All Blacks v Pumas: ABs’ best Test under Razor, Argentina pay for mistakes

New Zealand have bounced back from last weekend’s shock loss with a clinical 42-10 win over Argentina at their fortress, Eden Park. The All Blacks scored their first try in the sixth minute and never looked back as the hosts ran riot.

Damian McKenzie, Ardie Savea, Caleb Clarke, Will Jordan and Beauden Barrett all scored first-half tries as the hosts ran away with a commanding 35-3 half-time lead. The match was all but won by that stage with the All Blacks looking the best they have all year.

While the Kiwis took the foot off the gas during the second term as they called on the bench to make an impact, it doesn’t take away from how good this team looked for the majority of a Test somewhat affected by the wet weather.

Here are some takeaways.

That’s more like it from Razor’s All Blacks

That match was over by the 30-minute mark. The All Blacks led 21-3 and later took a commanding 35-3 lead into the sheds at half-time. It was relentless, dominant and highly entertaining as the All Blacks put on a masterclass on a rainy night in Auckland.

With coach Scott ‘Razor’ Robertson at the helm, this was the best the All Blacks have looked during their new era in 2024. The two wins over England weren’t convincing, and the New Zealanders were always expected to beat Fiji by a comfortable margin in San Diego.

But last weekend’s loss to Argentina was enough to sound the alarms. While the likes of South Africa and Ireland have hit the ground running this year with some promising performances this year, New Zealand looked like they’d taken a step backwards.

They needed to bounce back, and there’s no better venue to do that at than Eden Park. It’s well-known that this venue is a fortress for the All Blacks, and that was certainly the case on Saturday as they recorded a one-sided demolition of a Pumas outfit that had no answers.

With two Tests coming up against Rassie Erasmus’ Springboks in South Africa – which is discussed below – the All Blacks needed a strong performance going into those fixtures. It’s confidence they need if they’re going to have a chance of matching it with the world champs.

Ardie Savea looked like the world’s best player once again, Beauden and Jordie Barrett were quite brilliant during passages of this Test, and the forwards laid the foundations with their physicality and dominance up front.

It was a bit doom and gloom talking about the All Blacks after last weekend’s loss, but that’s well and truly in the past now. It was almost a perfect performance, and that’ll no doubt put a smile on the faces of every person who considers themselves an ABs fan.

Argentina made to pay for careless mistakes

If you’ve read this far then you know the score. It wasn’t pretty for Argentina and the team’s supporters, and gives them plenty to work on and address before playing two Tests against Joe Schmidt’s Wallabies on home soil.

Los Pumas looked like a completely different side compared to the 23 that recorded a famous win over the All Blacks in Wellington. That day, Argentina were clinical and passionate, and they certainly made the most of their opportunities on a famous August evening.

While it’s definitely worth noting the conditions in Auckland were pretty miserable at times as rain poured down from the heavens, that doesn’t justify or explain such a significant difference in how both teams played in Auckland as opposed to Wellington.

New Zealand were sensational, but Argentina certainly have themselves to blame for allowing the hosts to run away with it. Whether it was careless mistakes, schoolboy errors or missed tackles, the visitors were never in the fight.

Halfback Gonzalo Bertranou gave away the ball during the first half after being warned by the referee to ‘use it.’ Bertranou, instead, tried to position the ball in a more favourable position within the breakdown and was made to pay for that error.

That led to a scrum penalty, and that was followed by Ardie Savea’s try.

Later, Argentina set up for a rolling maul in the 20^th minute. Los Pumas looked strong as the forwards grouped together about five metres out from the All Blacks’ try line, but it was blown up by the referee with the hosts awarded an attacking scrum.

Argentina also had two exit kick attempts charged down in the 23^rd minute. They were left to scramble in a state of desperation from well inside their own 22.

They also missed 10 tackles during the first half.

So, the takeaway is this: it was 21-3 before the 25-minute mark. When you’re playing against an All Blacks side at Eden Park, history shows it's almost impossible to win. Compound that with a poor performance, Argentina never gave themselves a chance.

All Blacks forwards seized their chance to finally scrum

Rugby fans had to wait an hour for the first scrum in last weekend’s Test at Wellington’s Sky Stadium. In a match as tense as that one, the brief break in play after a Cortez Ratima knock-on was almost enough to celebrate – especially for the front rowers.

Both sets of starting props were deprived of their opportunity to showcase their strength at the set-piece. All Blacks Ethan de Groot and Tyrel Lomax had both left the field by the time the referee called for the first scrum just before the 60-minute mark.

It was certainly unusual.

“No one wants to see that do they? It was a bit like watching league there for a while,” New Zealand assistant coach Jason Ryan told reporters before the second Test.

“Probably when we got into the shed, you could tell the tight-five were a little bit fresher and I could feel that we were going to change gears a wee bit, but we didn’t.

“We want to scrummage though… we want to actually scrummage, especially when both teams have got the ball.

“There’s been some conversations had there and we’re looking forward to the contest.”

But it was a different story when the two teams went head-to-head for a second time in Auckland on Saturday evening.

Let’s thank the rugby Gods for that.

On a rainy night at the All Blacks’ world-famous rugby fortress, Eden Park, supporters toughing it out in the cold were rewarded for their bravery early on. Inside the first 15 minutes, the opposing forward packs came together for a moment of brute force.

The All Blacks won a penalty advantage at the first scrum and repeated their dominance at the second scrum in the 22^nd minute. New Zealand dominated the next two and were unfortunate not to win more penalties for their efforts.

New Zealand as a collective thrived on what the forwards did at crunch time. It was all one-way traffic in the opening 40 as the hosts grew in confidence before punishing Los Pumas with points on the scoreboard.

However, it must be said that Argentina had the last laugh before the half-time break. New Zealand’s Tamaiti Williams was penalised but the visitors failed to make the most of it, which was their Achilles heel during this Test.

New Zealand are still strong underdogs for South Africa

The All Blacks’ record from five Tests this year paints a positive picture of the direction of this team. With new head coach Scott Robertson leading the way, the men in black have claimed victories in four of five starts so far in 2024.

Last weekend’s loss to Argentina was a sour way for ‘Razor’ to debut as a coach in The Rugby Championship, but New Zealand bounced back with a five-star display in Auckland. But it doesn’t get any easier – they’ll need to be a lot better.

The Springboks are the two-time defending Rugby World Cup champions. They dispatched the Wallabies with ease 33-7 in Brisbane last weekend, and at the time of writing, they’re favoured to knock off Australia again in Perth.

South Africa always poses an intimidating challenge, but facing them on their turf makes it that much tougher for any side seeking victory. New Zealand will have their work cut out for them in upcoming Tests in Johannesburg and Cape Town.

Going off the Springboks’ first win over the Wallabies, the world champions have gotten better on the back of their second-consecutive run to Webb Ellis Cup glory. Every player from one to 23 understands their role and is very effective in ensuring that it’s done.

New Zealand will take plenty of confidence out of this win but backing that up away from home against South Africa is so incredibly tough. They’ll believe they can silence the Ellis Park crowd in two weeks but they’ll certainly start as underdogs.