Rugby Championship Review - New Zealand 28 - 13 Argentina

“Never write them off” is a bit of an odd phrase – it’s sort of a double edged sword.  Sure, it means that you are giving the opposition due respect and are acknowledging the threat they offer, but it also means that you’re having to remind yourself not to write the opposition off because they are, in fact, pants.  It’s what teams like Wales or England say smugly before playing Italy, or what Leicester would mention before a game against Worcester – it’s pretty patronising stuff.  And it will come back to bite you one day because, more often than not, these teams aren’t very pants at all – as the All Blacks nearly found out on Saturday.

Saying the All Blacks were favourites would be like saying that I find Mila Kunis relatively attractive.  Aside from one blip against England, they have swept aside all before them over the last 2 years and back-to-back victories over the Wallabies confirmed they are still number 1.  Argentina on the other hand are yet to win in the Championship since joining the tournament in 2012.  No contest?  Perhaps, but a monsoon in Hamilton really levelled the playing field.

And it was the Pumas who took advantage of the conditions early on - despite a kick-off out on the full by Juan Martin Hernandez – as debutant Francis Saili endured a nightmare start, fumbling on his own 22 metre line and allowing prop Juan Figallo to scoop up the loose ball and send it wide to Juan Manuel Leguizamon, who slid in after just 4 minutes.  Nicolas Sanchez knocked over the conversion, and the Pumas were in unchartered territory – leading against the All Blacks in New Zealand.

Unfortunately – and predictably – the All Blacks quickly got a hand on proceedings.  Dan Carter – who ended up being a bit hit and miss with the boot – slotted a 3 pointer before hooker Eusebio Guinazu was sinbinned for a blatant offside after already struggling with his throwing in.  One minute later and the Kiwis had already taken advantage, with Kieran Read slipping a miracle ball between two tacklers to Aaron Smith to score in the corner after the Pumas had done well to repel the initial lineout drive.

Carter converted beautifully, and then helped set up his side’s second one minute later with a scything run out of defence of the sort we’ve seen so many times before.  The ball was shipped via Stephen Luatua to Ben Smith, who chipped ahead and, with the pill bobbling around over the line, Aaron Smith managed to get a hand on it to claim his 2^nd try.  It looked like the floodgates might have been beginning to open, but staunch defence slammed them shut and another Sanchez penalty ensured they went into the break down by only 5 points.

The game was in the balance, with the conditions making it impossible to maintain control of the ball, but Sanchez and Carter both found their range with one further penalty apiece before the All Blacks – given the weather conditions, grabbed the clincher.  Kieran Read was again the architect, this time charging down a box kick by Martin Landajo and galloping to within 5 metres of the line.  From there, wonderful passing down the line by Saili and Conrad Smith gave Julian Savea an easy walk in under the sticks.  Game over. 

The rest of the match passed with plenty of passion but little end product, given that the teams were now playing in a lake.  A worrying sight for All Blacks fans was that of Richie McCaw hobbling off the field with what looked like a nasty knee injury, but that would be a concern for future games as Beauden Barrett kicked a late penalty to put the nail into the coffin.

The final score was 28-13 to the All Blacks, but the Pumas emerged with credit – looking for a decent chunk of the game as equals to their illustrious counterparts.  You can never write them off, some might say.