All Blacks breakthrough star identifies areas of improvement ahead of Argentina rematch
All Blacks lock Fabian Holland in action against France.
Rookie All Blacks second-rower Fabian Holland has revealed what they have been focusing on ahead of their second Rugby Championship Test with Argentina in Buenos Aires on Saturday.
Despite notching a 41-24 bonus-point victory over Los Pumas in the corresponding fixture in Cordoba last weekend, the All Blacks are not underestimating their hosts and are preparing for a tough battle at Estado Velez Sarsfield.
Holland is thriving in his breakthrough season in the international arena and is firmly entrenched in the All Blacks‘ starting line-up.
Ever-present in All Blacks side
The 22-year-old has started all New Zealand’s Tests in 2025 after making his debut against France in Dunedin last month.
He explained that the All Blacks are not resting on their laurels and are still working hard at improving certain areas of their game ahead of their eagerly anticipated rematch with Argentina.
“I think it’s just building on what we’re trying to establish, the foundation that we’re trying to make,” he told reporters in Buenos Aires. “We’re just trying to polish off a few things in our own game.
“Finishing was a massive thing for us this week. (The) Pumas are a strong team.
“If we don’t finish opportunities, then they’re going to capitalise and they’re going to come back like they did towards the second half in the first game.
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“So, we just worked a lot about our polishing and had a good reflection and focused on what we needed to do better.”
In that first Test against Los Pumas, the All Blacks dominated the early exchanges and raced into a 31-10 half-time lead.
However, they slacked off in the second half and Argentina fought back to narrow the gap to just seven points before two late tries from Samisoni Taukei’aho secured the visitors’ win.
Focused on improved discipline
The All Blacks were reduced to 14 men twice during that clash – when Billy Proctor and Anton Lienert-Brown were yellow carded – and Holland believes improved discipline will be crucial in Buenos Aires this weekend.
“Discipline wins you games. We let ourselves down a wee bit in the second half (in Cordoba),” he said.
“The first half we were real clinical, went according to plan. And then the second half, the crowd got into it, the Argentinians got their tails up, and that’s when we started making mistakes.
“We had a good look (at their discipline).
“Once again, we reflected on the second half and know what we need to do better now. So that’s what we’ve been working on this week.”