Outplayed Argentina fall to New Zealand in Buenos Aires

An outplayed Argentina fell to New Zealand in Buenos Aires this evening. The 35-17 victory was both comprehensive and deserved. Los Pumas were short of the levels produced in prior outings in this year’s Rugby Championship.

Scoring first today was Argentina. It came in the form of a Nicolás Sánchez penalty in the 6th minute penalty as Shannon Frizzel had tackled him from the ground. The 3-0 lead would be the only time Argentina led in the match.

In possession New Zealand’s first two lineouts had not been controlled. On both occasions long throws were gained by Gonzalo Bertranou. On the third opportunity the All Blacks got it right and would use it to score a try. The set-piece both saw the ball spun wide with Fijian Waisake Naholo entering off the blindside wing, breaking to feed Ben Smith and send over an unmarked Rieko Ioane.

A hallmark of New Zealand’s defeat in their prior outing was the goal-kicking of Beauden Barrett. He would have no such evening against Argentina as he converted the All Blacks’ tries and did so from challenging angles.

In the 16th minute Argentina threw long and knocked-on. From it New Zealand had an attacking scrum 5 meters out. The All Blacks pushed ahead, gaining one meter and giving the ball to a hard-running Naholo. He stretched out while being tackled to score.

Fourteen minutes later saw New Zealand scoring their third try, silencing the crowd. What can only be described as a lucky score saw Ioane bagging his second, again going over untouched. The try came with Argentina gaining quick ground only for Jerónimo de la Fuente to clear a ruck and for the ball to spill over for the All Blacks.

33 minutes in saw history made. Game time for Sebastián Cancelliere saw a first ever player born abroad playing for Argentina in the Rugby Championship. He came on for Bautista Delguy who was forced off with a head injury.

The 21-3 half time score would remain until 15 minutes into the second half. New Zealand’s fourth try saw replacement Patrick Tuipulotu barging over.

In response Argentina would at last score a try of their own. Diving over to just touch down was Tomás Cubelli. His 29th minute score came eight minutes after he and Julián Montoya had been subbed on.

Cubelli would feature in creating another ten minutes later. Quick thinking saw the ball kicked deep with no All Blacks covering. A chasing Emiliano Boffelli secured the ball and a rampant Pablo Matera was tackled less than a meter short. Boffelli then went over in the left corner, a score to give Argentina a glimmer of hope.

New Zealand, though made up for it to score again and regain their bonus point. The try came from replacement Anton Lienert-Brown latching on to a kick from fellow substitute, Richie Mo’unga. The latter added the conversion.

The Rugby Championship concludes next Saturday. Argentina are at home in Salta against Australia while New Zealand travel to face the Springboks in South Africa.

SCORING

ARGENTINA
Try: Cubelli, Boffelli
Conversion: Sánchez (2)
Penalty: Sánchez

NEW ZEALAND
Try: Ioane (2), Naholo, Tuipulotu, Lienert-Brown
Conversion: Barrett (4), Mo’unga
Yellow Card: Williams

TEAMS
ARGENTINA
15 Emiliano Boffelli, 14 Bautista Delguy, 13 Jerónimo de la Fuente, 12 Bautista Ezcurra, 11 Matías Moroni, 10 Nicolás Sánchez, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Javier Ortega Desio, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Tomás Lavanini, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Ramiro Herrera, 2 Agustín Creevy (capt.), 1 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro

Replacements: 16 Julián Montoya, 17 Juan Pablo Zeiss, 18 Santiago Medrano, 19 Matías Alemanno, 20 Juan Manuel Leguizamón, 21 Tomás Cubelli, 22 Matías Orlando, 23 Sebastián Cancelliere

NEW ZEALAND
15 Ben Smith, 14 Waisake Naholo, 13 Ryan Crotty, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 11 Rieko Ioane, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Luke Whitelock, 7 Sam Cane, 6 Shannon Frizell, 5 Scott Barrett, 4 Samuel Whitelock (capt.), 3 Ofa Tuungafasi, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Karl Tu’inukuafe

Replacements: 16 Nathan Harris, 17 Tim Perry, 18 Angus Ta’avao, 19 Patrick Tuipulotu, 20 Ardie Savea, 21 Aaron Smith, 22 Richie Mo’unga, 23 Anton Lienert-Brown