All Blacks v Pumas: Everything you need to know
Beauden Barrett has suggested New Zealand will remain committed to adopting an enterprising approach when they host Argentina in round three of the Rugby Championship.
The All Blacks were at their brilliant best in the first 50 minutes of their opening match against Australia, running in eight tries to charge into a scarcely believable 54-6 lead.
However, the Wallabies salvaged some pride by replying with 28 unanswered points and Michael Cheika’s men then came agonisingly close to winning the reverse fixture in Dunedin, with Barrett’s late try ultimately rescuing New Zealand.
Despite shipping 89 points in two meetings with Australia, Barrett insists he and his team-mates will not be tempted to play things safe at Yarrow Stadium on Saturday.
“It’s just about nailing our key roles in the moment, our skill execution. We weren’t as accurate as we needed to be early in the second test against Australia,” said the superstar fly-half.
“We can’t also go into a hole with our attacking game when we make two defensive errors. It’s about expressing ourselves and identifying that on the field and not having to shut up shop.
“So we’re encouraged to keep playing footy and identify what is exactly going wrong.”
Argentina come into this weekend’s match on the back of successive defeats to South Africa. Pumas coach Daniel Hourcade and All Blacks chief Steve Hansen have each made wholesale changes, with Vaea Fifita and Nehe Milner-Skudder among the notable starters for New Zealand.
Beauden Barrett has a special message for all the #AllBlacks supporters in Taranaki #NZLvARG pic.twitter.com/CgQ075OwW6
— All Blacks (@AllBlacks) September 8, 2017
All Blacks: 23
Pumas: 0
Draw: 1
KEY PLAYERS
All Blacks – Vaea Fifita
Fifita will make his first All Blacks start on Saturday and Steve Hansen has set high expectations for the flanker. “He’s probably one of the best athletes I’ve had anything to do with,” said the All Blacks coach. “I want to see a real physical beast that we know he can be. But we also want to see him do his core roles, dominate in the tackle, dominate when he carries, use his ball skills in the contact area as well. We’re expecting a lot from him because we believe he’s got a lot in him.”
Pumas – Benjamin Macome
Eyebrows were raised when Macome was selected ahead of Juan Manuel Leguizamon. The back-row forward has impressed for the Jaguares in Super Rugby, but has big boots to fill this weekend.
THE LINE-UPS
All Blacks: Damian McKenzie, Israel Dagg, Anton Lienert-Brown, Sonny Bill Williams, Nehe Milner-Skudder, Beauden Barrett, TJ Perenara; Joe Moody, Dane Coles, Nepo Laulala, Luke Romano, Brodie Retallick, Vaea Fifita, Ardie Savea, Kieran Read (captain).
Replacements: Codie Taylor, Wyatt Crockett, Ofa Tu’ungafasi, Scott Barrett, Sam Cane, Tawera Kerr-Barlow, Lima Sopoaga, Ngani Laumape.
Pumas: Joaquin Tuculet, Santiago Cordero, Matias Moroni, Jeronimo de la Fuente, Emiliano Boffelli, Nicolas Sanchez, Tomas Cubelli; Lucas Noguera Paz, Agustin Creevy (captain), Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, Guido Petti, Matias Alemanno, Pablo Matera, Javier Ortega Desio, Benjamin Macome.
PRE-MATCH TALK
All Blacks skipper Kieran Read said of Argentina: “The history of this championship [shows] they’ve been very tough opponents for us, even here in New Zealand. They’re a dangerous side.”
Macome knows Argentina face the stiffest of tests. “We have to do everything perfect if we want to beat this team,” he said.
KEY STATS
– The All Blacks are undefeated in 24 previous encounters with the Pumas and have won 22 on the bounce since a 21-all draw in Buenos Aires in 1985.
– New Zealand have won all 13 of their home matches against Argentina, triumphing by an average margin of 36 points.
– This will be the first Test played at Yarrow Stadium since New Zealand defeated France 24-9 at the venue in June 2013.
Comments on RugbyPass
Big 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.
2 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
2 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.
2 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
2 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 commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
5 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
34 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to comments