The All Blacks head to Auckland’s iconic Eden Park to face Argentina on Saturday with New Zealand’s pride wounded by a shock 38-30 defeat to Los Pumas in Wellington last weekend. New head coach Scott Robertson suffered his first defeat in four games, as the All Blacks crumbled under pressure and Argentina staged an impressive second-half fight back.
Veteran hooker Agustin Creevy, 39, rolled back the years by scoring Argentina’s decisive fourth try, while Santiago Carreras kicked 18 points to seal the win in Wellington. The Pumas are now chasing back-to-back wins over New Zealand for the first time, but it has been 30 years since the All Blacks last lost at Eden Park.
Here are the top four talking points from the build up to the Auckland showdown:
The Eden Park Fortress – Argentina Eye Up Record Ending Win in Auckland
Soon after the final whistle in Wellington, Pumas forward Pablo Matera predicted the All Blacks will be a “different animal” at Eden Park and Argentina can certainly expect a backlash in Auckland. The All Blacks record at the legendary stadium is jaw-dropping. New Zealand has twice lifted the World Cup at Eden Park where they won the 1987 and 2011 finals on home soil.
They are undefeated in their last 51 Test matches in Auckland, including 49 wins and two draws, racking up an average of 36 points per game. Their last loss at Eden Park was a 23-20 defeat to France in July 1994. Most of the current side hadn’t yet been born back then. The touring British and Irish Lions were the last side to deny the All Blacks a win when they ground out a 15-all draw in 2017 to square the series 1-1.
New Zealand assistant coach Scott Hansen said All Blacks fans can expect a better display from their team. “We have talked about a response and what it needs to look like,” Hansen told reporters on Monday. “Could be attitude, could be physicality, it won’t just happen.”
Hansen said many lessons had been learnt during a frank appraisal of the Wellington defeat. “The facts are we were caught in our own half, our efficiency in getting out of there wasn’t good enough. Argentina were allowed to put pressure on us and we didn’t respond well enough in that area of the field. Our skill sets at times let us down, so that will be our focus. We have been given an opportunity for us to respond. We need to make a stamp on the game.”
Hansen said there is “hurt” in the All Blacks camp “and there should be”. The All Blacks defence coach said he took it “personally” that his team conceded 38 points, including four tries.” We talked as a defence today about the fact we need to be far better than we were,” Hansen added. “Their tries came from us not being set defensively. We need to adjust.”
‘Everyone has to look in the mirror’ – All Blacks only blame themselves for Pumas defeat
All Blacks Number 8 Ardie Savea is the current world player of the year and New Zealand fly-half Damian McKenzie has been running defences ragged for the Chiefs all season, yet both were involved in a bizarre series of poor plays by the home side in Wellington. New Zealand won a line-out late in the game on the halfway line, but from the resulting ruck, Savea threw a pass over the heads of several team-mates.
McKenzie picked up the loose pass off the floor and did exactly the same thing, lobbing a wild pass which eluded his team-mates. It was left to Reiko Ioane to finally secure possession behind his own goalline as the All Blacks cleared the self-inflicted danger. Lock Sam Darry, who scored his first try in only his second Test, said the All Blacks have collectively taken a long hard look at their own play in Wellington, to figure out where to improve and cut out the errors which plagued New Zealand in the capital.
“We have got to own our mistakes,” Darry told reporters. “It’s on everyone. Everyone has got to have a bit of a look in the mirror, at their prep, how they turned up for the game and how we can be better. We are really excited about the opportunity at Eden Park against a quality Argentina side. It’s a great Test to see what we are made of.”
The 24-year-old tasted his first defeat in the famous black shirt – “that really hurt” – but insisted there is no panic in the All Blacks camp. “We are really clear with how we want to play,” he said. “There are a few things we want to tweak, but also a few things we are really happy with so it’s not throwing the baby out with the bath water. We still know what works for us and we will stick with that.”