With Australia having completed the double over South Africa, it was time for part 2 of the double header, which saw winless Argentina face off against unbeaten New Zealand. With 2 matches against World Champions coming up, The All Blacks gave a number of big names a rest, but it was still a highly capable side sent out to face the Pumas, and it took just 5 minutes for them to open the scoring, with a break from Hoskins Sotutu releasing Will Jordan, who was stopped just short, only for Patrick Tuipulotu to crash over from short range. Emiliano Boffelli and Jordie Barrett traded penalties, but the Kiwis were looking for tries, and came close on 2 more occasions in the opening quarter, with both Jordan and Reiko Ioane having scores ruled out. However it was third time lucky on 26 minutes, as New Zealand got the shove on at a 5m scrum, allowing TJ Perenara to attack the blind side and—with Jordie Barrett attracting the attention of the wide defender—outpace the Pumas back row to the corner. Just minutes later, Reiko Ioane found a gap in midfield and utilised his break to get away, only to be hauled down just short of the line. He successfully dotted the ball down but a referral to the TMO found that he had got back to his feet while held by the tackler so he again found his try ruled out. With the half coming to a close, a break from Ardie Savea and a clever chip down the right wing brought the All Blacks up to the Argentina try line again, and after a number of phases, the ball squirted out as Samisoni Taukei’aho was stopped short, only for Savea to flick the ball into the hands of Tupou Vaa’i, who had to simply take one step to make it in for another try and a 3-24 halftime lead.

After the break, it was the Pumas who got on the scoresheet first through another Boffelli penalty, but New Zealand stretched their lead just minutes later as Will Jordan’s flick-on from Quinn Tupaea allowed Ardie Savea to draw the covering defender and send Taukei’aho over in the corner. Despite still clearly being second best, the Pumas were certainly more of an attacking threat in the second half, and finally got a try when Boffelli caught Santiago Carreras’ inch-perfect cross-kick and dotted down under pressure from Barrett and Jordan. However they almost conceded off the restart as Carreras’ clearance was charged down by Finlay Christie, only for the replacement scrum half to lose control as he tried to dot down. As the second half went on, the Pumas continued to grow into the game and start creating chances, but they kept finding ways to bring their attacks to disappointing ends, and with just a few minutes left in the game, the All Blacks finished with a flourish as Scott Barrett carried through contact and threw a lovely offload out the back of his hand for Vaa’i to go over for his second try of the game, with Jordie Barrett converting to secure a 13-36 win that should see the All Blacks jump to the top of the World Rankings.

Out of place

When I noted last week that Santiago Carreras was an option to cover fly half, I sure as hell wasn’t expecting Mario Ledesma to give him the 10 shirt this week and put Domingo Miotti on the bench! While Carreras has covered the position at times and certainly has the skill set, he has never started there at Test level, nor in Super Rugby or the Premiership.

And that inexperience certainly showed in this game, with 2 exit kicks charged down and a few other issues. But he certainly grew into the game, and came to life even more as the game opened up in the second half. If I’m being completely honest though, what he did best could have honestly been done from the fullback position.

Could Carreras be the next star at 10 for the Pumas? I certainly think he has the skillset, but he would have to start playing the position almost exclusively at both Test and club level, which isn’t going to happen considering Gloucester have just brought in Adam Hastings. At 23 years old, Carreras is at a crucial point in his career. He has the potential to become one of the world’s best, but to do that, he needs to start playing the same position week in week out. And if he’s going to be prioritising one position, I feel that it has to be fullback.

The best three

It’s absolutely crazy to me that Hoskins Sotutu is not a regular in this All Blacks side. Granted there are plenty of fantastic back row options available even with Sam Cane missing, but the Blues number 8 provides everything you want from the position: pace, power, good handling skills and an analytical brain. Ardie Savea may be the incumbent, but he could easily move to 7 with Cane absent, as he did for this game.

With 2 matches coming up against a wounded South African team, picking the right back row will be vital. You want a back row dynamic enough to run rings around the Springboks if they try to play an open game, but also a back row big enough and strong enough to front up to the might of the Springboks.

For me, there is only one trio to pick. Ardie Savea is guaranteed to start somewhere in the back row, and I would start him at 7, with Sotutu retaining his place at number 8, and the impressive Akira Ioane returning at 6. By picking this trio, you have 3 strong, dynamic ball carriers for the Springbok defence to deal with, while Ioane and Savea working as enforcers in defence. However, this is Ian Foster picking the team, so don’t be shocked to see Sotutu drop straight back out of the 23.

Step backwards

Over recent years, the Pumas have taken so many steps forward, but suddenly appear to be falling apart. One thing that has consistently been the case in recent weeks is that the team is creating chances in most games, but then making some error to bring the chance to an end. The more I have thought about it, the more I think that this is at least in part due to the loss of the Jaguares.

Through the 4 seasons of the Jaguares being part of Super Rugby, we saw a clear improvement in the quality of the national team, as the vast majority of the players were training and playing together every week. And while that may have limited them against the elite teams, it was enough to at least make them able to challenge in every match.

However, with COVID stopping cross-border Super Rugby competition, the Jaguares were left out in the cold, and that has remained the case as South Africa’s teams have joined the Ultimate Rugby Championship, while the Australian and New Zealand franchises have been joined by Moana Pasifika and Fijian Drua in the new Super Rugby Pacific. This means that they are the only Tier 1 nation without a single club in a top-tier league.

Having their squad spread all around the globe, it makes it so much harder to bring everyone together sufficiently enough to build up any chemistry. Similarly, it is harder for prospective future stars to make the step up, as they will likely need to get on the international scene before a top flight club takes an interest in them.

But where can Argentina look to re-establish the Jaguares? It’s unlikely that Super Rugby Pacific will be looking to add more teams any time soon. The Ultimate Rugby Championship is focused over just a couple of time zones even if there is some distance between South Africa and the other nations involved. The Premiership and Top 14 are both domestic leagues for just 1 single country each. The only established professional league that would make sense would be the MLR, but that league isn’t yet to the level of competition that Argentina need to challenge at the top level, though it would at least allow them to potentially bring back a few of their internationals while also find new young talent to then potentially pick up contracts in the elite leagues.

In the meantime though, don’t be shocked to see the Pumas continue to struggle as they adapt to the loss of the Jaguares.