Argentina stun All Blacks in Rugby Championship opener to continue Wellington hoodoo
Saturday, 10 August 2024
At Sky Stadium, Wellington: Argentina 38 (Lucio Cinti try 23min, Mateo Carreras try 38min, Franco Molina try 43min, Agustin Creevy try 69min; Santiago Carreras 4 pens, 3 cons), All Blacks 30 (Sam Darry try 15min, Anton Lienert-Brown try 35min, Mark Tele’a try 52min; Damian McKenzie 3 pens, 3 cons). HT: 15-20.
The Wellington hoodoo lives on. Scott Robertson’s All Blacks slipped to an embarrassing home defeat to a brilliant Argentina outfit at Sky Stadium on Saturday night that will have sent shockwaves through, not just the Rugby Championship, but the global game.
In a huge performance from the visitors, they made Robertson’s men pay dearly for another shoddy home effort as they secured just their third victory over the New Zealanders, and their second on Kiwi soil to make an immense statement in their Championship opener.
The deserved defeat also continues the All Blacks’ shocking record at Sky Stadium where they still haven’t won since 2018 and have prevailed in just one of their last seven test matches there. On the back of a scratchy July series, which included two hard-fought home victories over England, this is also a serious blow for the new coach who is clearly struggling to find fluency and consistency in his first season at the international level.
On the other hand, this was a fabulous performance from Felipe Contepomi’s Pumas who brought simmering aggression, intent and execution when it mattered to sit the New Zealanders on their backsides in a result, four tries to three, every bit as significant as their 2022 victory in Christchurch. It was also easily their highest score against the All Blacks.
Right now the Springboks look a daunting prospect indeed for Scott Robertson’s All Blacks after they opened the competition with a serious statement in a 33-7 thumping of Joe Schmidt’s Wallabies in Brisbane.
Not a lot went right for the All Blacks in another messy performances. There were flashes of brilliance from their playmakers Damian McKenzie and Beauden Barrett, but they were too often spoilt by bad decisions or flat-out errors that kept the visitors in the contest. Anton Lienert-Brown ran hard hard in midfield, Ardie Savea toiled away up front and Sam Darry had a useful starting debut, with a try to boot.
But it was the Argentineans who bossed this contest, from their muscular pack, brilliantly led by Pablo Matera, through their hard-running backs, such as Matias Moroni, Mateo Carreras and Santiago Chocobares, who carved repeated holes in the New Zealand defence.
In a match almost bereft of scrums -- the first muscle-up only took place an hour into the contest -- the All Blacks never established the physical dominance they needed in this contest, and paid the ultimate price.
It was not the most convincing of opening halves from the All Blacks , finishing with two tries apiece, the home side leading 20-15 and the Pumas doing brilliantly to shake off a 9-2 penalty count against them and stay well and truly in the contest.
Robertson’s men did conjure a couple of quality tries – the first to Darry when the big lock produced a fabulous chase to haul in an excellent centering kick from Beauden Barrett, the second to Lienert-Brown when he spun loose to finish a patent eight-phase buildup – but simply could not create the distance they would have wanted against a committed and sharp Argentine outfit.
Every time the All Blacks looked set to kick free, the Pumas found a response. Centre Lucio Cinti finished an exhilarating score set up by his midfield parter Chocobares midway through the first half and wing Mateo Carreras darted away for the second just before haftime when he seized on a Sevu Reece bat-back and had too much gas for McKenzie to handle.
The New Zealanders had their moments through the first 40, but there was a little too much inaccurate kicking from the base and a few too many errors to allow them to build their moments in a scrumless half. Tellingly, the visitors ran for 130 more metres and beat 11 defenders to nine in a busy opening effort.
Argentina’s competitiveness was clearly no one-half wonder as they came out and went toe to toe with the New Zealanders through the second spell, taking the lead early, and again late to stun the All Blacks with a stunning victory.
Franco Molina’s try got Argentina’s noses in front early in the second spell, Mark Telea’s score restored the lead for the All Blacks, 30-25, but it was the visitors who bossed the contest when it mattered, putting veteran Agustin Creevy over from a scrum (following a passing horror show from the New Zealanders) and the victory secured with a late three-pointer.
The good news is the two sides go at it again at Eden Park in seven days’ time. The bad news, for the All Blacks, is that they have a laundry-list of things to improve on.