Report by David van der Merwe
The game started off as expected with the All Blacks going on the attack from the word go. Argentina however showed that they were not just a run over to the semi's. Their defence were good and didn't falter and neither did their discipline. That is until the 13th minute. Piri Weepu kicked the first of seven penalties as the All Blacks took the lead. He followed it up with another soon after.
Argentina kept at it although they were constantly under pressure. After a scrum Argentina broke the All Black lines and Julio Farias Cabello went over in the corner. Felipe Contepomi converted the try and Argentina had the lead for a brief while. Piri Weepu added to penalties to his telly to make it 12-7 at halftime.
Just after the start of the second half Marcelo Bosch made it a two point ball game after a long range penalty. Piri Weepu added two penalties to take it outside of a converted try before the All Blacks could break through the Argentina defence. Kieran Read went over for his try in the 67th minute. Weepu landed his 7th penalty before Brad Thorn ran all of 25 meters to score his try. Weepu converted to close the game out at 33-10.
Argentina surely made a case to be added to the Tri-Nations competition with their performance. Their defence and discipline was good to a point. The All Blacks will be happy with the win, but their is still work to do before they face Australia next week.
Scorers:
New Zealand - Tries: Kieran Read, Brad Thorn. Conversion: Aaron Cruden. Penalties: Piri Weepu (7).
Argentina - Try: Julio Cabello. Conversion: Felipe Contepomi. Penalty: Marcelo Bosch.
9 October 2011
