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Sun 9 Sep 2012 | 04:47
The All Blacks and Argentina battle it out in windy Wellington

7
Comments

The All Blacks remain unbeaten in the inaugural Rugby Championship following a tough battle with Argentina in wet and windy Wellington on Saturday night. Los Pumas put up a spirited fight but went down 21-5 to the seasoned World Champion hosts.

New Zealand scored the first of their two tries as late as the 66th minute, after Argentina had matched them for large parts of the game, mainly through repeated turnovers and great defence.

The strong winds and driving rain affected the match somewhat, but All Blacks coach Steve Hanses said that he feels there were far too many errors regardless.

"In the first half I think we tried to play way to much rugby for the conditions," Hansen said.

"We tried to move ball at times that we should have held on, and our ball security wasn't that great. But part of that, too, was the intensity the Argentinians brought to the game."

Rodrigo Roncero scored first, but three Aaron Cruden penalties kept the hosts at 9-5 up for most of the game. It wasn't before Julian Savea and Cory Jane crossed for tries in the last quarter that the All Blacks looked totally in control of proceedings.

"They're only going to get better and better and they're a very good side at the moment, probably one of the best defensive teams in the world," Hansen said.

The All Blacks host the Springboks in Dunedin next weekend, while Los Pumas travel to the Gold Coast to take on the Wallabies.

What did you think of the match, and of Argentina's performances in the tournament so far?

Posted By: Grant Constable

7 Comments

  • frenchie
    1:02 AM 12/09/2012

    I agree when i read that booing is becoming (unfortunately) common in rugby, in NZ, Argentina, France...
    On the NZ fans what disturbed me most during the last WC is the fact that the NZ fans didn't seem to care about any other team; they just seemed to care for the AB; only cheering when the AB scored...
    I found the NZ fans very boring during the last WC and in general. That is said.

  • joeythelemur
    3:50 PM 10/09/2012

    I don't think that NZ has ever thought that games against SA were "in the bag." Are you talking about just this year? Young team or not, SA is always a tough match for the All Blacks.

  • lenulid
    10:31 AM 10/09/2012

    Leguizamon has to go.

  • jimter10
    8:13 AM 10/09/2012

    he is absolute class, knew it was deliberate as soon as he connected and what a tackle on smith. the original video doesn't do the highlights justice. roncero and bosch's tackle were absolutely world class

  • jimter10
    11:50 PM 09/09/2012

    We joined the Pumas fans on Saturday and they were awesome, we moved seats because of the library we were sitting in and the stinking chat we got for being face painted and flag waving, stuff like "Welcome to New Zealand" when someone made a lot of ground with a clearance kick and "I'll get the tissues ready for you". We went mental when Roncero scored and then legged it to join the clump of Pumas fans. They didn't sit down for a minute, all chanting and flag waving. The kiwis didn't seem to be enjoying the game at all, they need to cheer up.

    I agree about booing the kickers, it's endemic at Crusader's games which surprised me. The Pumas fans did it too, but I approved cos it was in good humour, and I'm biased as fuck.

  • lambchop1234
    10:47 PM 09/09/2012

    All Blacks not at their best but the tries they scored were class. Got to hand to Argentina though. Their defensive performance was probably one of the best I have ever seen. They certainly lived up to the tag as one of the best defensive teams in the world! Some massive hits at the start of the highlights! Difficult conditions to play rugby in. Well done All Blacks for the victory but I have to hand it to the Pumas. A spirited effort and an awesome all round defensive display!

  • pretzel
    10:10 PM 09/09/2012

    I noticed a bit of booing from the crowd for both sides, but the booing going on when Rodriguez was kicking was pathetic. Take NZ, supposed to be the top team in the world, creme de la creme etc, and their fans are so rattled they boo a player from a lesser team. (I mean no disrespect to Arg when I label them "lesser")

    Blame it on the weather or something but NZ looked like they were well matched for the majority of that game. They always had a "more dangerous" look to them than Arg did, but then that has come from experience and is to be expected. But really to stop NZ from scoring until the 65th, nearly 66th minute is brilliant.

    I think that although Arg will has yet to get a win, they have performed better so far than I thought they'd would have done. I hope they can carry this on throughout the tournament and into the future.

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