Argentina v New Zealand - Teams and prediction
ROUND TWO PREVIEW: Los Pumas have a second shot at bagging their first win over New Zealand on home soil, with their previous victories all coming at away venues.
Consistency and accuracy would be the two key factors Argentina would want to achieve in this Round Two Rugby Championship clash.
During the first 20-odd minutes of the second half in last weekend’s Test, Los Pumas showed a lot of grit to fight back from 10-31 down to push New Zealand close to 24-31 before New Zealand sealed the game with a late surge.
Argentina, in their last victory over the All Blacks, came back from an 8-20 deficit to defeat New Zealand 38-30 in Wellington, which indicates that they can make strong comebacks when required.
Los Pumas will, however, want to establish a foothold in the game early on and maintain the pressure on New Zealand, who are arguably the game’s best comeback side historically.
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— Los Pumas (@lospumas) August 20, 2025
The All Blacks, after just one round of the Rugby Championship, appear as the competition favourites after the Boks’ self-destruction at Ellis Park against the Wallabies.
Irrespective of what happens in Cape Town, a win for New Zealand would put them in the driver’s seat to reclaim the Southern Hemisphere title.
Their upcoming fixtures are favourable, which includes hosting the current Rugby Championship holders South Africa in back-to-back Tests at Eden Park and the Wellington Regional Stadium, which is a tough ask for any visiting team to claim a scalp in the land of the long white cloud.
However, as mentioned, Argentina can put a spanner in the works this weekend and blow the competition wide open.
The Kiwis suffered a double injury blow with Anton-Leinert Brown and Patrick Tuipulotu returning to New Zealand after being ruled out of the second Test.
Head coach Scott Robertson is well aware of Argentina’s ability to bounce back, as he expects a response from Argentina after their first Test loss.
“The game went into the balance for a little while. They’re a great attacking squad.”
Lock Fabian Holland shared his coach’s sentiments: “If we don’t finish opportunities, then they’re going to capitalise and come back like they did in the first game.
“We have worked a lot on our polishing and focused on what we need to do better.
“In the first half, we were clinical and things went according to plan, then, in the second half, the crowd got into it, the Argentinians got their tails up, and we started making mistakes.
“We reflected on the second half and know what we need to do better.”
With Wallace Sititi and Tamaiti Williams on the substitutes bench, and Parker making his debut, there will be some big players on the field.
“Wally is one of those guys I grew up with playing in the Under-20s,” Holland said.
“Sharing the field with him is special for me. We’ve done that same journey, but this will be the first time I’ll be sharing the field with him [for the All Blacks].
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Assistant coach Tamati Ellison said in their preparation for the second Test, the All Blacks have been searching for more connection and control on the defensive side of the ball.
They took a step in the right direction in their collisions in the first Test, but Ellison feels there is room to take another step.
The All Blacks are aware that the Los Pumas players will look to improve their work at collisions as well.
“They’re passionate, physical in the collisions and move the ball well.
“We saw that in last year’s Rugby Championship when they played us and when they put 70 points on Australia.
“We know they can attack, and we respect that.”
Centre Billy Proctor said the All Blacks expect an all-guns blazing approach from the Pumas, but they also want improvement in their performance.
There were things they could improve, and they realised there were going to be moments in games that they lost.
“It’s how we can adapt quickly and get back on top and control the momentum and get the momentum back on our side.
“We’ve talked about how we can do that, and now it’s time to try and action it.”
Discipline is also a key area of concern that the All Blacks know they need to be better at.
“It’s one area that we’ve talked about and we’re going to try and be better.”
The game also marks hooker Codie Taylor’s elevation to the 100 Tests Club. He will be its 14th member.
Robertson said, “Codie’s a special man, a champion off the field.
“He’s got a great story, born and bred in Horowhenua Kapiti, in the footsteps of Dane Coles.
“They’ve got a nice little combination, and he’s the second hooker to reach the 100 milestone [behind Keven Mealamu].
“He’s resilient, he’s tough, he’s skilful, and he’s an athletic rugby player. But, more importantly, he’s a great man in the environment and a proud All Black.”
Players to watch:
For Argentina: Flyhalf Tomas Albornoz had the joint most carries (14) alongside Ardie Savea and teammate Joaquin Oviedo. This will be a key element he needs to replicate to get his side over the gainline. Oviedo will also be an important figure defensively. He made the most tackles last week (15) along with teammate Pedro Rubiolo (14), which will be important to stop the All Blacks’ go-forward momentum.
For New Zealand: Newbie Fabian Holland impressed last week, having made the joint most dominant tackles (3) and appears to have been in the Test arena for a while. Ardie Savea’s leadership and ability to get over the gainline will be of utmost importance. The impact of Wallace Sititi could be a trump card should things get too heated, as it did last week.
Prediction
@rugby365com: New Zealand by 12 points
Teams:
Argentina: 15 Juan Cruz Mallía, 14 Bautista Delguy, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Tomás Albornoz, 9 Gonzalo García, 8 Joaquín Oviedo, 7 Juan Martín González, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Pedro Rubiolo, 4 Franco Molina, 3 Pedro Delgado, 2 Julián Montoya (c), 1 Mayco Vivas.
Replacements: 16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 18 Joel Sclavi, 19 Guido Petti, 20 Marcos Kremer, 21 Simón Benítez Cruz, 22 Santiago Carreras, 23 Justo Piccardo.
New Zealand: 15 Will Jordan, 14 Sevu Reece, 13 Billy Proctor, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Rieko Ioane, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Cortez Ratima, 8 Simon Parker, 7 Ardie Savea, 6 Tupou Vaa’i, 5 Fabian Holland, 4 Scott Barrett, 3 Fletcher Newell, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Ethan de Groot
Replacements: 16 Samisoni Taukei’aho, 17 Tamaiti Williams, 18 Pasilio Tosi, 19 Josh Lord, 20 Wallace Sititi, 21 Finlay Christie, 22 Quinn Tupaea, 23 Damian McKenzie
Date: Saturday, August 23
Venue: Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires
Kick-off: 23.10 (21.10 GMT; 09.10 NZST, Sunday, August 24)
Referee: Nic Berry (Australia)
Assistant referees: Pierre Brousset (France), Morné Ferreira (South Africa)
TMO: Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
