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New Zealand overcame Argentina in Nelson to win the third round match of the Rugby Championship 46-24. Having defeat Australia in both round one and round two the All Blacks are on track to retain their title.
From the opening scrum New Zealand scored points. The loss of Juan Figallo back to the English Premiership was evident. Having been awarded a penalty Richie Mo’unga took the opportunity to give the home side a 3-0 lead.
Argentina had an opportunity to respond immediately. Good work from the kick-off saw Nicolás Sánchez lining-up a shot at goal. His strike was wayward, missing to the right.
11 minutes in and New Zealand were forced to their bench. Three All Blacks were hurt early, all being replaced. The world-class quality of the bench meant Argentina would gain nothing but time from Sam Whitelock, Damian McKenzie, and Anton Lienert-Brown all entering the game.
Five minutes later came the opening try. A solo effort from Ramiro Moyano saw the Tucumán winger taking the ball on halfway and slicing his way past Richie Mo’unga, TJ Perenara and Codie Taylor to the try line.
Sánchez recovered to land a difficult conversion giving Argentina a 7-3 lead. It was temporary as New Zealand immediately reclaimed the lead. A rapid advancement from the forwards saw Pumas defenders sucked in and space opening up outside. Numbers saw Nehe Milner-Skudder crossing for a simple score.
New Zealand were now on top. With sustained possession and territory a second try would come. It came in the 30th minute with scrum-half TJ Perenara crossing from close range.
Trailing 15-7 Argentina looked to have scored their second try. A break down the right flank from Javier Ortega Desio and support from Matías Moroni saw the latter diving over. It went to the TMO with officials taking their time to check obstruction from Tomás Lavanini and then the placement of Moroni’s foot. By the narrowest of margins Moroni was deemed to have been in touch.
At the other end of the field New Zealand extended their lead. Mo’unga landed his second of two penalties of the match. The score would close the half with New Zealand leading 18-7.
Argentina opened the second half flying. Great work following the restart and patience from the pack was rewarded. With the forwards meters out Nicolás Sánchez went over to score and landed the conversion.
An additional opportunity presented itself minutes later. Argentina was again able to gain the ball from the kick-off and went deep into the New Zealand 22. No points would come, though, as Tomás Lezana was penalized for being off his feet 4 meters out.
New Zealand made the error count as captain Kieran Read scored in the 49th minute. It was a blow which would be replicated later in the second half.
A personal milestone was recorded by Sánchez. The fly half from northern Argentina scored 14 points in the match, five more than required to overtake Felipe Contepomi. He replaced the World Rugby Hall of Famer with a penalty to now be Argentina’s all-time leading point scorer.
The penalty would be responded to again by New Zealand points. A break from Anton Lienert-Brown found Perenara inside him in support. With it the scrum-half had a double.
It was a cruel blow for Argentina who had been playing the better rugby at the time and were not being officiated to the usual standards. New Zealand was penalized in the 55th, 62nd, 65th, 66th, and 68th minutes. Four of these were five meters out from the All Blacks tryline. No yellow card was given.
Meanwhile the frenetic pace of the match continued with Argentina hitting-back. Again close to the New Zealand line, the Pumas forwards went close. Ultimately quick ball saw Nicolás Sánchez linking with Emiliano Boffelli and the fullback diving over.
New Zealand would respond with two scores in the final minutes. Tries from Shannon Frizell and Jack Goodue confirmed a big win for the home side.
Attendance: 21,404
SCORING
NEW ZEALAND 46
Try: Milner-Skudder, Perenara (2), Read, Frizell, Goodhue
Conversion: Mo’unga (5)
Penalty: Mo’unga (2)
ARGENTINA 24
Try: Moyano, Sánchez, Bofelli
Conversion: Sánchez (3)
Penalty: Sánchez
TEAMS
NEW ZEALAND
15 Ben Smith, 14 Nehe Milner Skudder, 13 Jack Goodhue, 12 Ngani Laumape, 11 Waisake Naholo, 10 Richie Mo’unga, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Kieran Read (capt.), 7 Ardie Savea, 6 Shannon Frizell, 5 Scott Barrett, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Karl Tu’inukuafe
Replacements: 16 Nathan Harris, 17 Tim Perry, 18 Ofa Tuungafasi, 19 Sam Whitelock, 20 Luke Whitelock, 21 Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi, 22 Damian McKenzie, 23 Anton Lienert-Brown
ARGENTINA
15 Emiliano Boffelli, 14 Bautista Delguy, 13 Matías Moroni, 12 Jerónimo de la Fuente, 11 Ramiro Moyano, 10 Nicolás Sánchez, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Javier Ortega Desio, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Tomás Lezana, 5 Tomás Lavanini, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 2 Agustín Creevy (capt.), 1 Santiago García Botta
Replacements: 16 Julián Montoya, 17 Gastón Cortés, 18 Juan Pablo Zeiss, 19 Matías Alemanno, 20 Pablo Matera, 21 Tomás Cubelli, 22 Bautista Ezcurra, 23 Juan Cruz Mallía
