Predictions for NZ Argentina

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2 solid performances from Argentina. One at least should've been a win with such a big lead. There's no doubt Argentina arrives in NZ in a better frame of mind than last year.

The usual rout in SA didn't eventuate. They showed in dry conditions they could do damage. Their scrum looks MASSIVE! They humbled a proud scrumming team so do you think they'll annihilate NZ at scrum time early on?

Will Argentina have enough in the tank for the last quarter and will they take the right options under pressure? These are the key points for me. They will look to disrupt NZ ball and slow NZ recycling. Eden Park will serve as a warning for them if they don't.

Looking forward to this match and is a great test of our set piece.
How do you think it will go?

Rugby Fan wrote:New Zealand have been the more accomplished team, so I'm not sure Argentina can feel that wronged tonight. If I was them, I might be more upset about allowing that try on the stroke of half time.

Mind you, it would have made for a very interesting last quarter if Argentina had been given that try and the score had gone to 13-18.

It was a wrong decision plain and simple, you don't have to earn the right to be peed off at a silly decesion by the ref. It is what it is.

I firmly believe that if Argentina had rightly been awarded that try, the standard All Black backlash would have come and NZ would more than likely scored a try within 5 mins

ChequeredJersey wrote:I firmly believe that if Argentina had rightly been awarded that try, the standard All Black backlash would have come and NZ would more than likely scored a try within 5 mins

very much so, but i dont think people should gloss over the fact that the ref made a silly decision

nathan wrote:

kiakahaaotearoa wrote:NZ scrum solid at the right time. All important bonus point.

Is the right time not all meant to be all the time?

Point taken but when you have an attacking 5m scrum, you want that ball coming out clean. They did that and Aaron Smith did well to pat the forwards on the back when they came back to their half.

That result confirmed to me the Bok games were no fluke. Argentina look improved and they were dominating the middle part of that second half and should've have had a try, which might have given them more belief. I think the changes improved for NZ and Argentina dipped notably in the scrum where they were looking dominant previously.

A good hard game and in those conditions NZ were able to score tries and that might well prove decisive. Whitelock and Messam out is a worry but I think Dagg will be happy with his performance and Moody looked good in that last quarter.

Looking forward to the Wallabies Boks game and Argentina might fancy themselves against the Wallabies but you can be sure Australia will be looking to negate that scrum strength. Good game from Argentina but their mistakes hurt them.

Rugby Fan wrote:I wonder what the referee could have done if the TMO had stepped in to tell him the charge down was not a knock-on?

He blew his whistle before the ball was touched down, so I don't know if he could have awarded a try even if recognized his mistake. Then again, the Argentinian was in the clear, so the whistle didn't have a material effect on what the New Zealand players were able to do.

Like you say, he had blown his whistle so he couldn't have awarded the try no matter the circumstances because it was touched down when the ball was effectively out of play.

Which makes the error even more unforgivable, Refs should know now not to blow their whistle unless they are 100% sure they are right and the play isn't going to go anywhere - there would be no harm in letting him touch down and then blowing up and going to the TMO if needed.

One of the worst decisions I have ever seen and I don't think he will be reffing another game this tournament.

ChequeredJersey wrote:I firmly believe that if Argentina had rightly been awarded that try, the standard All Black backlash would have come and NZ would more than likely scored a try within 5 mins

Or it would have galvanised Argentina to know that they were within a score and we could have seen an exciting finish.

wales606 wrote:

ChequeredJersey wrote:I firmly believe that if Argentina had rightly been awarded that try, the standard All Black backlash would have come and NZ would more than likely scored a try within 5 mins

Or it would have galvanised Argentina to know that they were within a score and we could have seen an exciting finish.

We'll never know but seeing the ABs in past situations like this and Argentina when they have been in the game against higher ranked nations and panicked makes me as sure as I can be that NZ would have won this match quite comfortably

Frankly the early tackle on Savea at the start of the game was another big gaffe by the ref (and the touch judge).

I think they need to change the fact the TMO cannot tell the ref to look at things. The ref had already blown his whistle with the charge-down but as play wasn't affected by the whistle blown, the ref should have the power to overturn his decision.

Good point Kia. Early tackle on Savea. No one gives a monkeys. At the end of the day, a comfortable win for the ABs. Well done boys

kiakahaaotearoa wrote:

Looking forward to the Wallabies Boks game and Argentina might fancy themselves against the Wallabies but you can be sure Australia will be looking to negate that scrum strength. Good game from Argentina but their mistakes hurt them.

We always say that about Aus, but the likelihood is that they'll smash Arg again.

Doesn't stop many people from saying Argentina will smash Australia in their four games head-to-head to date in the RC. Hasn't worked out that way as you point out. Never underestimate Australia's ability to go against the form book. Look at their win today...

That said, I think if Argentina can find a way to score early like they did at home against SA, they will grow in belief. Today they were just shut down on attack and didn't get to create anything.

wales606 wrote:

Rugby Fan wrote:I wonder what the referee could have done if the TMO had stepped in to tell him the charge down was not a knock-on?

He blew his whistle before the ball was touched down, so I don't know if he could have awarded a try even if recognized his mistake. Then again, the Argentinian was in the clear, so the whistle didn't have a material effect on what the New Zealand players were able to do.

Like you say, he had blown his whistle so he couldn't have awarded the try no matter the circumstances because it was touched down when the ball was effectively out of play.

Which makes the error even more unforgivable, Refs should know now not to blow their whistle unless they are 100% sure they are right and the play isn't going to go anywhere - there would be no harm in letting him touch down and then blowing up and going to the TMO if needed.

One of the worst decisions I have ever seen and I don't think he will be reffing another game this tournament.

Too true he should be Frog marched down to do 6 nations games and not allowed any where near a Rugby championship game again.

How in the name of god was that Argie blockdown and try disallowed - does Peyper not have eyes in his head. The look on McCaw's face was great - he knew NZ had got away with Nonu's kick being charged down. Sadly was indicative of some awful reffing over the weekend - Peyper in NZ-Arg, our own Clancy in Aus-SA was awful, but maybe the worst of the lot was Fitzgibbon's sh1te reffing in the Scarlets-Ulster match in the Pro12

Clancy was probably the worst brenno, he had decent touch judges and still couldn't get the decisions right. Fitzgibbon wasn't at all helped by the rest of his team.

Well while I had also lamented the ref's decison to not award the try, I do feel it was a bit of Karma after the Argie deliberately held back Savea who had he latched onto the ball rather than flicking it would have scored, and then the decision to completely missile into McCaw evened things up well and truly.

Sure the ref was at fault, but so too were he Argies themselves, the AB's coming off 'squeaky clean' after those 3 incidents...fair result.