All Blacks 39 Argentina 22

Talking Points:

The Argies came to play. They may have lost two on the trot against the Springboks, but this test showed they are no mugs & that next week vs the Boks will be a big test for the AB’s also. Despite scoring 3 tries to 1 in the first half, the AB’s found themselves going into the sheds down 16-15 for their halftime orange slices. In the end some individual brilliance & 24 unanswered points later in the second half got the ABs home, with the final try count 6 to 1.



The 2016 season made us think we could get by without him, but Dan Carters left boot has been missed severely this test season. Barrett’s continued struggles off the tee are becoming more than a concern now, and it seems inevitable that those lost points from the kicking tee will end up costing the All Blacks a victory in the near future if nothing changes in that department. The fluctuation in kicking form is a mystery - Slotted 6/6 in the 1st Lions test, then followed that up with 9/14 over the next two tests. Kicked 5/5 vs Aussie last week, and then 0/3 in this effort. Can only hope the management team are working through these problems with him, be they mental or a technique issue.



How good is Vaea Fafita?! His enthusiasm with ball in hand was like a baby about to be breastfed. He tore holes right through the Argentinian defence almost at will. All Black management spoke all week about unleashing the beast that is Fafita, cousin of NRL star Andrew Fafita, and boy they weren’t kidding. Steve Hansen appears to have got his mitts on a Delorean, got that bad boy up to 88 mph & gone back to the late 2000’s to smuggle back a young Jerome Kaino. Or they’ve grown a clone in a secret All Black laboratory. Either way, the real Kaino may struggle to get another test if both Fafita and Liam Squire keep up their current form.



Key stats:

Possession: ABs 60% ARG 40%



Territory: ABs 59% ARG 41%



Running meters: ABs 626m ARG 240m



Clean Breaks: ABs 13 ARG 2



Missed Tackles: ABs 17 ARG 43



Offloads: ABs 9 ARG 2



Kicks at goal: ABs 4/8 ARG 5/6



Player Ratings:

Damian McKenzie: Was trundling along nicely until his brain fart of a defensive bomb that cost 3 points. Then followed a real rollercoaster of a battle with the high ball that the Argies exploited with great accuracy, you can bet the Springboks took note of that. Always electric with the ball in hand, will hopefully take plenty away from this test and keep getting better with every future appearance in the black jersey. 7/10

Israel Dagg: Solid first outing in this rugby championship for Dagg. Held his space well and a quality finish for his 26th test try, but a woeful attempt at tackling Creevy left him sprawling on the ground and ended his test right there. 7/10

Anton Lienert-Brown: Always a dependable consistency in the AB midfield, solid defence, excellent decision making & always gets across the advantage line. Good speed and top effort in getting the ball down for his try. May have earned a start in combination with Crotty next week. 8/10

Sonny Bill Williams: Ran some hard straight lines, and held onto the ball this week, but appeared to be mostly contained by the Argies well organised defensive line, only the offload for Sopoaga being the stand out. Better served off the bench to take advantage of his impact factor and utility abilities. 6.5/10

Nehe Milner-Skudder: First international test since the 2015 world cup final, an early meat pie got him in the game and the skudder step was back for all to see with him consistently beating the first defender. Needed more ball in hand to have a real influence on the match. Didn’t exactly put a foot wrong but probably not enough to keep the starting jersey ahead of Ioane next week. 7.5/10

Beauden Barrett: Perhaps too much home cooking for Beaudy this week, was back to his worst off the tee and the rest of his kicking game wasn’t much better - 2 restarts muffed, plus needless chip kicks leading to lost attacking opportunities which also resulted in points against. Professional foul led to test match yellow card number 2 for Barrett, this was his 4th yellow this season(plus a red card back in round 7 of super rugby). Found some rhythm again when he returned from the naughty chair and slotted back into fullback. Needs to get back to the basics of flyhalf rugby of distributing the ball, putting the rest of his backline in space, and kicking goals. His creative ability will then blossom once more. 5/10

