Outstanding Argentina stun the All Blacks

Ian Foster made more unwanted history as New Zealand head coach as they became the first All Blacks team to lose to Argentina at home.

Foster received a stay of execution following their victory over South Africa but this result is a catastrophe for both the head coach and the governing body.

However, although there will be plenty of fallout from this abject defeat, all the credit has to go to Los Pumas, who were once again utterly magnificent.

Two weeks after their record-breaking victory over Australia, they went to the home of the three-time world champions and produced another incredible effort.

Even though New Zealand were the better team with ball in hand in the first half, scoring two tries via Samisoni Taukei’aho and Caleb Clarke, their discipline let them down throughout and Argentina capitalised.

Los Pumas sharp-shooter Emiliano Boffelli was superb off the tee, taking advantage of the hosts’ infringements to keep them in contention at the break.

And they lifted their intensity even more in the second period, despite Richie Mo’unga’s early penalty, as Juan Martin Gonzalez’s try and two more Boffelli three-pointers sealed a historic win.

Buoyed by their superb Rugby Championship triumph over the Springboks in Johannesburg, the All Blacks were attempting to make it successive victories for the first time since last year, but they were simply abysmal in Christchurch.

The Kiwis certainly made their intentions known early on by looking to move the ball through the phases, but they were inaccurate and it enabled Boffelli to give the visitors a 3-0 advantage.

New Zealand hit back straight away, however, and it came through their maul.  Forwards coach Jason Ryan has made a significant impression since joining the set-up and it looked organised and powerful as they surged across the whitewash, with Taukei’aho touching down.

The scrum was also in the ascendency but, despite that set-piece dominance, they were conceding far too many penalties and Boffelli took advantage.

His second three-pointer moved the South Americans back in front before Mo’unga responded for the All Blacks, giving them an 8-6 lead.

Foster’s charges then constructed a brilliant try following a botched Argentina lineout as they moved it through the hands, with Clarke lurking to finish off a flowing move.

Brilliant Boffelli

That could have been the score which prompted the hosts to find their rhythm but Los Pumas remained physical, resilient and smart as Boffelli kicked two more penalties.

They were just 15-12 in arrears at the break and, although Mo’unga briefly extended that gap early in the second period, from the restart the visitors had their first try.

Boffelli brilliantly put Scott Barrett under pressure and Gonzalez collected the loose ball to surge across the whitewash out wide.

The wing, almost inevitably, nailed a difficult conversion to move the away team back in front before he was on target soon after for a 22-18 lead.

That then became a seven-point buffer, once again thanks to the outstanding Boffelli, and left New Zealand searching for answers.

Argentina’s defence was huge while the All Blacks lacked creativity and a yellow card for Shannon Frizell made the job even more difficult for Foster’s men.

The All Blacks did press for a converted try late on which would level the match but Argentina deservedly held on for an incredible victory.

Wallabies continue fine run against Boks in Australia

The Wallabies continued their impressive record against the Springboks in Australia when they sealed a 25-17 triumph in Adelaide on Saturday.

The home side were deserved winners as they dominated for long periods and eventually outscored the Boks by three tries to two with Fraser McReight leading the way with a brace, while Marika Koroibete also crossed the whitewash.

Their other points came via the boot of Noah Lolesio, who finished with a 10-point haul after succeeding with two conversions and as many penalties.

For South Africa, Kwagga Smith scored two tries while Handre Pollard slotted a penalty with Elton Jantjies and Jaden Hendrikse adding a conversion apiece.

The result means the home side stretch their unbeaten record in Australia against the Springboks to eight matches.

Australia made a terrific start and shortly after the kick-off they found themselves on the attack deep inside South Africa’s 22 thanks to a strong carry down the right-hand touchline from Rob Valetini.  After he was brought to ground the ball was recycled quickly and Folau Fainga’a did well to take the ball into contact before he was stopped close to the try-line.  McReight then ran onto a pass from Nic White before diving over for an opening try.

Five minutes later, the visitors strayed offside on defence and Lolesio gave the Wallabies a 10-0 lead when he slotted the resulting penalty.  South Africa were struggling to get a foothold in the game and had two opportunities to open their account courtesy of penalty attempts from Pollard during the opening quarter but both shots at goal were off target.

