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'You never underestimate the Argentinians': All Blacks versus Argentina preview
By Josh Raisey
A win over Australia on Sunday in Perth not only meant the All Blacks secured a clean sweep over their rivals in the 2021 Bledisloe Cup, but they now sit at the top of the Rugby Championship after two rounds, one point ahead of South Africa. Ian Foster will want his side to carry their momentum into their double-header with Argentina now.
When, where and how to watch the match
The match will kick-off at 19:05 (NZST) on Sunday September 12th at the CBUS Super Stadium, Gold Coast.
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
Across their 31 encounters, the All Blacks have only lost once to the Pumas and have drawn once. That loss did come last year, however, in the Rugby Championship with a 25-15 victory in Sydney. The All Blacks responded with a 38-0 win two weeks later.
Match odds from bet365
bet365 have the handicap on the All Blacks at -23, while also having them as 4/11 favourites to win the Rugby Championship entirely.
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Prediction
Though the All Blacks are firm favourites this week, Bryn Hall said on RugbyPass’ Aotearoa Rugby Pod this week that he does not think the they will be complacent given the events of last year.
"I don't think you can ever underestimate an Argentinian team, or any team in the top tier nations," the Crusaders half-back said.
"We probably asked a similar question last year when we were playing the Argentinians who didn't have a lot of preparation time and beat the All Blacks.
"So the All Blacks won't rest on their laurels or be complacent. They're on a road to be able to play the Springboks, they're obviously not going to talk about it because they're a week-to-week preparation team and seeing what's in front of them, but they'll be wanting to improve in their performance in areas like the heart defence, they'll want to sew that up a little bit better and there will be improvements in their game that they'll want to continue to get better.
"But I think they will be the favourites moving into this game against the Argentinians, but the Argentinians have enough there, enough prowess and enough passion, especially when they do play the All Blacks, they lift a different level. I'm still backing the All Blacks, they should win comfortably, but you never underestimate the Argentinians at all."
*Odds accurate as of 08/09/21. BeGambleAware.org 18+ Gamble Responsibly
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Recent complaints that SA players have a 12-month workload isn't of itself a credible enough excuse to lay at the door of EPCR administrators. If SA clubs want to participate in NH league and club competitions and also participate in SH internationals, then clearly something has to give.
From the EPCR perspective, I do think that the format/schedule issues can be fixed if there's a strong enough desire to remove some of the logistical challenges clubs are facing with these long and frequent trips across the hemispheres.
From the SA player workload perspective however, I'm not sure how players can participate safely and competitively at both the club and international levels. Perhaps - and as Rassie appears to be developing, SA develop a super squad with sufficient player numbers and rotation to allow players to compete across the full 12-month calendar.
Bottom line though, is the geographical isolation is always going to restrict SA's ability to having the best of both worlds.
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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