TRC Match Preview: New Zealand vs Argentina

Argentine rugby has grown a lot thanks to its inclusion in The Rugby Championship, however still more time is needed before this growth can be turned into results for Los Pumas. That said, the first win for Argentina came last year, and hopefully that is a sign of things to come. With the All Blacks trying some new faces and pairings, Los Pumas will be sensing an opportunity to make history, and they will be determined to give it everything they have.

Up front, the All Blacks have called upon approximately 17 trillion caps of experience, with Tony Woodcock, Keven Mealamu, and Owen Franks in the front row. Mealamu will be a nuisance for the Argentinians at the ruck, while Woodcock and Franks will be challenged by the ever powerful Argentine front row. Marcos Ayerza remains one of the world’s most dominant scrummaging props, and Castres Ramiro Herrera took this tournament by storm last year, solidifying himself as one of the world’s premier tightheads. Captain Agustin Creevy will lead Argentina from the front, with his excellent tackling and wonderful ball skills (some call him the Sonny Bill of Hookers). This probably the only positional battle where the Pumas have a chance to really beat up on the All Blacks.

Manuel Carizza and Guido Petti will be really up against it, as they take on Brodie Retallick and Luke Romano, two incredibly talented locks. While the Argentine pairing may be very large, they have no chance competing against the likes of Retallick and Romano in terms of open play as the Kiwi pair are simply two of the best in the tournament.

In the back row, Jerome Kaino, Richie McCaw, and Kieran Reid make for a dominant trio, with Kaino offering his immense power, McCaw his breakdown thievery, and Reid with his Globetrotters esque offloading skills. Argentina do possess two very good flankers in Juan Manuel Leguizamon and Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe (because three names just isn’t good enough). These two are a pain at the breakdown and, do possess some very good offloading ability. Young Facundo Isa has a lot against him facing off with Kieran Reid, but he has the skillset to take the All Black to the limit for 80 minutes.

Argentina have some superb halfbacks in Tomas Cubelli and Nicolas Sanchez. Sanchez can punish penalties from anywhere inside enemy territory, so the All Blacks need to be on their best behavior, while Cubelli will be looking to dummy and snipe his way through at the slightest sign of a gap. The explosive TJ Perenara pairs up with Dan Carter (who is not a bad kicker himself) for the All Blacks, and these two can really create mayhem if their pack can go forward. If not, they may be in trouble.

Steve Hansen has fiddled with his centers, pairing the unlikely duo of Sonny Bill Williams and Ma’a Nonu, both inside centers by trade, but this change does have a whiff of genius about it. Both are powerful athletes with great hands, so there is very little to go wrong this change. Argentina call upon Jerónimo De La Fuente and Saracens star Marcelo Bosch in the centers. Bosch will doubtless be up to the task, but De La Fuente may really struggle against this dominant All Black duo.

New Zealand welcome back Charles Piutau to their lineup, and he will look at this as his chance to return to the side regularly, after a series of injury struggles. They also give Waisake Naholo his first cap after his dominant Super Rugby season that saw him score 13 tries, resting Julian Savea, protecting him in a crucial World Cup year. Israel Dagg gets the first shot at the 15 jersey, meaning that Ben Smith and Nehe Milner-Skudder will need to wait to have their chance. Horacio Agulla and Joaquin Tuculet are likely to be the Pumas danger men on the outside, but the side will definitely miss their lethal finisher, Manuel Montero. Montero was capable of superb scores like this, and that is not something that the Pumas have in spades.

Argentina will fight and scrap to the very end, but against an All Blacks side with this much talent, this much power, and this much pace, they will be totally outclassed. Their only hope is to keep possession and control the game, but if the All Blacks can control the breakdown, and secure their set pieces, it will be game over for the Pumas.

Prediction: New Zealand 47- Argentina 18