He eventually succeeded with one in the 24th minute after White was blown up for obstruction and with points on the board were slowly gaining the upper hand.  They spent most of the second quarter camped inside the Wallabies’ half but, despite dominating during the rest of the half, they failed to capitalise on that dominance.

On the half-hour mark, the Springboks played quickly from a penalty close to Australia’s try-line and Ox Nche crossed the whitewash but was held up by the Wallabies defence.  Tom Wright was the tackler but his efforts saw him being yellow carded as he did not retreat the 10 metres after the Boks took the tap penalty.

Just before the break Makazole Mapimpi found himself in space out wide deep inside the Wallabies’ 22 but he was stopped in his tracks close to the try-line by a magnificent cover tackle from Koroibete.

Mapimpi knocked on in the process and from the resulting scrum Faf de Klerk was yellow carded for a swinging arm to White’s face and the Wallabies went into the sheds holding a 10-3 lead at half-time.

Wallabies kick on in second half

Six minutes after the restart, Koroibete gathered a pass from Lolesio deep inside the Boks’ 22 and bamboozled Pollard with quick feet before showing a superb turn of speed on his way over the try-line.

Although Lolesio failed with the conversion attempt, that score reinvigorated the home side and in the 56th minute they extended their lead when McReight crossed for his second try.  This, after Lolesio gathered an inside pass from James Slipper on the Boks’ 10-metre line and soon found himself inside their 22 after a superb line break.  He was hauled in by the cover defence but did well to offload to McReight, who had an easy run-in over the try-line.

The Boks seemed shellshocked but had little to offer in response.  In the 64th minute they conceded a breakdown penalty and Lolesio made no mistake from the kicking tee to give his side a deserved 25-3 lead.

With the game in the bag, the Wallabies took their foot off the pedal and in the 74th minute Smith scored his first try after Steven Kitshoff and Vincent Koch laid the groundwork with some deft offloads in the build-up.  And just before the final whistle, Smith crossed from close quarters after he ran onto a pass from Hendrikse, who played quickly from a penalty.

That try added some respectability to the score but the Boks will be hugely disappointed with the end result, leaving their Rugby Championship chances in the balance.

All Blacks hit back in style with win over Springboks

New Zealand picked up their first win in this year’s Rugby Championship after they overcame South Africa 35-23 at Ellis Park on Saturday.

Tries from Sam Cane, Samisoni Taukei’aho, David Havili and Scott Barrett helped ease the pressure on Ian Foster as the All Blacks ended a three-game drought.

Richie Mo’unga also contributed massively off the tee with 15 points as New Zealand responded admirably after what has been a dismal few months in the camp.

Lukhanyo Am and Makazole Mapimpi went over for South Africa’s tries while fly-half Handre Pollard added 13 points as they came up short in Johannesburg.

After struggling with their starts to games in recent outings, it was a much-improved opening from the All Blacks in this second fixture as they came out well.

Using the cross-kick to good effect and with plenty of possession and territory to boot, they had a foothold in the contest and matched the hosts’ physicality.

Despite their early dominance, however, the All Blacks could not turn pressure into points and that was with Damian Willemse off the field after he was yellow carded for killing the ball at a ruck.  The Boks managed to hold firm and eventually eased the pressure, thanks largely to Pieter-Steph du Toit’s intercept.

Like last week there was a need for tinkering in South Africa’s side early on as Jesse Kriel was replaced by Willie le Roux after he suffered a concussion.  Willemse, on his return, moved to inside centre with Am shifting to wing to accommodate Le Roux’s introduction at full-back, with more changes set to come.

New Zealand, to their credit, were much better in the forward exchanges and their improvements from last weekend were rewarded on 23 minutes as a run downfield that involved Will Jordan and Rieko Ioane ended with Lood de Jager straying offside.  Mo’unga made no mistake off the tee and the All Blacks led.

Things would get even better for Foster’s charges three minutes later when Cane finished off from Jordan’s pass on the right wing to make it 8-0 to the visitors.

