Argentina not good enough as New Zealand win in Buenos Aires

In front of a packed Vélez Sarsfield New Zealand outclassed Argentina. A bruising period of twelve minutes proved the difference as New Zealand’s might saw them score four tries in quick time. The final score of 36-17 underlines the strength of the All Blacks.

The scoring got underway after three minutes. Referee Jaco Peyper believed that Pablo Matera had been off his feet and penalized him. Beauden Barrett kicked a straight-forward penalty.

New Zealand looked to score the opening try. This resulted in ball for both wingers. Argentina, though, held firm with Nicolás Sánchez tackling Julian Savea over the sideline. Argentina then cleared well to get themselves out of their own half.

The second ten minutes of the match saw Argentina on top. The South Americans came close to scoring with captain Agustín Creevy in the clear. Pepper, though, stopped play for a missed knock-on.

In the 18th minute Creevy was in the clear for a second time. His pass to Santiago Cordero failed to find the winger enabling New Zealand to regather.

New Zealand’s defense held off further advances. New Zealand then got themselves into the Pumas 22. Having won a 24th minute penalty they opted for a scrum. Following several minutes of raids Anton Lienert-Brown found his way past Santiago González Iglesias. Barrett added the conversion.

A Barrett error then saw Argentina opening their account. His kick went dead which gave Argentina an attacking scrum. From the resulting play TJ Perenara was penalized enabling Sánchez to kick his first penalty.

Argentina did well to defend in their own 22 but an error from the lineout was costly. Argentina went for the tail only for New Zealand to latch on to it and score one phrase later. Ryan Crotty scored a simple try.

It went from bad to worse minutes later as another Pumas error gifted New Zealand two further tries in the final plays of the opening half. The first came from an Argentine error. It saw Dane Coles crossing untouched. From the resulting kick-off New Zealand passed from one to another and put Perenara in the clear.

Trailing 29-3 at half time a tired Pumas side was slow to adjust. New Zealand, in contrast, started the second half relentlessly. Ben Smith made it 36-3 with a 45th minute try. It was not without controversy as replays appeared to show that Brodie Retallick had illegally cleared out a Puma.

Argentina’s frustrations with Peyper increased in the 52nd minute. A punch from Joe Moody was yellow carded rather than red carded.

The one man advantage saw Argentina opting for scrums from the penalties. Following resets an advancing scrum saw Facundo Isa diving over. Sánchez added the extras to curt the deficit to 24 after 57 minutes.

Argentina then looked to score for a second time. Raids from the forwards were ended by New Zealand, though not without controversy. Liam Squire was yellow carded for repeated offside play. The incident could easily have potentially seen a penalty try.

Argentina were not entirely clean though. Replacement Juan Manuel Leguizamón was fortunate to only be penalized for a neck-roll in the 73nd minute.

With the second half score tied at 7-7 Argentina would win it. Their second try came from Joaquín Tuculet who went over in the right corner. Santiago González Iglesias converted a difficult attempt from the sideline.

A final try nearly presented itself. Following a break from replacement Tomás Cubelli Los Pumas went close. New Zealand showed their determination to the end as Ramiro Moyano was tackled into touch to give New Zealand a 19 point win.

Scorers
Argentina
Try: Isa, Tuculet
Penalty: Sánchez
Conversion: Sánchez, González Iglesias

New Zealand
Try: Lienert-Brown, Crotty, Coles, Perenara, Smith
Conversion: Barrett (4)
Penalty: Barrett

Argentina
15 Joaquín Tuculet, 14 Santiago Cordero, 13 Matías Moroni, 12 Santiago González Iglesias, 11 Ramiro Moyano, 10 Nicolás Sánchez, 9 Martín Landajo (c), 8 Facundo Isa, 7 Javier Ortega Desio, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Matías Alemanno, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Ramiro Herrera, 2 Agustín Creevy, 1 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro

Replacements: 16 Julian Montoya, 17 Lucas Noguera, 18 Enrique Pieretto, 19 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 20 Leonardo Senatore, 21 Tomás Cubelli, 22 Jerónimo De la Fuente, 23 Matías Orlando

New Zealand
15 Ben Smith, 14 Israel Dagg, 13 Anton Lienert-Brown, 12 Ryan Crotty, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Kieran Read (c), 7 Ardie Savea, 6 Liam Squire, 5 Brodie Retallick, 4 Patrick Tuipulotu, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Joe Moody

Replacements: 16 Codie Taylor, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 19 Samuel Whitelock, 20 Elliot Dixon, 21 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 22 Lima Sopoaga, 23 Damian McKenzie