‘Bit of a hairy moment’: Damian McKenzie reacts to the All Blacks’ ‘lucky’ start
The All Blacks laid down their challenge to Los Pumas on Saturday with a scintillating rendition of Kapa o Pango in front of a buzzing crowd at Estadio Malvinas Argentinas.
After a week in Mendoza, the New Zealanders appeared eager to start their Rugby Championship campaign. For the first time since the Autumn Nations Series, the All Blacks were back.
But after setting up to receive the kick-off, and as the sold-out crowd began to watch in both silence and anticipation, the All Blacks were nearly caught out by “a hairy moment.”
Argentina flyhalf Santiago Carreras got the game underway with a routine kick-off, but less than 30 seconds later, the All Blacks were left stunned.
Damian McKenzie had attempted to clear the ball from his own try line, but had the clearance charged down by Los Pumas’ inspirational flanker Pablo Matera.
Matera, who won a Super Rugby title with the Crusaders, leapt out in desperation in an attempt to score the opening try.
It was close. For those New Zealanders who had woken up early on Sunday morning to watch the game, it was probably too close.
“Really proud of the effort from the boys,” McKenzie said on Sky Sport post-game. “It’s never easy coming over here.
“First time in Mendoza and kind of a loud, passionate crowd.
“Really liked the way, obviously not from the start with our kick-off – it was a bit of a hairy moment there, but when we got our chance to attack I just liked the way the boys rolled their sleeves up and got into our work.
“Really proud of that effort.”
Sitting in the media tribune at the stunning stadium in Mendoza, this journalist looked up at the big screen in a state of disbelief.
By that stage, as the All Blacks began to group up inside their own in-goal, no more than 27 seconds had run on the game clock.
“They come off the line pretty hard there so we’re just probably lucky we got away with one, it wouldn’t have been the greatest way to start,” he added.
“Once we got our opportunity, I was really proud of how we made the most of our opportunities on attack.
“It’s never easy against an Argentinian side, they’re a great defensive side, a great set-piece. The forwards did a really good job and the backs finished off some good tries.”
Whether you love to hate the All Blacks, or hate to love them, this wasn’t part of the plan. With a World Cup just two months away, nobody expected this from the great rugby team.
Referee Angus Gardner went upstairs to the TMO to check, and the home crowd couldn’t have been more excited.
They were chanting and whistling as the stadium of more than 40,000 fans waited eagerly for the verdict.
But thankfully for the All Blacks, McKenzie had beaten Matera to the punch – albeit just.
“Damo assured us that he got it down so we just planned for the line dropout,” captain Sam Cane told reporters after the match.
“We talked about if they kick off again, we’ll make sure we don’t make those same mistakes again.
“They obviously put a lot of pressure on Jordie (Barrett) and he got nailed behind the advantage line, and then the next tackle we got nailed behind the advantage line too.
“We made some subtle changes there and I think we were a lot better for it.”
Off the back of Pablo Matera’s early heroics, Los Pumas controlled the opening exchanges of this Test match.
The All Blacks didn’t touch the ball inside the Argentine half for the first four and a half minutes, but once they did, they shifted into a new gear.
Centre Rieko Ioane broke the game open with a stunning line break, and veteran Dane Coles crossed for the All Blacks’ first try moments later.
Following a 31-nil first-half blitz, the All Blacks took a commanding lead into the sheds at the break. They weren’t going to be denied from there.
While Los Pumas fought valiantly in the second term, the New Zealanders held on for a confidence-building 41-12 win in Mendoza.
Comments on RugbyPass
Just came back from the game and the atmosphere was amazing. Players stayed afterwards for more than a hour to sign stuff and take photos with fans. Great day out.
5 Go to commentsA great game. The Sharks without Etsebeth are a shadow of the team compared to when he plays. The limitations of Some of the expensive Sharks players are being exposed. Credit to Clermont for some exhilaration play at times.
5 Go to comments100% Mr Owens. But who would want to be a referee.? It must be the most difficult job on earth.
1 Go to commentsStarts to be overdone and oversold this systematic SA narrative…which nevertheless has the merit in this case to recognise blatant refereeing mistakes in their favor
5 Go to commentsNice article. Shades of Steinbeck. They can win the final if they take the game seriously; but only if they take it seriously.