South Africa were forced to act and sent on Malcolm Marx for Joseph Dweba before New Zealand scored again, this time Taukei’aho barging over to make it 15-0.

Cue Jasper Wiese and Steven Kitshoff’s arrival off the bench as Duane Vermeulen and Ox Nche made their way off and those changes paid dividends shortly after, with the ball coming to the right wing where Am was able to slip Caleb Clarke en route to the whitewash.  Pollard’s extras made it 15-7 to the All Blacks.

Following the interval, South Africa looked to build on that score and a Pollard penalty goal made it a two-point ball game after 45 minutes.  However, a late Wiese tackle on Aaron Smith pushed New Zealand back into a five-point lead shortly after as the fixture looked destined to be a tight affair right until the finish.

South Africa thought they had levelled matters on 56 minutes when wing Am’s break from his own half led to Mapimpi crossing.  However, obstruction from scrum-half Jaden Hendrikse was spotted by referee Luke Pearce and the try was chalked off, with Mo’unga slotting the resulting penalty to make it 21-13.

South Africa playing catch-up

The Springboks would not be denied for long though as, following a Marx turnover, Willemse’s superb pass found Mapimpi, who this time finished for the score.

After Pollard’s excellent touchline conversion it was a one-point deficit for the hosts and things looked promising for them when Beauden Barrett was sin-binned for taking out Hendrikse off the ball.  The Springbok fly-half made no mistake in moving them into the lead for the first time as the comeback looked on.

But the All Blacks found one last burst of energy as, following Ioane’s lung-busting break from his own half, the ball was recycled for centre Havili to reach out, making it 28-23 on 74 minutes, before Scott Barrett crashed over late on to rubberstamp a huge result that New Zealand as a team and country will savour.

Record-breaking Argentina thrash Australia

Argentina finally produced an 80-minute performance against Australia to get off the mark in the Rugby Championship following a hugely impressive 48-17 triumph on Saturday.

Los Pumas usually start well against the Wallabies before seeing their opponents have a second-half surge to snatch victory, but the hosts had no such problems in San Juan as they recorded their biggest ever win over the green and gold.

Just like in the opening weekend of the competition, Michael Cheika’s men were the dominant team in the first half.  The home side held a 19-10 lead in Round One but they went seven better on Saturday as tries for Juan Imhoff, Thomas Gallo, Jeronimo de la Fuente and Juan Martin Gonzalez gave them a 26-10 advantage at the interval.

James Slipper touched down for Dave Rennie’s outfit and James O’Connor kicked a conversion and a penalty, but they struggled for fluency throughout the contest.

Los Pumas were much the better team throughout and eased to victory thanks to Gallo, Emiliano Boffelli and Tomas Albornoz tries in the second period.

As mentioned, Argentina often enjoy the opening 40 minutes in matches against Australia and Saturday’s encounter was no different.

Once again, the visitors were caught cold and in the first minute Cheika’s charges found space on the left where Imhoff was lurking.

The wing kicked ahead and put pressure on the Aussie backfield, who failed to deal with the bouncing ball, and the speedster collected to scamper over.

A few minutes later Los Pumas had their second try when Gallo barged across the whitewash from close range, opening up a 14-point buffer.

Australia responded through Slipper before O’Connor kicked a conversion and then a penalty to bring them to within a try of the hosts.

After a difficult start, Rennie’s team were on the front foot and thought they had another score when O’Connor touched down, but it was ruled out for an earlier infringement.

It was to prove a big turning point as Argentina almost immediately benefited from that let off.  The hosts set up an attack in the opposition 22 and De la Fuente took an excellent line to weave his way over, despite pulling a hamstring in the process.

Los Pumas had been exceptional but the Wallabies were also aiding the home side by making a series of errors and when O’Connor failed to deal with a high ball, Gonzalez was on hand to take possession and cross the whitewash.

No Aussie comeback this time around

Argentina duly held a comfortable 16-point buffer going into the second half, but it’s usually at that point they fold and let the Aussies back into the contest.  However, there was no such issue this time around.

