All Blacks coach Scott Robertson has put his hand up for the sensational defeat to Argentina – summed up by a moment of indiscipline so unexpected it was jarring.
The game looked to be heading to a familiar route, the All Blacks being threatened but then responding when it mattered to roll over an opponent.
Instead, leading by two points late in the game, Ethan Blackadder stole a lineout near the NZ line. From there there were two loose passes – from skipper Ardie Savea and No.10 Damian McKenzie – and they gave the Argies a 5 metre scrum.
The veteran Agustin Creevy made the hosts pay with an emotional try – and then, with a late penalty, the Pumas did to the All Blacks what the Kiwis have done to others so many times before.
“I’m 39. This is my first time here, and in my whole life too, in New Zealand. For that, it’s so important for me, and for the whole team,” he said. “We work a lot. It’s tough sometimes. And now, this game for us is f–king amazing.”
Robertson, like Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt who got a reality check of his own in Brisbane, came into this game with a 3-0 record to start his employment.
Two of those wins over England featured late excellence and poise – and that disappeared into the thin air in Wellington.
“You look at yourself first. You ask ‘what could I have done personally as the head coach, how could I have framed this week better, how could I have more edge?’ I’ll reflect over the next 24 hours. I’m disappointed. I’m hurt,” Robertson said.
“They’ll look to me and I’ll make sure I put everything in place for them so we respond this week.”
The All Blacks lost to the same opponent two years ago, but belted them at the World Cup 44-6 under previous coach Ian Foster. You can only imagine his take on Saturday’s event in Wellington.
“As All Blacks we shouldn’t need a loss to get a performance,” Savea noted.
“Our standards are that we should turn up every week. That’s the reality of rugby. We didn’t get it right tonight. It wasn’t good enough. Hopefully we can grow, learn and improve.
“We’ve got to own it, look ourselves in the mirror as leaders and ask the players to do that too but we’ve got to stay tight together and try and get better each day. The good thing about rugby is we’ve got a chance to go again next week. We’ve got to walk towards the challenge.”
The All Blacks were outplayed by a Pumas team that thoroughly enjoyed thier rowdy post-match celebrations.
They were immense at the breakdown and employed a smarter kicking game.
And like the All Blacks have so many times before – they held their nerve as the hosts threatened to snatch the lead back after Creevy’s try. Instead, it was a penalty goal to seal the 38-30 result.
“After every kickoff we put pressure on ourselves. That’s hugely frustrating,” Robertson said. “When we did the simple things well we looked great and then we reverted back to put pressure on ourselves.
“They were good at the breakdown. We had a good week around mindset and creating an edge. We know Argentina from a few years ago… There’s a number of little things but we’ve got to find what’s critical now and move on.
“We’ve got to be better at kick plans, at exits, in lots of areas. It starts there.
“You’re always rethinking. We’ve been together five or six weeks. You’ve got to build trust in your processes so you believe and then execute. Now we’ve got to get the execution right.
“Well done to them you’ve got to commend them for playing their style and getting a result.”
New Zealand had won 28 times with one draw in their 29 matches before SArgentina first claimed a victory – in 2020. Now it’s three wins from it’s three wins from nine since then – two of them in New Zealand.
“I remember the first time how emotional we were. We believed it was something impossible, something that had never been done,” said Pablo Matera on Saturday.
“This is a team in the last couple of years that is getting more and more ambitious, working better, working harder and putting higher standards. That’s why we wanted to do it a second time, a third time. We want to continue in this role.
“We had a plan. We worked the whole week on the plan and we stuck to it even when things were not going so well. That’s what kept us connected as a team and made the difference.”
Joel Sclavi of Argentina celebrates the win during the International Test match between New Zealand All Blacks and Argentina at Sky Stadium on August 10, 2024 in Wellington, New Zealand. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)
All Blacks legends, speaking on the Sky post-game coverage, seemed shocked that the All Blacks couldn’t get the win over the line.
“We all thought the All Blacks would come here and deliver a strong performance, but tonight they were outplayed,” said Jeff Wilson.
“When [Argentina] start to believe, they’re so very, very difficult. They’re beating tier one nations consistently now. They are in that conversation going forward.”
John Kirwan replied: “They never really dominated, probably some key errors at the big moments that really cost, but they couldn’t get any continuity to their game and I think that was the biggest problem. Got some scoreboard pressure, then the Argentinians got off the back of a mistake and came back into it.
“I really liked [the Pumas’] 9-10 combo tonight. I like their innovation in attack.They hit one point, then swing back the other way.
“The kicking game was good early. They started incredibly well and then the All Blacks sort of hung in defensively, but the nice thing about them is they kick when they should kick and they kicked properly and they also attack when they need to.”
Mils Muliaina said the Pumas were “courageous” but so much more as well.
“You’ve got to go in there with a game plan, which they did, but to be able to still sustain that right through to the last… They put the All Blacks under pressure with a couple of massive moments and they cracked.
“It’s a weird feeling at the moment, because I don’t feel that the All Blacks didn’t have opportunities. They just weren’t clinical enough to put the Argentinians away and then a big moment in the end where they effectively gave them a scrum five metres out.
“But you still kind of felt the All Blacks were going to close the game out. They didn’t because then it allowed Argentina to really stay in there.
“A couple of changes from Scott Robertson. I don’t think they got the impact that he would have wanted and that’s where Argentina lifted a little bit.”