All Blacks v Pumas
Kick-off: 7.05pm, Saturday 17 August (NZT)
Eden Park, Auckland
Live blog coverage on RNZ Sport
The All Blacks are seeking redemption on Saturday evening at Eden Park after a shock 38-30 loss in their Rugby Championship opener last weekend.
The fact of the matter is that the Pumas were smarter, more clinical and the physically more dominant side at Sky Stadium, and probably should've won by more.
It's the first setback in Scott Robertson's regime as All Black coach and fair to say it's something he and his coaching staff were not expecting.
The mood during the week at the All Blacks' hotel has been edgy, which is a good sign that they have know full well what the magnitude of another defeat will entail.
Ceri Evans (Head of Leadership + Mental Performance) and New Zealand coach Scott Robertson dejected after loss to Argentina. Photo: Andrew Cornaga/www.photosport.nz
Here's a look at the teams:
All Blacks: 1. Tamaiti Williams 2. Codie Taylor 3. Tyrel Lomax 4. Tupou Vaa'i 5. Sam Darry 6. Ethan Blackadder 7. Dalton Papali'i 8. Ardie Savea (c) 9. TJ Perenara 10. Damian McKenzie 11. Caleb Clarke 12. Jordie Barrett 13. Rieko Ioane 14. Will Jordan 15. Beauden Barrett
Bench: 16. Asafo Aumua 17. Ofa Tu'ungafasi 18. Fletcher Newell 19. Josh Lord 20. Sam Cane 21. Cortez Ratima 22. Anton Lienert-Brown 23. Mark Tele'a
Pumas: 1. Thomas Gallo 2. Julian Montoya 3. Lucio Sordoni 4. Marcos Kremer 5. Pedro Rubiolo 6. Pablo Matera 7. Juan Martin Gonzalez 8. Joaquin Oviedo 9. Gonzalo Bertranou 10. Santiago Carreras 11. Matthew Carreras 12. Santiago Chocobares 13. Lucio Cinti 14. Matthias Moroni 15. Juan Cruz Mallia
Bench: 16. Ignacio Ruiz 17. Mayco Vivas 18. Joel Sclavi 19. Franco Molina 20. Tomas Lavanini 21. Lautaro Bazan Velez 22. Thomas Albernoz 23. Bautista Delguy
All Blacks selections
Sam Cane is back, albeit via the bench, which is a pretty clear indication that Robertson wants some cooler heads on the field at the business end of the game.
Tamaiti Williams comes in at prop for the injured Ethan de Groot, otherwise it's a surprisingly unchanged starting pack.
Out wide there's two new wingers with Will Jordan and Caleb Clarke getting a chance to impress, while Rieko Ioane is back at centre.
Rieko Ioane celebrates after the game. Rugby World Cup France 2023, New Zealand All Blacks v Italy, Pool A match at OL Stadium, Lyon, France on Friday 29 September 2023. Mandatory credit: Andrew Cornaga / www.photosport.nz Photo: Andrew Cornaga/www.photosport.nz
Pumas selections
Julian Montoya comes in not only to start at hooker but take the captaincy, that means veteran Agustin Creevy drops out of the squad and maybe we have seen the last of his incredible 19-year test career here in New Zealand.
Lucio Sordoni is in at tighthead prop where he replaces Eduardo Bello.
Bruising ball runner Marcos Kremer shifts from the openside flank to pack down alongside Pedro Rubiolo at lock, where he takes over from Franco Molina.
Marcos Kremer of Argentina, tackles Jordie Barrett of the All Blacks. Photo: Marty Melville/Actionpress
What they're saying
"The ability to coach simply is probably the first thing in our minds, we learned a lot last week so it's about taking what we learned and putting it into action. If you look at all our test matches, we've created enough, but we've given them back opportunities. So it's around our discipline, doing our jobs and executing." - All Blacks coach Scott Robertson.
"It is a new a new page, new challenges. So we move on. Focus on the next challenge. We know that New Zealand is going to be another beast this weekend, they are going to come back stronger. We know what's coming, we are prepared for that." - Pumas halfback Gonzalo Bertranou.
What happened last time
Pumas 38 - 30 All Blacks
Put simply, the Pumas came in with a better gameplan and just stuck to it in their win at Sky Stadium last weekend.
The most concerning thing for the All Blacks was an inability to get out of their own half or create many line break opportunities once the Pumas had set their D line.
The scary thing was that while new coach Felipe Contepomi was happy with the result, he believed his Pumas side had plenty of room for improvement this weekend.
Prediction
The other two times the Pumas have beaten the All Blacks, they have copped a hiding the next weekend.
Two years ago in Hamilton, it got so bad that Pablo Matera infamously refused to shake Dane Coles' hand post-match because the All Black hooker was rubbing it in so much. However, it seems unlikely that we're going to see a repeat of that because this Pumas team feels like it has far more of an edge.
Meanwhile, the All Blacks need to have cooked something up fast on attack. They had enough ball to win the game last weekend but couldn't get it to the right part of the field, so expect a lower, flatter kicking game from the halves and bit more sting in the carries.
This will be a tight game, it may well come down to set piece accuracy in what is looking like rainy conditions. The one thing in the All Blacks' favour is that it's Eden Park, and the last time they lost there most of the squad hadn't even been born.
