Two tries: Julian Savea
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New Zealand clinched the inaugural Rugby Championship title with a round to spare on Saturday with a 54-15 win over Argentina in La Plata.
The All Blacks produced their best performance of the year to demolish los Pumas, scoring seven tries including a hat-trick for Cory Jane and two for his fellow wing Julian Savea.
Centre Ma'a Nonu and scrum-half Aaron Smith also got their names on the scorecard to complete the rout.
The result sees the All Blacks extend their winning streak to 15 games ahead of next weekend's showdown with the Springboks in Johannesburg.
The world champions were given a scare early on as the hosts started in the best possible fashion by taking a 5-0 lead thanks to a wonderful try from scrum-half Martin Landajo.
But it didn't take long for New Zealand to strike back and once the visitors had found their rhythm, it was one-way traffic for the rest of the game and the men in black raced to a 32-8 lead by half-time.
Argentina were not allowed to get away with their customary spoiling tactics at the breakdown by referee Jaco Peyper, and with quick ball at their disposal, the All Black backs were at their devastating best.
The hosts tried to adopt a much more open style than we've seen in the past but while they produced two very good tries, they were unable to match the Kiwis at what they do best - moving the ball into space at pace.
The locals were looking good after Landajo's opening score from a well-worked first-phase backline move that saw full-back Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino burst through on halfway.
But the Argentine defence was nowhere to be seen when Nonu escaped from the fringe of a ruck to put Smith over in the 17th minute.
A few minutes later Read strolled through to set up Jane in the corner, Savea chased down his own chip ahead for his first try and then bagged another on the stroke of half-time.
Although Gonzalo Camacho shrugged off Andrew Hore to score after the interval, the All Blacks killed the game off as Savea manhandled two defenders to set up Jane's second.
Dan Carter kicked five from seven before being taken off along with Richie McCaw on the hour mark. But it didn't stop the points from flowing as replacement Aaron Cruden broke the line with his first touch and set up Nonu for an easy try.
Jane clinched his hat-trick with a 50m intercept with the last play of the game.
Man of the Match It's hard not to give the gong to one of the backs since they scored all the points. Richie McCaw deserves a mention but Kieran Read was phenomenal and had a direct hand in creating at least two of the tries for the flash boys out wide.
Moment of the match: There were a number of excellent tries - with Landajo's score a highlight - but Cory Jane's first try, thanks to a brilliant offload from Read, was out of the top drawer. It put the All Blacks 10 points up and they never looked back.
Villian of the match: No bad guys to be seen.
The scorers:
For Argentina:
Tries: Landajo, Camacho
Con: Hernandez
Pens: Hernandez
For New Zealand:
Tries: A. Smith, Jane 3, Savea 2, Nonu
Cons: Carter 3, Cruden 2
Pens: Carter 2, Cruden
Argentina: 15 Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino, 14 Gonzalo Camacho, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Santiago Fernandez, 11 Horacio Agulla, 10 Juan Martin Hernandez, 9 Martin Landajo, 8 Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe (c), 7 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 6 Julio Farias Cabello, 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Manuel Carizza, 3 Juan Figallo, 2 Eusebio Guinazu, 1 Rodrigo Roncero.
Replacements: 16 Agustin Creevy, 17 Marcos Ayerza, 18 Tomas Vallejos, 19 Tomas Leonardi, 20 Nicolas Vergallo, 21 Martin Rodriguez, 22 Juan Imhoff.
New Zealand: 15 Israel Dagg, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Daniel Carter, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 Liam Messam, 5 Sam Whitelock, 4 Luke Romano, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements: 16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Charlie Faumuina, 18 Brodie Retallick, 19 Sam Cane, 20 Piri Weepu, 21 Aaron Cruden, 22 Ben Smith.
Venue: Estadio Único Ciudad de La Plata
Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Craig Joubert (South Africa), Pascal Gauzere (France)
Television match official: Francisco Pastrana
Comments
bk47 says...
@ TVaddict
Yeah even listening to the Nz commentating of Justin Marshall thought a few of the calls were a bit iffy against Argentina which I too agree on. But i really dont think it would have mattered on the end. This was an Ab's side that finally got out of 2nd for the 1st time in this rugby championship (god I still hate that name lol) and it just happened that it was against Argentina.
And what a difference does carter make! He guided the ship so well and you could see once he came off that energy just rubbed off onto Cruden who went well. It will be a sad day when that man retires from rugby I think even more so than McCaw. Carter = Freak
Posted 02:50 30th September 2012
Buba says...
Today everything went perfect for the AB. They gave a rugby masterclass and recieve a standing ovation from the crowd. Los Pumas couldnīt find the way neither know at some moments what to do with ball in hand. Nevertheless Iit was great to see los Pumas going for the try on the second half.
Posted 02:50 30th September 2012
rugby_phile says...
@TV Addict, to quotw the old sayng mate, the better I play the luckier I get. This is an old argument, but do all refs get it wrong or are the complainers seeing things, don't know. All I'd say is that they play the game at such high tempo the refs are bound to miss a few things. But irrespective, awsome, awsome display. The SA game should be monumental, unless either team take their foot off the pedal as there is nothing to play for really, apart from pride, and I guess they are both proud teams.
