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Nicolás Sánchez set a record in Argentina’s win over New Zealand. The Argentine play-maker scored all 25 points in Argentina’s 25-15 victory this morning.
25 points is the most ever by an Argentine player in a match against New Zealand. It is also the third highest of any player. Only twice have players scored more. South Africa’s Morne Steyn scored 31 points against the All Blacks in 2009 and Christophe Lamaison did so for France at RWC 1999.
Today was Sánchez’ 14th cap against New Zealand. He has scored 151 against the All Blacks. This places him as the second of all-time. The leading scorer against New Zealand is Mathew Burke. The RWC 1999 winner scored 176 points in 17 caps against New Zealand.
Juan Imhoff made his test return. The Racing 92 winger’s previous test match appearance was in 2015. He was very early a try-scorer in today’s win over New Zealand.
Also returning was Facundo Bosch. The La Rochelle hooker earned his second test cap. Remarkably, Bosch is unbeaten against New Zealand and South Africa. His debut was a 32-19 win over South Africa in 2018.
Two players made their test debut. 21-year-old Santiago Chocobares started at inside center and 22-year-old Santiago Grondona was a replacement flanker. Both players were Super Rugby rookies this year. They also both played excellent rugby on debut.
Argentina also set records in the contest. The win was Argentina’s first against New Zealand. It was the 30th match between the sides. The previous best result was a draw in 1985.
The loss was New Zealand’s second in as many weeks. The last time that New Zealand lost consecutive matches was in 2011. New Zealand also has a draw this year. This means that Ian Foster now has a 40% win rate after five matches as Head Coach. This is the lowest since Alex McDonald in 1949.
