All Blacks legends left stunned as Scott Robertson’s men ‘outplayed’ by Argentina side that are ‘in the conversation’
All Blacks in action against Argentina and The Breakdown panel. (Photo by James Foy/Speed Media/Icon Sportswire)
Mils Muliaina felt that the All Blacks “just weren’t clinical” in their defeat to Argentina while Sir John Kirwan and Jeff Wilson praised the performance of Los Pumas.
New Zealand went into Saturday’s encounter having secured three successive victories under new head coach Scott Robertson, but they were shocked in Wellington.
The All Blacks succumbed 38-30 to Argentina as they began their Rugby Championship campaign with a potentially costly defeat.
It was a result which few saw coming, not least the likes of Wilson, Kirwan and Muliaina, but they were all impressed by Los Pumas’ efforts.
Brilliant Argentina display
“We all thought the All Blacks would come here and deliver a strong performance, but tonight they were outplayed,” Wilson said on Sky Sport NZ.
“When [Argentina] start to believe, they’re so very, very difficult. They’re beating tier one nations consistently now. They are in the conversation going forward.”
Argentina claim shock victory over All Blacks as Scott Robertson left with plenty to ponder
The All Blacks never really managed to shrug off the attentions of the South Americans, who managed to stay in the game following a difficult first half.
They were 20-8 down at one stage but managed to fight back and in the final quarter were much the better team.
Felipe Contepomi’s men took advantage of some uncharacteristic New Zealand errors in the last 20 minutes to secure the win through Agustin Creevy’s try and Santiago Carreras’ fourth penalty.
“They never really dominated, probably some key errors at the big moments that really cost, but they couldn’t get any continuity to their game and I think that was the biggest problem. Got some scoreboard pressure, then the Argentinians got off the back of a mistake and came back into it,” Kirwan said.
“I really liked [the Pumas’] 9-10 combo tonight. I like their innovation in attack. They hit one point, then swing back the other way.
“The kicking game was good early. They started incredibly well and then the All Blacks sort of hung in defensively, but the nice thing about them is they kick when they should kick and they kicked properly and they also attack when they need to.”
‘Weird feeling’
Muliaina also gave plenty of credit to Argentina but also believed that the All Blacks did not take enough of the chances that came their way.
“You’ve got to go in there with a game plan, which they did, but to be able to still sustain that right through to the last… They put the All Blacks under pressure with a couple of massive moments and they cracked,” he said.
“It’s a weird feeling at the moment, because I don’t feel that the All Blacks didn’t have opportunities. They just weren’t clinical enough to put the Argentinians away and then a big moment in the end where they effectively gave them a scrum five metres out.
“But you still kind of felt the All Blacks were going to close the game out. They didn’t because then it allowed Argentina to really stay in there.
“A couple of changes from Scott Robertson. I don’t think they got the impact that he would have wanted and that’s where Argentina lifted a little bit.”
