'Praise' for All Black scrum
The All Blacks defied wet, greasy conditions and repelled Argentina's feared forward power for a bonus-point 28-9 win in their Rugby Championship Test at McLean Park on Saturday.
New Zealand coach Steve Hansen praised his side, as the All Blacks set-piece stood up against the much-vaunted Pumas pack and laid the foundations for victory.
Hansen said he was pleased with the "intent and purpose" of the side, particularly the forwards.
"From a scrummaging point of view we should be very proud," he said.
"We sometimes get underestimated at scrum time by others and tonight we scored a try right on half-time from their ball."
Having struggled against Australia in similar conditions in Sydney three weeks ago, Hansen's team played much smarter on Saturday, which resulted in two tries for Julian Savea and further five-pointers to Liam Messam and Aaron Smith.
Argentina were rerstricted to just three Nicolas Sanchez penalties, despite enjoying some periods of dominance and showing a willingness to get the ball wide.
"I'm very happy with the final result," said Hansen.
“We've played these guys three years in a row now in not great conditions and this is the first time we've got a bonus point, so we're very pleased to pick that up.
"We're very pleased with the intent and purpose of the side and how they came out. Yes we made a few mistakes but we made them trying to do things and trying to play positive rugby."
Hansen also had praise for Argentina, who are still searching for their first win in the Rugby Championship but are a much-improved team from the one that joined the competition in 2012.
"I think you saw a very good Argentinean side," the All Blacks coach added.
"They are not very far away from getting over the hump and actually beating teams. They are very, very physical up front and they've got some tidy backs.
"It took a very good defensive effort throughout the game as well to keep them try-less. We're very happy."
Argentina's one chance at scoring a try was disallowed with the referee ruling a charge down by Leonardo Senatore was a knock-on.
Captain Agustin Creevy diplomatically dismissed the incident, saying "there are things that happen in a game unfortunately".
One low point was the kicking of the otherwise impressive Beauden Barrett, on his first Test start at flyhalf, who missed three penalties and a conversion before being replaced by Colin Slade mid-second half.
Source: AFP
