Opinion
The much-vaunted tenure of new All Black coach Scott Robertson hit its first major stumbling block after his side crashed to a 38-30 defeat to Argentina in Wellington last night.
A mixture of key errors, a wobbly lineout and a lack of impact from the bench coupled with a fired-up Argentina led to the South American’s third win over New Zealand since 2020.
Here’s how the All Blacks rated:
Beauden Barrett – 6
Some decent tactical snipes and an effective kick which led to Darry’s try, but largely failed to impose himself.
Sevu Reece- 5
Was industrious and went looking for work, but a woeful tapback from a kick led to an Argentinian try to Mateo Carreras on the stroke of halftime. Replaced by Will Jordan at 55 minutes.
Mark Telea- 5
Quiet game, but did manage to peel off a trademark slippery run and finished off a close-quarters try after a slick offload from Perenara.
Anton Leinert- Brown-6
The dropping to the bench of incumbent Reiko Ioane paved the way for the veteran who had some nice touches punctuated by an incisive first-half dash. Whether he is the long-term solution at centre remains to be seen.
Jordie Barrett-5
Early season mediocrity was not alleviated during a mixed performance by the big 12 playing in front of his home crowd.
Damian McKenzie-5
Looked dangerous early orchestrating Darry’s try from a chip, but an errant pass later on led to replacement hooker Augustine Creevy putting the visitors ahead and ignited debate over whether he is simply a placeholder until Crusaders’ prodigal son Richie Moúnga returns from Japan.
TJ Perenara-5
Sluggish distribution and a couple of charge downs from box kicks had the online “experts” calling for the departing veteran to be put out to pasture early.
Ardie Savea (c)-6
Despite being at his usual bruising best, the captain for the night couldn’t rally his troops in the face of a continued assault from a team who wanted the result more.
Dalton Papalií-6
Showed courage under fire completing a couple of muscular turnovers and a good tackle rate in a solid shift- but still faces competition from the returning Sam Cane.
Ethan Blackadder-6
Getting his opportunity in the team’s most contentious position, Blackadder was industrious without setting the world on fire and struggled with the physicality required for clean-outs. An intriguing rivalry with Semipeni Finau is developing.
Sam Darry-8
Excellent in the lineout, energetic in open play and showed legs to chase a downfield kick for his first test try. Looks assured of further starts given the injuries to Scott Barrett and Patrick Tuipolutu.
Tupou Vaa’i-7
The new locking combination was perhaps the only bright spot in a flat display. Vaa’i had some telling carries and was efficient at lineout time.
Tyrel Lomax-6
Did his job, but was not tested at scrum time after the game bizarrely went nearly 60 minutes without a a pack-down. Gave away a clearing-out penalty.
Codie Taylor-6
Lineout throwing was on point and made his presence known in the tight.
Ethan De Groot- 6
Like Lomax, wasn’t challenged in his core-role, but could be happy with his work around the paddock and made 12 tackles.
Reserves
Asafo Aumua- 2
A night to forget for the Hurricanes hooker as the lineout turned into a dog’s dinner after his introduction.
Ofa Tu’ungafasi- 5
Finally got to set down a scrum when introduced with 20 minutes to go. Six tackles were recorded.
Fletcher Newell- 5
Did a job but blighted his copybook when penalised at scrum time at a precarious stage of the match.
Josh Lord -5
After a long time away from the test spotlight, increased the tempo with his introduction.
Wallace Sititi -3
Brought back to earth after the highs of his debut in San Diego. Introduced to little impact late in the game. Gave away two dumb penalties at a crucial time.
Cortez Ratima- 5
Looked snappy at the ruck’s base and gave his all for 25 minutes. Pressing Perenara for a start.
Will Jordan -5
Line break from a forward pass but little else. It will be interesting to see where he slots into the backline in the coming weeks.
Reiko Ioane- No rating
Introduced late and had little involvement aside from cleaning up McKenzie’s brain explosion.
