Aaron Smith ignited a late revival as the All Blacks overhauled Argentina to start their World Cup defence with a 26-16 victory before a record crowd at Wembley Stadium on Sunday.
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He said that at halftime he told his players “keep your attitude and intensity, but (New Zealand) reacted, got the ball and didn’t lose it any more, their capacity is well known and they managed to overcome our siege”.
It was a different thing in the early hours of this morning as the All Blacks found themselves strongly tested by an Argentinian team that was really and truly up for it.
“That’s what comes with the World Cup, especially first round”.
McCaw was booed off the field by the 89 thousand strong crowd, but the All Blacks coach Steve Hansen says thats to be expected when he plays in England.
Hansen hailed his bench for injecting energy and urgency in the second half as the All Blacks wore down their combative opponents after trailing for 56 minutes at Wembley Stadium.
“There were times when we did things very well but then they showed us they are the best in the world and we couldn’t hold them back”, Creevy said. Stuff.co.nz, a prolific commentator on the All Blacks, repeated the concern that McCaw’s style of play would once again lay the All Blacks open to allegations of “cheating” by what they termed “the Northern scribes”.
At RWC 2011, New Zealand beat Argentina 33-10 in the quarter-final and the match followed a very similar pattern, with New Zealand staying patient and scoring nearly half their points in the final 15 minutes.
“He is the best 12 in world rugby … world class”.
However, the All Blacks definitely need to play closer attention to discipline after conceding nine penalties, including two yellow-card offences.
There were two tries each but the Americans paid a heavy price for indiscipline as Tusi Pisi slotted four penalties and Michael Stanley added another to ensure Samoa’s deserved victory to leave them level at the top with Japan on four points.
Fortunately for Smith, there were three shots at goal during his time there – one for Sanchez for his indiscretion, one to Dan Carter at the end of the first half which narrowed the deficit to 12-13, and one more to Sanchez after the break. His speed was a constant problem for Argentina throughout the game. Julian Savea and Nehe Milner-Skudder, who unfortunately dropped a pass from Williams with the try line in sight, both coming off their wings looking for work, while Ben Smith put in the mileage while making countless runs from full-back.
Daniel Hourcade has given 20- year old lock Guido Petti a World Cup debut along with six of his other team mates.
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“As we saw with Japan and South Africa, the gap between the lower tier teams and the higher ranked teams is not as big any more”.
