Argentina have beaten the All Blacks 35-30 in a Rugby Championship epic, giving a massive boost to their rivals South Africa on day one of the 2024 edition.
It was a second win by the Pumas in New Zealand in two years and third of all time- the last time it put considerable pressure on then coach Ian Foster. This time it’s a first loss in four games for Scott Robertson, who enjoyed a two-game series triumph over England and then victory over Fiji.
Argentina made the World Cup semifinals last year and this is another huge feather in the cap, going toe-to-toe as the lead changed multiple times before scoring the decisive try with 11 minutes to play.
“No one could argue that Argentina didn’t deserve their hard-earned victory today,” said ABs legend Justin Marshall.
“They poured their heart and soul into it, and through some errors and flustering the All Blacks forced them into mistakes that ultimately cost them the Test match.”
Inspirational Argie Agustin Creevy was emotional afterwards.
“I’m 39. This is my first time here, and in my whole life too, in New Zealand. For that, it’s so important for me, and for the whole team,” he said. “We work a lot. It’s tough sometimes. And now, this game for us is f–king amazing.”
All Blacks captain Ardie Savea was gutted.
“Hugely disappointing,” Savea said. “We prepped all week to come here and get the win, but it wasn’t our night tonight. That’s full credit to Argentina. They stayed in with us, they put us under pressure, and we couldn’t hold with them. It’s a big upset.
“They suffocated us, and we were trying to exit, and we couldn’t really find our answers to get front foot ball. And that’s something that we need to look really hard at ourselves.”
The defeat – just their third in 42 meetings against Argentina – extended the All Blacks winless run in Wellington to five matches.
They haven’t tasted victory in the capital since 2018.
It was also a boost for the Springboks, who are looking to win TRC for the first time since 2019 and opened with a commanding win over the Wallabies in Brisbane.
“We’ve been talking all week about finishing things, and we probably weren’t clinical enough” said Savea. “So that’s the All Blacks standard, and that’s something that I’ll take on the chin, the boys will take on the chin, and we’ll look forward to next week.”
The lead changed several times before Argentina prevailed in an exciting encounter that was in stark contrast to New Zealand’s one-sided 44-6 win over the Pumas when they last met in the World Cup semi-final in Paris last October.
Argentina’s tries came from Lucio Cinti, Mateo Carreras, Franco Molina and a poignantly decisive try for the 39-year-old Creevy.
Santiago Carerras kicked a vital 18 points with four penalties and three conversions.
New Zealand’s tries came from Sam Darry, Anton Lienert-Brown and Mark Tele’a with Damian McKenzie putting over three penalties and three tries.
It was a typical piece of All Black ingenuity that saw the home side go over for the first try in the 15th minute as McKenzie chipped ahead in his own half, regained the ball before feeding out to Beauden Barrett, who kicked in-field for a chase that ended with a try for lock Darry.
Argentina stripped possession in the maul to set up their opening try eight minutes later, with captain Pablo Matera drifting across the line before popping a short pass up for Santiago Chocobares to burst through before Cinti finished off.
Lienert-Brown went over at the end of a line out drive in the 35th minute but two minutes later Sevu Reece’s tap back off a high ball sat up perfectly for Mateo Carreras to grab possession and speed over for a second Argentina try that brought the halftime score to 20-15.
The visitors went ahead three minutes into the second half with a try from Molina from a clever line out routine and Carreras converted to put Argentina 22-20 ahead.
The All Blacks’ third try came in the 52nd minute as winger Tele’a slipped through and score under the posts.
New Zealand mistakes set up Argentina’s fourth try, with two wayward passes from Asafo Aumua and McKenzie leading to Rieko Ioane having to dot down behind his own line. From the resultant five-metre scrum, Argentina set up a score for Creevy and went 35-30 up with 10 minutes left.
Argentina secured the win two minutes from the end with a Carreras penalty after the Kiwis were blown up for slowing down play.
New Zealand host Argentina again next week at Eden Park in Auckland.
(With AAP)
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