Argentina player ratings vs All Blacks | Rugby World Cup 2023
Argentina’s hopes of making their first World Cup final were dashed at the hands of the All Blacks at the Stade de France on Friday, as the three-time champions handsomely won 44-6.
Argentina put up a decent fight in the first-half, but it was ultimately the second-ranked team in the world against the eighth, and it showed. The All Blacks were just more clinical in every department going.
Los Pumas huffed and puffed but failed to show the guile that is needed to unlock a world class defence, but there was certainly no lack of effort. Here’s how the players rated:
15 Juan Cruz Mallia – 5
Had the impossible task of having to cover what seemed a 15-man overlap for the All Blacks’ opening try, and the scoreline suggests it was not a great day to be a fullback. Was solid under the high ball and showcased his pace in attack, but not a pleasant job.
14 Emiliano Boffelli – 4
Quiet from last week’s man of the match. Was not necessarily a liability, and took his kicks at goal, but more or less summed up Argentina’s helplessness to really trouble the All Blacks.
13 Lucio Cinti – 5
A solid game, but the All Blacks midfield gave him little room to shine.
12 Santiago Chocobares – 3
Missed more tackles than he made as Jordie Barrett ran riot. Not much more to say than that damning stat.
11 Mateo Carreras – 6
A livewire on the wing much as he was in this fixture in the Rugby Championship in July. Buzzed around the field, making metres, beating defenders and putting pressure on the opposition with his kick returns.
10 Santiago Carreras – 5
A No10 who loves to challenge the defensive line, and had made the most carries for his team this World Cup. He showed that endeavour again with some nice returns, but has to take responsibility for the Pumas’ lack of potency in the backline.
9 Gonzalo Bertranou – 3.5
Criminal lapse in concentration to let Aaron Smith in for a try within minutes of the second-half. That set the tone for the next 40 minutes, but he didn’t last much longer.
1 Thomas Gallo – 6.5
Was taken off on 68 minutes one tackle short of making 20. That’s monumental for a prop. Teamed up with his captain for a textbook hit in the first-half on Shannon Frizell. Great workrate for a big man.
2 Julián Montoya (c) – 5
Peaks and troughs from the captain. Dreadful execution at a lineout when Argentina had a promising attacking platform in the first-half, but followed that soon after with a textbook turnover when All Blacks were going through the gears in attack. Passion personified as usual.
3 Francisco Gómez Kodela – 3.5
In a game of few scrums while he was on, he struggled in those opportunities he had to make a mark. Had a shocking couple of minutes just before half-time- was pinged at a scrum then missed a tackle on Mark Telea whereby the All Blacks scored a phase later.
4 Guido Petti Pagadizabal – 4
Troubled the All Blacks lineout at times, and knows his role in the team to hit rucks. That was not enough today though.
5 Tomas Lavanini – 4
Hooked off at half-time, but that was not necessarily a reflection of his performance, where he made ten carries and nine tackles. Then again, only five metres from those ten carries.
6 Juan Martin Gonzalez – 4.5
Gonzalez popped up all over the park and did the dirty work in the rucks, but did not make the impact his back-row teammates did either side of the ball.
7 Marcos Kremer – 5.5
Doesn’t seem happy unless he’s trying to grind All Blacks into dust. Not only made a huge number of hits, but the ferocity of those hits must be noted as well.
8 Facundo Isa – 5.5
Challenged the All Blacks more than any other player in attack while on the field and comfortably made the most metres for his side in the pack.
Replacements
16 Agustín Creevy – 5
Busy after coming on for the final quarter, but the game was already over by then
17 Joel Sclavi – 4
Couldn’t get into the game at all for the final ten minutes.
18 Eduardo Bello – 4
Probably was not relishing the idea of coming on for the final 30 minutes with the All Blacks’ scrum on top.
19 Matias Alemanno – 3
Put in a similar shift to Lavanini in defence, but literally offered nothing going forward.
20 Rodrigo Bruni – 5
Got his hands on the ball a lot during his 15 minute cameo.
21 Lautaro Bazan Velez – 5
Who wants the job of trying to turn a game around when the All Blacks are cooking? No one.
22 Nicolas Sanchez – 4
The hero last week with his match-sealing try against Wales, but didn’t quite have the same impact this week.
23 Matías Moroni – 4
Ineffective after coming on for the final 15 minutes, but he can hardly be blamed.
Comments on RugbyPass
Dickson went to his pocket for a card, saw who it was, changed his mind and spoke at length to TMO. One angle clearly shows Care diving over a Saints player to kill the ball. 1st yellow, reason given for not Red was player was falling backwards. He was only falling backwards after contact with Lawes. Graham try should have stood. Mitchell did not have both hands on the ball, ball went forward from a Saints boot dragging over it. 2 intentional knock-on's. One of which had an overlap on the outside. If Quins are happy to win by intentional foul play, then it does not say much for them. Would appear to be a bad day for Karl Dickson, also for the RFU in appointing a Ref who spent 8 years as a player at one of the clubs.
1 Go to commentsLet’s not forget about Ardie Savea just yet.
4 Go to commentsThe URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
1 Go to comments“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
4 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
4 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
4 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
4 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to comments