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Cape Town - The All Blacks were crowned 2018 Rugby Championship winners after beating Argentina in their Test in Buenos Aires on Saturday.
As it happened: Argentina v New Zealand
The All Blacks won 35-17 after leading 21-3 at half-time.
The All Blacks overcame the late withdrawal of No 8 Luke Whitelock to score five tries through wings Rieko Ioane (2) and Waisake Naholo and replacements, lock Patrick Tuipulotu and centre Anton Lienert-Brown.
Flyhalf Beauden Barrett rediscovered his kicking boots after his nightmarish performance a fortnight ago against the Springboks to land four conversions with replacement pivot Richie Mo'unga adding the fifth.
The Pumas were benefactors of a contentious try after 57 minutes by replacement scrumhalf Tomas Cubelli after French referee Mathieu Raynal bizarrely referred the decision to his TMO, only to overrule his 'no try' decision.
Argentina fullback Emiliano Boffelli added a second, less controversial try 10 minutes later, both of which were converted by flyhalf Nicolas Sanchez, who also added a penalty.
The All Blacks picked up a full-house of five points for their victory, moving them seven points clear of the Springboks which was enough to give them their sixth Rugby Championship title in the seven years the tournament has been contested, and a staggering 16th success in the 23-year history of the tournament previously known as the Tri-Nations.
The Pumas left empty-handed.
In next weekend's final round of fixtures, the All Blacks travel to Pretoria to face the Springboks in what promises to be a humdinger of a Test at Loftus Versfeld (Saturday, October 6 at 17:05), while the Pumas welcome the Wallabies to Salta later in the day (Sunday, October 7 at 00:40 SA time).
Teams:
Argentina
15 Emiliano Boffelli, 14 Bautista Delguy, 13 Jeronimo de la Fuente, 12 Bautista Ezcurra, 11 Matias Moroni, 10 Nicolas Sanchez, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Javier Ortega Desio, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Ramiro Herrera, 2 Agustin Creevy (captain), 1 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro
Substitutes: 16 Julian Montoya, 17 Juan Pablo Zeiss, 18 Santiago Medrano, 19 Matias Alemanno, 20 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 21 Tomas Cubelli, 22 Matias Orlando, 23 Sebastian Cancelliere
New Zealand
15 Ben Smith, 14 Waisake Naholo, 13 Ryan Crotty, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 11 Rieko Ioane, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Ardie Savea, 7 Sam Cane, 6 Shannon Frizell, 5 Scott Barrett, 4 Sam Whitelock (captain), 3 Ofa Tu'ungafasi, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Karl Tu'inukuafe
Substitutes: 16 Nathan Harris, 17 Tim Perry, 18 Angus Ta'avao, 19 Patrick Tuipulotu, 20 Jackson Hemopo, 21 Aaron Smith, 22 Richie Mo'unga, 23 Anton Lienert-Brown
