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'We've got some pretty clear objectives': Argentina versus All Blacks preview
By Josh Raisey
The All Blacks swept Argentina aside 39-0 on Sunday on the Gold Coast to make it three wins from three in this year's Rugby Championship, picking up maximum points in each match. South Africa's loss to Australia later that Sunday means Ian Foster's side have a five point lead at the top of the Championship, which he will hope to extend this weekend when they face the Pumas again.
When, where and how to watch the match
The match will kick-off at 22:05 (NZST) on Saturday September 18th at the Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane.
It will be broadcast on SKY Sport in New Zealand, Stan Sport in Australia, Supersport in South Africa, ESPN in South America and Sky Sports in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Head-to-head
Sunday's win took the All Blacks' record over Argentina to 30 wins, one draw and one loss. Moreover, since losing to the Pumas last year, New Zealand have recorded 38-0 and 39-0 victories over them.
Match odds from bet365
bet365 have the handicap on the All Blacks at -26, who are now 1/10 favourites to win the Rugby Championship entirely.
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Prediction
Foster is not getting carried away with the victory, and continues to emphasise that his All Blacks side are taking one game at a time with the double-header against the Springboks looming.
"You can't linger on the past just like we didn't linger on the 38-0 the last game we played them," Foster said.
"It's all about the here and now and we know history facts will get chucked up at us all the time but this group's about paving its own path through this tournament.
"We've got some pretty clear objectives we want to get out of it and we've done a lot of work on the Argentinians and what they've been delivering this year and largely they've been pretty impressive, particularly defensively. So I'm pretty pleased with the way we went about it. I like the way our defence is building and we're getting a good attitude there, and that bodes well for what is still a long year in front of us."
*Odds accurate as of 13/09/21. BeGambleAware.org 18+ Gamble Responsibly
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Latest Comments
There's no easy fix here. From a geography standpoint, South Africa is kind of on an island alone in the rugby world, much like Argentina.
They don't have enough talent to have a top tier domestic league of their own, and it won't support the union financially. Best case you could hope for would be the five extant franchises (including Cheetahs) and perhaps a team from Namimbia. Gives you a 6 team league, that's not enough. Plus again, it's just not financially sustainable either.
At the same time, it's not really great for them to be involved in either the European or the Pacific rugby set up. That said, as bad as the travel is, at least Europe makes more sense from a time zone perspective. I still think it's the least bad option. Also has done wonders for the URC.
I don't think though, that it makes very much sense to have 4 teams from the URC excluded from European qualification. Not to mention, being able to compete in the Champions Cup was a big draw for the South African clubs anyway.
So yeah, I don't really see a change that makes more sense than the less than ideal situation that already exists.
Go to commentsMoriaty refused to play for wales also he’s injured, France’s is being coy about wales, North in the dark but Sam David and jerad are you joking their not good enough
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