Posted 02:43 30th September 2012
hayj05 says...
@TVaddict - Get off it man it was a South African ref ffs, I'm sure Jacko is a Springbok supporter & the AB's are the Boks biggest rivals. Why would he want to favour the AB's? The Pumas got just as many lucky calls eg. AB's getting called for off their feet a couple of times after already blowing past the ball (AB's very dangerous from breakdown turnovers) & missed knock ons, they also slowed the ball down a few times without being pinged, it's just that a couple of the favourable calls for the AB's directly resulted in points which is what most likely alters your perception of the reffing. It's no fault of their own & is really irrelevent.
BTW you should know by now that the calls will generally come for the side with foward momentum & the AB's had a lot of it.
Posted 02:42 30th September 2012
PAMPA says...
Congratulation All Blacks, they gave us a Master Class of Rugby Union, and showed way their are THE CHAMPIONS... I hope next year will be better for Los Pumas (my team). We loved de Haka in La Plata.
See you in 2013.
Posted 02:38 30th September 2012
porridge_time says...
TVaddict says... Don't get me wrong, the All Blacks deserved to win this. And I'm not just being moaning idiot, I'm a neutral in matter.
Are you sure about that?
Posted 02:31 30th September 2012
freddo says...
@TVaddict
Yes it does need to be consistent, but I doubt you know the rules as well as these refs or can see into the rucks better than them from your couch. Im happy to see the refs let the game flow a little bit, so long as it is not horrifically wrong. The refs shouldn't ruin the game by pulling up absolutely everything.
Posted 02:30 30th September 2012
MacTavish says...
Biggest score by any All Black team IN Argentina... EVER. The Argentinian Honeymoon is OVER, welcome to the Big League. Next week will be a cracker in SA. Should be a hum dinger based on both teams performance today!
Posted 02:29 30th September 2012
Trinats2 says...
As I said in prediction, full strenght ABs by 30+ a very good win in Argentina.
Thought Aussie Franks took them forward !!!
And Jane to pip Haveabanana for 14 in team of the week, as Jane played against a half decent side.
TVaddict:
thay have been for years !
Posted 02:28 30th September 2012
hayj05 says...
Firstly, great performance AB's, especially after the strong start the Pumas made & loose passing from the men in black early on.
Secondly, I'm stoked that they've wrapped up the title already as facing the Boks for the chamionship after their own impressive performance would of been a daunting task. Still going to be a great game & I won't at all be suprised if it's the match of the tournament.
Thirdly, Some people complain about booing or whistling but I couldn't care less. They pay good money to go to the games so surely crowds have a right to make a bit of noise. They're tryng to bring their team home after all.
What was refreshing about the crowd though was seeing them standing & applauding after the full time hooter. Some may have been doing it because it was a thoroughly entertaining game & some may have been doing it to show their respect to the AB's but whatever the motives it was great to see.
Posted 02:26 30th September 2012
PREEST says...
Did anybody else think the Pumas backs were better tonight? The way they ran with the ball was encouraging. That first try they scored was absolutely brilliant. However it was a big learning curve, Abs went into first gear.
Posted 02:17 30th September 2012
TVaddict says...
Don't get me wrong, the All Blacks deserved to win this. And I'm not just being moaning idiot, I'm a neutral in matter. However, I felt a lot of the refs decisions went the All Blacks way. Maybe it's because they have been dominant for so long that referee just expect them to win rucks, but seriously, they really abuse it. So many forward passes, so many rucks off their feet, etc...
Like I said, the All Black deserved to win this by 30-40 points based on their skill. However, even the All Black supporters must agree that at least some of those points were undeserved. All I want is consistent refereeing, and it's worrying that in this day and age we still don't have a consistent interpretation of many aspect of the game.
Also, did anyone spot their retreat from the ruck stuff that I mentioned in another comment? Harder in this game as they didn't have to defend multiple rucks often, but it was still there. Every game, and very apparent. Why don't other teams do this?!
Posted 02:10 30th September 2012
philipjfry says...
Class performance, can't see the ABs losing in Soweto.
Posted 02:09 30th September 2012
SACanuck says...
Well we have all been waiting for the AB's to get it all together and it was pretty damm impressive. Pumas just had no answers but played their hearts out. Hope HM has a game plan that can beat the AB's next week because he is going to need one.
Posted 02:02 30th September 2012
KnockOnKing says...
...ing ABīs. One of the better ...ing AB teams on a good night. Still that first
Pumas try was nice.
Posted 01:58 30th September 2012
melkdave says...
Well annother good match,and i feel the pumas played well,showed creativity ran hard and scored some good tries.But oh boy ,just they're luck ,they ran into an ABs side that finally got out of second gear,and sorted their slick passing outAll i can say is next weeks games are now looking mouthwatering.The pumas should finally get a win ,given the disarray in the wallaby camp atm,and the bokke-Ab game should be a really hard fought cracking game .Cant wait myself LOL
Posted 01:58 30th September 2012
golden_statenba says...
Never judge a team by their last game
Wow game against SA is gonna be a good one. Well done ABs on puma soil
Posted 01:50 30th September 2012