Cape Town - Despite a massive scare from a fired-up Pumas side, the All Blacks have won their opening match in Pool C at the World Cup.
As it happened: New Zealand v Argentina
The Pumas struggled initially, gifting the All Blacks three easy kickable penalties, which Carter duly converted for
Once their nerves had
They scored the first try of the match through Petti after his fellow forwards had taken the ball through a number of phases, allowing the big lock to dive over. Nicolas Sanchez converted easily.
The try brought new self-belief to the Pumas and they soon had the All Blacks on the back foot. Yellow cards to Richie McCaw and Conrad Smith didn't help the world champions while Sanchez happily slotted three penalties as the All Blacks discipline began to falter. Carter replied with a penalty of his own and the teams went into half-time at 13-12 in favour of the Pumas.
Argentina extended their lead soon after the resumption with another Sanchez penalty. Steve Hansen then turned to his bench and his replacements helped his side come back strongly into the game. None more so than Sonny Bill Williams who immediately caused trouble for the Pumas defence. Milner-Skudder should have had a try in the right-hand corner, but he inexplicably dropped the ball after a brilliant Williams off-load.
The momentum had
Williams and Aaron Smith then combined in the 65th minute, but the lively
Both teams had a few chances in the remaining minutes but in front of the biggest crowd ever to witness a World Cup match (89 019), the All Blacks proved why they are the team to beat this tournament.
Scorers:
New Zealand
Tries: Sam Cane, Aaron Smith
Penalties: Daniel Carter (4)
Conversions: Daniel Carter (2)
Argentina
Try: Guido Petti
Penalties: Nicolas Sanchez (3)
Conversion: Nicolas Sanchez
Teams
New Zealand
15 Ben Smith, 14 Nehe Milner-Skudder, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Aaron Smith; 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6. Jerome Kaino, 5 Sam Whitelock, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Dane Coles 1 Tony Woodcock
Replacements: 16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Charlie Faumuina, 19 Victor Vito, 20 Sam Cane, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Beauden Barrett, 23 Sonny Bill Williams
Argentina
15 Joaquin Tuculet, 14 Santiago Cordero, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Juan Martin Hernandez, 11 Juan Imhoff, 10 Nicolas Sanchez, 9 Tomas Cubelli, 8 Leonardo Senatore, 7 Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Guido Petti 3 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 2 Agustin Creevy, 1 Marcos Ayerza
Replacements: 16 Julian Montoya, 17 Lucas Noguera, 18 Ramiro Herrera, 19 Mariano Galarza, 20 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 21 Martin Landajo, 22 Jeronimo De La Fuente, 23 Lucas Gonzalez Amorosin