All Blacks legend reveals in three words what New Zealand lacked against ‘ferocious and passionate’ Argentina
The All Blacks in action against Argentina in Buenos Aires and former New Zealand number eight Murray Mexted.
All Blacks legend Murray Mexted believes a lack of “front foot ball” was a major reason why they suffered a shock defeat to Argentina in their clash in Buenos Aires on Saturday.
Los Pumas blew this year’s Rugby Championship wide open when they clinched a 29-23 triumph over the All Blacks and it was a significant result as it was their first ever victory over the three-time world champions in Argentina.
That result means that for the first time in the history of the Rugby Championship‘s history all four teams have one victory after two rounds of action after the Springboks beat the Wallabies earlier on Saturday.
The All Blacks‘ loss has led to a huge backlash in New Zealand with the team’s head coach Scott Robertson receiving plenty of criticism over that result which comes ahead of their eagerly anticipated Rugby Championship clash with their arch rivals the Springboks on September 6.
Mexted believes Robertson’s charges were caught off guard by the passionate nature of the Argentines in Saturday’s clash at the José Amalfitani Stadium and drew a comparison to when he played in a Test against Los Pumas during the 1980s.
‘One of the most passionate places in the world’
“I reckon it’s one of the most passionate places in the world,” he told the DSPN podcast with Martin Devlin. “And I’ve travelled a bit in my time. And I recall playing rugby there (in Argentina). We drew a Test and we were, you know, they were a minnow.
“And we were sort of ranked one in the world. We played two Tests. We won the first one by about six points, I think, or eight points.
“Second one, we drew 18-all (21-21 in Buenos Aires in 1985). Now, we were a much better team than them, but we drew 18-all. And they just hit us with so much passion.
“It was incredible, actually. And it took us by surprise. And it was effective.
“The crowd, you can even see on the television when you’re watching the games, you can see how excited they are. What you can’t hear is the noise. On the microphone, on television, you can’t hear the noise that they’re making.
“And everyone’s affected by this. All the players are affected, all the adjudicators. And when I say adjudicators, once upon a time there was only one.
“That’s right. Now there’s about five. And so they’re all influenced by this.
“I feel sorry for the referee, actually. But anyway, we’ll get to that. So, 18-all.
“I couldn’t believe it. We didn’t beat them. Now, I’m actually not that surprised when I think back on it.”
Returning to the recent clash against Los Pumas, Mexted feels the All Blacks came off second best in the forward battle and that was the reason why they also lost the match in Buenos Aires.
‘The backline is the right backline’
“I’ll stand by my comments that I made before,” he said. “I think that the backline is the right backline. But you know that word (phrase) front foot ball?
“Front foot ball is what every back line in the whole world wants. Front foot ball. That means you’re running onto the ball.
“We got back foot ball. We were going back. Our forwards were going back.
“The poor half-backs were trying to clear the ball. Beauden (Barrett) and the crew were getting the ball and the player at the same time. And they (Argentina) were loving it.
“The crowd was roaring. Everyone was getting carried away. The referees, the adjudicators, the whole lot.
“It was a mighty big party going on. And the All Blacks were under immense pressure. This is actually really good for them because they’ve got to be able to handle that sort of stuff.
“And I think as you travel around as an All Black team, everyone’s throwing the kitchen sink at you. But nobody throws it as hard or as passionately as the Argentinians in my view and in my experience. So there.
“The world’s not over.”