Los Pumas weren’t quite as free-flowing, especially in the third quarter, but they defended resiliently and forced the visitors into mistakes.

One such Australian indiscretion led to Boffelli extending Argentina’s lead via a three-pointer before Gallo touched down for the second time to effectively complete the win.

The Wallabies also had Fraser McReight sin-binned following a series of infringements leading up to the prop going over.

Although they responded well to going down to 14 men when Len Ikitau touched down, Argentina finished with a flourish and were rewarded with tries for Boffelli and Albornoz to wrap up a comprehensive win.

Clinical Boks draw first blood against All Blacks

South Africa made an excellent start to their Rugby Championship campaign when they clinched a 26-10 victory over New Zealand in Mbombela on Saturday.

In a fast-paced an entertaining affair, the Springboks were full value for their win as they were the dominant side for long periods and eventually outscored the All Blacks by two tries to one.

Kurt-Lee Arendse and Willie le Roux crossed for the home side’s tries while Handre Pollard finished with a 16-point haul courtesy of two conversions, three penalties and a drop goal.

For the visitors, Shannon Frizell scored a five-pointer which was converted by Richie Mo’unga and Jordie Barrett succeeded with a penalty.

The All Blacks seldom asked questions of the world champions but when they did they were met by a superb defensive display from the men in green and gold.

New Zealand came into this match as underdogs but, if truth be told, they looked clueless on attack and this defeat will put more pressure on under fire head coach Ian Foster whose team have now lost five of their last six Tests.

Despite the visitors’ inadequacies, the Boks’ forwards deserve plenty of credit for this win as they bullied their counterparts from the outset and it was a special occasion for their hooker, Malcolm Marx, who was named as the official man of the match in his 50th Test.  However, a blot on the Boks’ copybook came in the 75th minute when Arendse was red carded for taking Beauden Barrett out in an aerial collision.

The match got off to an eventful start when 43 seconds after the kick off the Boks suffered a massive blow when Faf de Klerk was knocked out cold after coming off second best when trying to tackle Caleb Clarke.

He was replaced immediately by Jaden Hendrikse but despite losing their talismanic scrum-half, the home side still had the better of the early exchanges.  And in the ninth minute they opened the scoring when Arendse crossed for the opening try.  This, after Beauden Barrett failed to gather a high ball from Pollard inside his 22.  Lukhanyo Am pounced and managed to offload to Arendse, who had a clear run-in for his first Test try.

Pollard added the extras and midway through the half he slotted a penalty, after All Blacks skipper Sam Cane went off his feet at a ruck.

It was all South Africa during the rest of the half as they continued to have the bulk of the possession and territory with the All Blacks battling to build momentum when they did manage to get their hands on the ball.  On the rare occasions that they did, the visitors’ attacks came to nothing due to several unforced errors.

In the 26th minute, Akira Ioane threw a forward pass close to the halfway line ― after Beauden Barrett did well with a counter attack from deep inside his half ― and five minutes later David Havili knocked on when he had an overlap on his outside inside the Boks’ half.

3 consecutive NZ losses for first time since 1998, first time lost 3 in a row by 10 points or more

― Russ Petty (@rpetty80) August 6, 2022

Although the hosts continued to have a firm grip on the game, the All Blacks gained a reprieve against the run of play in the 36th minute when Jordie Barrett opened his team’s account courtesy of a penalty.  This, after Damian de Allende was blown up for straying offside when taking the ball into contact from an attacking scrum.

That meant the Boks had their tails up with the score 10-3 in their favour at half-time but they still had plenty of work to do if they wanted to seal their first home win over New Zealand since 2014.

The opening exchanges of the second half were cagey but the hosts extended their lead in the 51st minute when Pollard succeeded with his second penalty, following a scrum infringement from Tyrel Lomax.

Marx continues to shine

The All Blacks showed more intensity after the interval and tested the home side’s defence with some strong carries but they continued to make mistakes and were bullied at the breakdowns ― where Marx was prominent.

In the 58th minute, Pollard put more daylight between his side and their opponents when he slotted a well-taken drop goal from 35 metres out.  The next 15 minutes were frantic but another Pollard penalty in the 71st minute ― after Beauden Barrett was blown up at a ruck ― hammered home his side’s dominance.

