The second of this weekend’s Rugby Championship action is set to be a one sided affair as the All Blacks host the Argentinians in Wellington. The All Blacks are sitting pretty atop the log with two victories against Australia, while Argentina picked up their first points with a draw with the Springboks in Mendoza two weeks ago.
New Zealand were dealt a slight blow with news that Dan Carter not being able to play this weekend, but with Aaron Cruden stepping into his shoes, a more than capable replacement, the standard of play should not drop. Conrad Smith replaces Sonny Bill Williams in midfield while Victor Vito and Tony Woodcock make returns to the starting lineup.
For Argentina, they have changed two from the team that drew with South Africa, Juan Martin Hernandez coming back to take the 10 jersey, a change that will bolster the Pumas significantly. The Argentinians might focus on next weekend’s match against Australia as the one they want to win, and we could see them taking a beating today.
New Zealand: 15 Israel Dagg, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma’a Nonu, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Aaron Cruden, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (captain), 6 Victor Vito, 5 Brodie Retallick, 4 Luke Romano, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements: 16 Andrew Hore, 17 Charlie Faumuina, 18 Sam Whitelock, 19 Liam Messam, 20 Piri Weepu, 21 Beauden Barrett, 22 Ben Smith.
Argentina: 15 Martin Rodriguez, 14 Gonzalo Camacho, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Santiago Fernandez, 11 Horacio Agulla, 10 Juan Martin Hernandez, 9 Nicolas Vergallo, 8 Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe (captain), 7 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 6 Julio Farias Cabello, 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Manuel Carizza, 3 Juan Figallo, 2 Eusebio Guinazu, 1 Rodrigo Roncero.
Replacements: 16 Agustin Creevy, 17 Marcos Ayerza, 18 Juan Pablo Orlandi, 19 Leonardo Senatore, 20 Tomás Leonardi, 21 Martin Landajo, 22 Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino.
Tweet
Rich… 🙂 this is the first game 🙂
Its raining….
Its…
NZ 3 – 5 Arg
17 min
Come on Argentina!!!
NZ 6 – 5 Arg
24 min
@Argex (Comment 3) : they doing well…
Franshark : They just have to keep it up!!
NZ 6 – 5 Arg
HT
Hoping for a major upset!!
Come on ARGIE!!!! Please, please. Make my day.
Haha its All Black in All Black country….
Load shadding? 🙂
Trying to put the Argentines off;-)
Lights back on…
What a tackle!!
Argies down to 14 men…
NZ 9 – 5 Arg
61 min
Savea over in the corner…
Cruden miss the conversion
NZ 14 – 5 Arg
66 min
The game opens up and jane goes over in the other corner
Cruden converts
NZ 21 – 5 Arg
74 min
Full Time
NZ 21 – 5 Arg
oops…
Well done Argentina.
Disappointing in a different way then you’d have expected.