short and into the welcome hands of Naholo instead.

The Pumas were being let down at the set pieces with the All Blacks making life miserable for the South Americans at the scrums.

Both teams scored two tries during the second half with Tuipulotu and Anton Lienert-Brown crossing for New Zealand and Barrett and Richie Mo’unga converting.

Tomas Cubelli and Emiliano Boffelli were the Argentine scorers and Sanchez added the conversions.

Man of the match: Beauden Barrett was excellent on attack and he never missed a kick at goal as well. Rieko Ioane scored two tries and he could have had more if it wasn’t for some desperate defence from the Pumas. Javier Ortega Desio and Guido Petti were immense in open play with ball in hand, while flyhalf Nicolas Sanchez gave the All Blacks a few problems when he ran at them. However, the award goes to All Blacks loose forward Ardie Savea for his outstanding work rate on the field. He was brutal with ball in hand and he put in a few big hits on defence as well.

Moment of the match: Take your pick from some great attacking plays from the All Blacks.

Villain of the match: Nobody in this one.

The scorers:

For Argentina:
Tries: Cubelli, Boffelli
Cons: Sanchez 2
Pen: Sanchez

For New Zealand:
Tries: Ioane 2, Naholo, Tuipulotu, Lienert-Brown
Cons: B Barrett 4, Mo’unga

Yellow card: Sonny Bill Williams (New Zealand, 37 – repeated infringements, offside)

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Teams:

Argentina: 15 Emiliano Boffelli, 14 Bautista Delguy, 13 Jeronimo de la Fuente, 12 Bautista Ezcurra, 11 Matias Moroni, 10 Nicolas Sanchez, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Javier Ortega Desio, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Ramiro Herrera, 2 Agustin Creevy (captain), 1 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro.
Replacements: 16 Julian Montoya, 17 Juan Pablo Zeiss, 18 Santiago Medrano, 19 Matias Alemanno, 20 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 21 Tomas Cubelli, 22 Matias Orlando, 22 Sebastian Cancelliere.

New Zealand: 15 Ben Smith, 14 Waisake Naholo, 13 Ryan Crotty, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 11 Rieko Ioane, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Thomas Perenara, 8 Ardie Savea, 7 Sam Cane, 6 Shannon Frizell, 5 Scott Barrett, 4 Sam Whitelock (captain), 3 Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Karl Tu’inukuafe.
Replacements: 16 Nathan Harris, 17 Tim Perry, 18 Angus Ta’avao, 19 Patrick Tuipulotu, 20 Jackson Hemopo, 21 Aaron Smith, 22 Richie Mo’unga, 23 Anton Lienert-Brown.

Referee: Mathieu Raynal (France)
Assistant referees: Jaco Peyper (South Africa), Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
TMO: David Grashoff (England)

AFP & @rugby365com

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