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Mon 10 Sep 2018 | 09:58
Moyano scores stunning opening try as gutsy Pumas fall to New Zealand

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Comments

The All Blacks made it three from three in the Rugby Championship with their 46-24 win at Trafalgar Park on Saturday night. Things didn't come easy, however, as a game Argentine side looked up to the task, playing a free-flowing style equal to their hosts for much of the contest.

Richie Mo'unga got the scoring started for New Zealand with a penalty in the first five minutes.

Moments later, winger Ramiro Moyano caught Nehe Milner-Skudder cheating up on defence and was off down the left where he turned Mo'unga and TJ Perenara inside out for the magnificent try.

Puma flair continued into the second half, with Nicolas Sanchez selling a beautiful dummy for his try almost straight out of the sheds and with only 75 seconds gone. Sanchez later connected with Emiliano Boffelli with a no-look pass for yet another high quality try.

It was a special night for the fly half as he passed Felipe Contepomi's 651 points for Argentina in a Test career.

In the end, Argentina contolled most of the possession and territory. Unfortunately, the stat that mattered most was points on the scoreboard.

New Zealand's style of play and depth proved once again to be too strong. For every great Argentine try, there were two for New Zealand.

Mo'unga took the reigns at fly half and was steady with 16 points, while Shannon Frizell can be proud of his performance, in place of Liam Squire.

Jack Goodhue continued to impress at centre and Karl Tuinukuafe anchored a powerful scrum that gave Argentina fits all night. Steve Hansen and All Blacks fans everywhere also have plenty to be excited about in Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi.

Comparisons with Aaron Smith are not far off as the scrum half looked right at home with his no-look pass in the set up to Goodhue's bonus point try.

Catch up on full match highlights below.

Credit: RugbyPass/All Blacks

Posted By: davidharper

5 Comments

  • drg
    3:23 PM 10/09/2018

    I think that's true, I suppose the reason for that is that perhaps NZ score quick points of small opposition mistakes, so whilst the actual general play might be a bit ebb and flow-ey, when NZ makes a mistake Arg might take a few extra metres, when Arg make a mistake, NZ might take a few extra points...

    (And like you said, replace Arg with any other team).

    One other thing I have noted in the past is teams have sort of two outcomes when playing NZ, they either win the first half and then lose the second half and the game... Or they get smashed and lose everything...

    NZ seems pretty happy to let another team really go all out for the first 40mins, knowing that when it comes to the last 30-40 mins they can just turn on the squeeze and bring the game back their way...

    • pickay
      9:31 AM 12/09/2018

      I used to just "like" comments, but seems like now I am sending out
      little hearts (you are welcome)! Very cute, and probably very fitting to a site that
      discusses rugby. :)Maybe soon we'll have the option to send hugs as well?!

  • flanker2712
    3:08 PM 10/09/2018

    "That said, we hear the same story every time the ABs play Argentina - that it was a tough contest, Argentina were gutsy, and the scoreline didn't reflect the game."

    These days you could probably swap Argentina for almost any top tier nation and that phrase would be a fairly accurate description of the game.

  • pickay
    12:41 PM 10/09/2018

    I actually thought it was Milner-Skudder who caused the defensive issues by coming off his wing going for a two-on-one tackle, which left the wing channel open for Moyano.
    Then sure the cover defence didn't look great, on the other hand it was also great deceptive running from Moyano. And if you watch his handling of the ball, you can see him faking a little chip kick, and I believe TJ bought that dummy and started heading straight back to the line, which put him out of position to cover the inside step.

    And I agree with you on the fact that even if Argentina did play well, it's still no coincidence that the AB's got away with a comprehensive scoreline in the end. It's just their class that shows when it matters.

  • 11:07 AM 10/09/2018

    A lot of commentators seem to be blaming Black 10 (Mo'unga) for that try, but in the ABs defensive system, his job was to cover the line, which he did. What on earth was Black 9 (TJ) doing?? He should have been covering the inside step, but instead he decided to double back behind Black 10 so two players covered the line and nobody covered the inside.

    That said, we hear the same story every time the ABs play Argentina - that it was a tough contest, Argentina were gutsy, and the scoreline didn't reflect the game. At some point the press needs to realise that games of rugby last 80 minutes and being competitive for 65 of those minutes and then running out of team will invariably result in defeat.

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