5 Go to commentsWhat a sad way to end a glittering career. Somebody should tell him to delete his social media accounts and face the consequences of what he's done. Then he should slip away quietly into obscurity. This isn't likely to happen, something tells me he'll be back in The Sun / Daily Mail sooner rather than later.
3 Go to commentsguys its fine! he understands why he did what he did and has taken accountability for it; why should he have to be accountable to a court? after all he did was abuse people in person - its not as if he was engaging in _online_ abuse!
3 Go to commentsChiefs flanker Kaylum Boshier yellow-carded for collapsing the scrum as it rolled towards the line. It was a maul….
1 Go to commentsyou know, i’m a leinster fan so I want Northampton to lose and it is gonna be tuff with Cortney lawes, Alex michell and the other guys🏉 lets go leinster🏉
1 Go to commentsWelcome to the Pro ranks. Those hard teams of old do hit the sole better though. its a dog fight at the top.
6 Go to commentsCan someone fill me in please, I've read a number of Ben Smith articles now and it seems he's got something again South Africa? Surely, this game was over and done with 7 months ago. Can't we have something a bit more interesting and relevant, or is this the calibre of journalist on this site?
228 Go to commentsNot sure what the Welsh are moaning about. They’ve had far more players off England, than England have had off Wales. Guys like Josh Hathaway and Kane James will play for Wales in the end. And they’ll be fsr better players for having played in the Gallagher Premiership, than they ever would have been had they stayed mired in the shambles that is Welsh rugby.
4 Go to commentsThis is all being blown totally out of proportion. First of all, since half the Irish team isn’t Irish - it’s very likely that none of the Irish players said that at all and, thus, we’re not being arrogant. Second, since half the Irish team is Kiwi - it’s very likely the Kiwi players were predicting a NZ SA World Cup final. Which they got spot on. Good on them!
163 Go to commentsAha. An Irishman with logic! Follow the flow: - Ireland peaks with a >80% win record between 2020 and 2023. And then… - crashes out of another QF at the WC; - Beat a poor French Team; - Beat 6N wooden spoonists Italy; - Play shite against eventual wooden spoonists Wales; - Lose against the most boring, “the worst English team ever” , a team widely regarded as unable to attack; - scrape through against Scotland. This article, No - Trimble, is on the money! Except for one glaring statement: _The Springboks have a few aces in the hole in this debate being the reigning world champions and official world number ones_ There is no debate, boys and girls. There it is. In black and white. “Reigning World Champions and OFFICIAL world number ones”. Come July, the overrated Andy Farrell and this overhyped team are going to enter into a world of hurt.
90 Go to commentsI’d like to know what homoerotic events Daniel enjoyed at 8th man. I clearly missed out!
19 Go to commentsThis article is missing some detail, like some actual context or info about what led to him abusing the ref.
2 Go to comments*They used to say that football is a gentleman sport watched by hooligans and rugby is a hooligan sport watched by gentlemen. How times have changed.*
3 Go to commentsexcept ot wasnt late wasnt late at all so dont know why you all saying its late he commits early and its your fault fir not paying attention
30 Go to commentsNot sure the Bulls need another average utility back in their ranks. Chamberlain has been ok for the Sharks but is by no means an X-Factor player. Bulls bought several utility backs which they barely use. A typical example would be Henry Immelman who plays mostly Fullback. The Bulls however have rarely played him this year and he has played wing or centre. Bulls want to build depth but seems like they have too many surplus players
1 Go to commentsABs lost against a side playing without a hooker - The guy playing, had one shoulder. Line outs were a gimme for the ABs, and the last 8 minutes 14 played 14 against a team that had been smashed 3 weeks in a row… Yet with all that possession, with all that territory, with all the advantages they actually had, especially in the last 8 minutes, they couldn’t buy a point. Those last 8 minutes determined if they outplayed the Boks or not. History will show that the Boks completely outplayed the ABs, especially in those last 8 minutes, the business end of any rugby match
228 Go to comments