Ruthless All Blacks blank Los Pumas
MATCH REPORT: A clinical All Blacks team kept their Rugby Championship winning run intact with a 39-0 victory over Los Pumas on Sunday at the Gold Coast.
Caught off guard in a shock first-ever loss to the Pumas in the corresponding fixture last year, the All Blacks shut out the South Americans in a ruthless display this time around.
Despite making six changes to his starting side, Ian Foster’s men piled on five unanswered tries to notch their third straight bonus-point win, having crushed the Wallabies in their first two games of the tournament.
*To recap all the action CLICK HERE!!
Rieko Ioane, Sevu Reece, Dalton Papalii and Luke Jacobson, who bagged a double, all crossed in the opening game of Sunday’s double-header at Cbus Super Stadium.
Brothers Beauden and Jordie Barrett added four conversions and two penalty goals between them to round out the drubbing.
“We can be incredibly proud of that performance,” said stand-out All Blacks captain Brodie Retallick after leading the team for the first time.
“To keep them at zero, defensively, we really had to break them down.
“We found a lot of space with the Wallabies the last few weeks but we had to wear the Pumas down with our set piece and with our carries.
“So we can be proud of that effort.”
The All Blacks camped themselves inside Pumas’ territory for much of the first half, but only had one try to show for their dominance of possession and territory until producing a 15-point blitz late in the section.
Argentina defended valiantly before the floodgates opened with Reece’s five-pointer in the 37th minute, followed by Papalii’s driving maul try four minutes after the halftime siren when the Pumas were down a man.
Pablo Matera was yellow-carded for a breakdown infringement and the All Blacks punished the Pumas in the flank’s absence.
With rugged centre David Havili and Ioane running amok, the All Blacks snuffed out any hopes of an Argentine second-half fightback with their fourth try seven minutes after the interval.
No.8 Jacobson was the beneficiary of Beauden Barrett’s scything run and brilliant flick pass as New Zealand’s lead blew out to 29-0.
Argentina were reduced to 14 men for a second time when veteran prop Carlos Muzzio was sin-binned after referee Nic Berry lost patience following a succession of penalties against the Pumas.
The All Blacks again made them pay, with Jacobson doing it all himself for his second try that completed the scoring.
With two big losses to South Africa as well, the Pumas remain empty-handed ahead of their return bout with New Zealand on Saturday in Brisbane.
Man of the match: Beauden Barrett was integral for the All Blacks. He made lethal runs and set up two of his team’s tries. While Jordie Barrett was just as good and could have easily claimed the award. The Ioane brother – Akira and Rieko – also deserve a mention for their contributions. However for his impressive leadership, his incredible work rate – making big tackles, our nod goes to All Blacks lock Brodie Retallick.
The scorers:
For New Zealand:
Tries: R. Ioane, Reece, Papalii, Jacobson 2,
Cons: B Barrett. J Barrett 3
Pens: B. Barret, J Barrett
For Argentina:
None
Yellow cards: Pablo Matera (Argentina, 40 – repeat infringements), Carlos Muzzio (Argentina, 66 – repeat infringements)
Teams:
New Zealand: 15 Jordie Barrett, 14 Sevu Reece, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 David Havili, 11 George Bridge, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Luke Jacobson, 7 Dalton Papalii, 6 Akira Ioane, 5 Scott Barrett, 4 Brodie Retallick (captain), 3 Nepo Laulala, 2 Asafo Aumua, 1 Karl Tu’inukuafe.
Replacements: 16 Samisoni Taukei’aho, 17 Joe Moody, 18 Tyrel Lomax, 19 Tupou Vaa’i, 20 Ethan Blackadder, 21 Brad Weber, 22 Damian McKenzie, 23 Quinn Tupaea.
Argentina: 15 Juan Cruz Mallia, 14 Bautista Delguy, 13 Matias Moroni, 12 Jeronimo de la Fuente, 11 Santiago Cordero, 10 Nicolas Sanchez, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Rodrigo Bruni, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Matias Alemanno, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Santiago Medrano, 2 Julian Montoya (captain), 1 Facundo Gigena
Replacements: 16 Facundo Bosch, 17 Carloe Muzzio, 18 Enrique Pieretto, 19 Tomas Lavanini, 20 Juan Martin Gonzalez Samso, 21 Gonzalo Garcia, 22 Santiago Chocobares, 23 Emiliano Boffelli
Referee: Nic Berry (Australia)
Assistant referees: Jaco Peyper (South Africa), Graham Cooper (AUS)
TMO: Brett Cronan (AUS)