T.J Perenara: A tidy 65 mins from T.J. but not enough to keep the starting jersey from A.Smith next week. Was under immense pressure from the Argentinian pack at every breakdown, but his pass remained crisp throughout. A cleverly weighted pass for McKenzie’s meat pie gave the AB’s some control back in the game. 7.5/10

Kieran Read: Busy in his work as always with some nice linking play, & solid in the set piece bar one lineout. Made the smart calls for 3 points to take control of the game when it was required in the second half. His pop ball to put Mad Eye Moody through a hole was sublime, and a cheeky grubber attempt had us here at flyhalf.net pretty excited - baby steps towards a drop goal perhaps! But for now, as always, half mark off for no drop goal. 8/10

Ardie Savea: Topped the tackle count and was robust throughout, but mixed that in with a bad handling error and missed tackle on Creevy. Pulled early in the second half but was possibly from a tactical point of view. 7/10

Vaea Fafita: Absolute beast in the making, the youthful Kaino clone Steve Hansen has been wishing for. Outrageous effort for his try, stepping to the outside and hitting the afterburners to out pace at least 4 covering defenders. Several busting runs showcasing his power, and more than a handful of thunderous tackles. Nearly created another with a strong carry but held the pass a fraction too long. 9/10

Brodie Retallick: Another fine outing from the worlds premier lock. Ripped into his work with usual vigour and was a key cog in the forward pack gaining ascendancy over the visitors. Another day another dollar for the big man. 7.5/10

Luke Romano: A solid effort in a rare test start for Romano. Some strong carries and tackles throughout making up for the dropped ball with his first touch in the game. Subbed for Scott Barrett early in the second half. 7/10

Nepo Laulala: Didn’t see a lot of ball in hand around the park but handled his core roles well & was strong at the set piece, played his part of the front row that really stuck it to the argies in the scrums. Looking pretty comfortable in the test match arena already. 7.5/10

Dane Coles: Scrummed well and found most of his targets at lineout time, ball didn’t really come his way for us to see that free running down the chalk lines. Some sound leadership shown in having a quiet, & respectful word with referee Angus Gardner. Lets hope he’s truly put those concussion issues to rest and is slowly building to last season form. 7/10

Joe Moody: Outstanding scrummaging display against some of the best at the craft, add in a barn storming charge up the guts showcasing a clean set of wheels and this was one of his best tests yet. Off at the 65 min mark with a season ending shoulder injury, very unfortunate way to end a great test. 8.5/10

Reserves:

Codie Taylor: On for Coles with 13 mins to go, did his business with 100% tackle rate but was only required to make the 1 tackle. 6/10

Wyatt Crockett: Replaced Moody with 15 mins to go, 5/6 tackles and 2 runs for 41m. A solid cameo. 7/10

Ofa Tu’ungafasi: Reasonably quiet 10 mins when he came on for Laulala. Did nothing wrong really but nothing of note either. 6/10

Scott Barrett: Solid half hour of work from the bigger Barrett, played his part in the AB’s best period of the game. 7/10

Sam Cane: Came on maybe a little earlier than expected to play majority of the second half. Provided the AB’s with a strong presence at the breakdown which was required to get on top of the Argie pack. Not the ball carrying threat of Savea, but nailed his core roles. 7.5/10

Tawera Kerr Barlow: A characteristic display from TKB in his rare 15 mins during this farewell tour, couple of nice touches to remind the NZ public what he’s capable of. 7/10

Lima Sopoaga: On for the final half hour. Just what the doctor ordered. His kicking accuracy was clear for all to see by slotting 4/5 goals, including a couple from the touch lines, but his general play and control of the backline was superb. Worthy of a start next week vs the Boks, even if only to give Beaudy the kick up the arse he needs. 8.5/10

Ngani Laumape: On for SBW for the final 4 mins. Nice assist for Barretts try in the dying stages. 6.5/10

(photo credit: Photosport via TVNZ)