All Blacks bounce back in style at Eden Park
Execution excellence provided redemption for the All Blacks in a display of power that swamped Argentina 42-10 in wet conditions in their Lipovitan D Rugby Championship Test in Auckland.
In addition to recovering from last weekend's disappointments, they had the satisfaction of a significant win while also completing the goal of wrapping up 50 consecutive Tests without defeat since 1994 on the ground.
Special credit went to the All Blacks pack, which relished more scrum opportunities to seize control from the outset against an Argentine scrum quelled into submission by the onslaught they faced, with loosehead prop Tamaiti Williams making a strong impression.
Hooker Codie Taylor was rampant about the field while locks Tupou Vaa'i and Sam Darry belied their lack of experience. There was also much more dominance in the loose, with captain Ardie Savea strong off the back of the scrum and a nuisance whenever he got hands on the ball.
And if the wet conditions were not conducive to running rugby, the All Blacks made light of that to run in five tries for a 35-3 lead by halftime. The situation demanded strength at halfback, and TJ Perenara was up to the task with some effective sniping around rucks and mauls.
But the All Blacks delivered en masse in an unrelenting display that offers more hope for their following two Tests against South Africa.
Lineout variations opened up the Argentine defence, especially around the front of the line where space was used well, especially in setting up the opening try in the sixth minute for first five-eighths Damian McKenzie. With the ball released from the pack after impressive runs by Savea and Taylor, second five-eighths Jordie Barrett slipped a chip-kick to the in-goal, where McKenzie raced through to score.
More Argentina penalties allowed the All Blacks to set up camp in the 22m area. From the lineout, Taylor set up the maul, and after Williams was just short, Savea drove low to the line and was awarded the try after 16 minutes.
Continuing infringements by the visitors allowed the All Blacks to clear their line, firstly with a superb defensive lineout maul and then with a penalty to get the lineout. When getting the ball, Argentina then suffered consecutive charge downs with the ball reaching the in-goal.
Running the ball from in-goal, they cleared, but then, in a ruck, halfback Gonzalo Betranou let the ball stay too long at the base, and Va'ai read it well to intercept the Bertranou pass, with referee Andrea Piardi's immediate consent, and in the resulting play, the ball was moved, with Savea at centre feeding wing Caleb Clarke in for a 23rd minute try, his eighth in Tests.
More post-lineout initiative saw Perenara break around the blindside from a maul. In the tackle, he slipped a pass to Jordan who had the space to run in his 32nd Test try.
Powering into another lineout maul, the All Blacks had Argentina at sixes and sevens, and as the ball emerged, McKenzie found fullback Beauden Barrett, whose choice of line parted the defence and saw him race 22m to score the fifth try of the half and his 44th in Tests.
The 35 first-half points conceded were reflected in the statistics: Argentina missed 10 tackles to three by New Zealand, nine turnovers were conceded to five and 44 rucks conceded to the All Blacks.
The scrum dominance was utilised in the first minute of the second half, allowing Savea to mount a blindside sortie, which was used to create a second chance for Jordan as he entered the line from the blindside, but he scored in the tackle to maintain his record of a try for each of the 33 Tests he has played.
Scoring proved much harder in the second half. The All Blacks launched their replacements early and were unable to continue at the high plain achieved earlier, although their defence came under more scrutiny. They ended up making 153 tackles to 132 by Argentina.
It was 71 minutes before Argentina finally scored as fullback Juan Cruz Mallia got across the line.
However, after the All Blacks finished with 14 men after replacement hooker Asafo Aumua was sin-binned for a tackle ruled head-on-head on Carreras, they were still denying the visitors try-scoring chances.
The result was a shot in the arm, especially under the wet conditions, but their next two Tests will be assured of lifts in intensity.
All Blacks 42 (Damian McKenzie, Ardie Savea, Caleb Clarke, Will Jordan 2, Beauden Barrett tries; McKenzie 6 con) Argentina 10 (Juan Cruz Mallia try; Santiago Carreras pen; Thomas Albornoz con). HT: 35-3
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— All Blacks (@AllBlacks) August 17, 2024