Shortly afterwards, Arendse was sent off after his horror challenge on Barrett and in the 79th minute Frizell crossed for a consolation try after Clarke did well with a barnstorming run in the build-up.

Despite that score, the Boks finished stronger and they sealed their win in injury time when a pass from Cane to Frizell didn’t go to hand and Le Roux gathered before crossing for a try which sealed his side’s convincing win.

Wallabies clinch bonus-point victory over Pumas

The Wallabies made a fantastic start to their 2022 Rugby Championship campaign when they notched a 41-26 bonus-point victory over the Pumas in Mendoza on Saturday.

Although they had to dig deep for this victory, Australia were deserved winners in the end as they outscored Argentina by five tries to two.

Jordan Petaia, Fraser McReight, Folau Fainga’a and Len Ikitau crossed the whitewash for the visitors and they were also awarded a penalty try.  Their other points were scored by Quade Cooper, who kicked a penalty and a conversion, and Reece Hodge, who added three conversions and a penalty.

Pablo Matera and Juan Martin Gonzalez scored the Pumas’ tries and Emiliano Boffelli contributed 16 points after succeeding with four penalties and two conversions.

Australia came into this match without their captain Michael Hooper, who withdrew due to personal reasons on Friday, and his absence was keenly felt especially in the first half when they battled to gain momentum.

Thy showed plenty of character, however, and launched a fightback in the second half and were deserved winners in the end.

Argentina made the brighter start and six minutes into the match Matera opened the scoring when he ran onto an inside pass from Santiago Carreras deep inside Wallabies’ territory, after they had taken the ball through several phases in the build-up.

The Wallabies struck back with a penalty from Cooper, after Carreras strayed offside, but Boffelli cancelled that effort out with back-to-back three-pointers off the kicking tee which meant the Pumas were leading 13-3 by the 13th minute.

The visitors did not panic, however, and in the 18th minute they launched a drive off a lineout inside Argentina’s 22 before the ball came out to the backline.  Cooper then did well to draw in a couple of defenders before putting Petaia into space with a well-timed pass and he cantered in for his team’s first try.

Cooper kicked the conversion but despite making it a three-point game, the visitors’ discipline let them down during the rest of the half and Boffelli slotted three further penalties to give the home side a 19-10 lead at half-time.

Australia did most of the attacking during the early stages of the second half, although they suffered a big blow in the 47th minute when Cooper was forced off the field after twisting his ankle while launching an attack deep inside the Pumas’ 22.

Despite losing their chief playmaker, the Wallabies did not panic and two minutes later they narrowed the deficit when McReight powered his way over Los Pumas’ try-line, after a lineout drive inside the home side’s 22.

Hodge, who came on as Cooper’s replacement, slotted the conversion which meant Argentina was leading 19-17 and with the match evenly poised, both teams upped the ante on attack in a bid to gain the ascendancy.

It was the home side who did that and it came through an excellent try from Gonzalez.  This, after Santiago Cordero went onto the attack from inside his 22 and he did well to beat a couple of defenders before offloading to Matera inside Australia’s half.  Matera still had work to do and he drew in the last defender before getting a pass out to Gonzalez, who crashed over in the left-hand corner before Boffelli slotted the resulting conversion.

That meant the hosts held a 26-17 lead but their discipline let them down during the final quarter and they wouldn’t score any further points.  In the 62nd minute, Matias Alemanno illegally collapsed a Wallabies drive close to the Pumas try-line and referee Mike Adamson awarded a penalty try to the visitors while Alemanno was yellow carded for his offence.

With a one-man advantage, Australia did most of the attacking and they took the lead for the first time in the 66th minute when Hodge landed a penalty.  Five minutes later, Fainga’a got his name onto the scoresheet after another driving maul deep inside the Pumas’ half and although they had secured the result, the Wallabies launched several attacks in the game’s dying moments as they went in search of a bonus point.

Their attacking endeavour was eventually rewarded in injury time when Ikitau found himself in the clear before diving over for his side’s fifth try.