Three tactics from Argentina that proved the difference against the All Blacks

Argentina registered their third ever win over the All Blacks in Wellington but this one was different in many ways to their last two victories.

Under new head coach Felipe Contepomi Argentina stuck to a new plan and it paid off in the end.

They scored the most points ever in a Test match against New Zealand, bettering their benchmark of 25 points set in the first two wins.

Here are three key tactics that worked for Argentina in toppling the All Blacks in the opening round of the Rugby Championship.

The deep kick off and smother

Argentina nullified the All Blacks top weapon Mark Tele’a by kicking deep on restarts and smothering him directly after the catch.

They were able to pin the All Blacks’ winger 15 metres or so from the goal line multiple times, before pressuring the exit kick. TJ Perenara had two exit kicks charged down in the first half.

Los Pumas’ timing on the kick restarts was excellent, arriving right as Tele’a caught the ball and in numbers to pin the All Blacks in a deep position.

In the first half, Tele’a offloaded one of them and a couple passes later the All Blacks conceded a penalty next to the sticks.

The deep kick and smother tactic worked perfectly for Argentina and they showed something the All Blacks didn’t have a solution for.

Aggressive intent from penalties

The two previous Argentinian wins were almost a carbon copy of each other: one opportunist try and buckets of penalty goals on the way to 25 points both times.

This time was more aggressive, they rolled the dice a lot more. The Pumas turned down shots at goal regularly to put the ball in the corner, and didn’t always come up with points.

Santiago Carreras went to the lineout with the team down 10-0, and they were snuffed on first phase by Dalton Papali’i five metres out. But this intent to attack paid off.

After the All Blacks exited from there, they stripped Tyrel Lomax around halfway and immediately shifted wide, centre Chocobares breaking through and setting up Lucio Cinti for a counter-attacking try. It was the type of transition try the All Blacks usually score on their opposition.

Later in the first half they had one roll of the dice from the corner, failed, but earnt another penalty and took the three.

Early in the first half after Pablo Matera’s penalty, they went to the corner and mauled over with lock Franco Molina scoring the try.

It was only as the game entered the final 25 minutes that Argentina opted for three as the first option.

In the end they scored four tries and the aggressive intent to go for tries over the first 55 minutes paid off.

The loaded bench

The Argentinians went with a forward-heavy 6-2 bench and it worked. Of their two back reserves, they only used one. The battle of the benches proved pivotal in the final quarter.

The All Blacks set-piece faltered with their reserves on, particularly at the lineout with Asafo Aumua’s throwing an issue, while at scrum time Argentina got the upper hand.

They won a free kick on the first scrum after fresh front rows were introduced, and a penalty on the next, both times on the edge of the Argentinian 22, relieving pressure.

Although the game-changing play came from the duo of Ardie Savea, Damian McKenzie, when back-to-back errant passes lost 50 metres of territory and handed a five metre scrum to Argentina, the execution from the reserve forwards was less than desired in that final 10.

Hooker Augustin Creevy, coming off the Argentinian bench came up with multiple big plays with the go-ahead try and a key breakdown turnover on halfway with five minutes remaining. He then caught an errant throw from Aumua that went over the top uncontested that led to the final penalty.

Many of the All Blacks starters had left the field with the lead in tact at 30-28. The bench performances proved the difference.