All Blacks beat Pumas to retain Rugby Championship crown
New Zealand secured the Rugby Championship title for a third successive year after bouncing back to beat Argentina 35-17 in Buenos Aires.
The All Blacks were in an unfamiliar position as they attempted to rebound from their shock loss to South Africa last time out.
Not since 2011 had world champions New Zealand suffered back-to-back defeats and the All Blacks avoided consecutive losses thanks to Saturday’s hard-fought victory in Argentina’s capital.
South Africa’s win over Australia kept their slender title hopes alive, however, New Zealand extinguished those chances via Rieko Ioane’s double despite a late Argentina comeback.
FT | The #AllBlacks have victory in Buenos Aires and secure the Investec #RugbyChampionship title for 2018#ARGvNZL ???? pic.twitter.com/9xtpVNeocH
— All Blacks (@AllBlacks) September 30, 2018
There was a late change for the week-five fixture, with New Zealand loose forward Luke Whitelock ruled out due to illness, while Sonny Bill Williams was one of six new faces in a much-changed All Blacks side.
Argentina – who have won two matches in the same Rugby Championship for the first time – had never beaten New Zealand in 27 Tests but the Pumas made a lively start on home soil.
In front of a raucous home crowd at Jose Amalfitani Stadium, Argentina posted the first points of the game thanks to Nicolas Sanchez’s early penalty goal.
However, the All Blacks pilled on 21 unanswered points to lead 21-3 at half-time – Ioane leading the way with two tries before the interval.
? We are back underway in Buenos Aires with the #AllBlacks leading 3-21. What are your full time score predictions?#ARGvNZL pic.twitter.com/orrgZnsSXW
— All Blacks (@AllBlacks) September 29, 2018
After Ioane hugged the touchline and crossed over in the eighth minute, Waisake Naholo got in on the action nine minutes later – the big man too strong and powerful as he barged over, with Beauden Barrett adding the extras.
Argentina coughed up possession on the half-hour mark and the All Blacks capitalised on the loose ball after Ioane bagged his second and Barrett nailed the conversion.
The Pumas put New Zealand under pressure, resulting in a yellow card for Williams prior to the break, and there were some positive signs in the second half – tries to Tomas Cubelli and Emiliano Boffelli giving the fans something to cheer about.
Boffelli’s try and Sanchez’s conversion made it 28-17 and set up a nervy finale but the All Blacks held on as Anton Lienert-Brown’s late five-pointer sealed the title for another year.
In other news:
Comments on RugbyPass
We’re building a bridge but can't agree where the river is.
2 Go to commentsfirst no arms shoulder or helmet tackle into his rib cage is going to be so very painful even to watch. go back to RU mate.
1 Go to commentsBulls by 5. Plus another 50.
3 Go to commentsJohan Goosen avatar. Cute. Surely someone at RP knows how to do a google image search?
3 Go to commentsCan’t these games play a little earlier? Asking for a friend.
3 Go to commentsIt’s impressive that we can see huge stadiums with attendance in the 40 000 to 50 000 region. It shows how popular this competition is becoming. What is even more impressive is the massive growth in broadcast viewership. The URC is one of the two best leagues in the World, the other being the Top14.
7 Go to commentsChristie is not Sottish, like the majority of the Scotland team.
2 Go to commentsHold the phone, decline over-rated. Is it a one game, dead cat bounce or the real thing? Has the Penney dropped? Stay tuned.
45 Go to commentsTotally deserved win for the Crusaders Far smarter than the Chiefs who seem to be avoiding the basics when it matters Hotham showed them what was missing and Hannah seems a real find - a tad light but that can be fixed over time
8 Go to commentsGreat insight into the performance culture with Sarries and I predict Christie will be a fixture in the Scotland team now for some time to come. However, he is slightly missing his own point around Scotland “being soft” when he cites physicality examples in defence of that slight. The issue is much closer to the example he referenced around feeling off before a game but being told “it doesn’t matter, you can still play well” by Farrell. Until Scotland can get their psyche in that square, they will carry on folding under extreme pressure…
2 Go to comments> We are having to adapt, evolve and innovate more than when we were in Super Rugby where there was only really one style that everybody had to play to gain the most success. Have = able to? Interesting what that one style might be? I thought SA sides still had bad tours now, or at least bad schedule, months away? Those extra few hours flights have to be a killer though, no surprise to see their sides doing so badly at the start of the season each year. I wouldn’t enjoy that unfairness as a supporter.
7 Go to commentsThe problem for NZ, and Aus, is they ripped up the SR model and lost a massive chunk of revenue that hasn’t been replaced. Don’t forget SA clubs went North because they were left with no choice, Argy unceremoniously binned and Japan cast adrift. Now SR wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they’ve jumped into something without an effective plan, so far, to replace what they’ve lost. The biggest revenue potential now lies in Japan but it won’t be easy or quick to unlock, they are incredibly insular in culture as a nation. In the meantime, there is a serious time bomb sitting under SH rugby and if it happens then the current financial challenges will look like a picnic. IF the Boks follow their provincial teams and head north then it’s revenue meltdown. Not guaranteed to happen but the status quo is a very odd hybrid, with the Boks pointing one way and the clubs pointing the other way. And for as long as that remains then the threat is real.
45 Go to commentsI think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
8 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
8 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
8 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
45 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to comments