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London - Good but not good enough was how Argentina captain Agustin Creevy rated his side's performance in holding the All Blacks until the end of their World Cup match Sunday.
Argentina led 16-12, and an upset was on the cards, until an Aaron Smith try sparked the All Blacks into action and they came from behind to win the Pool C match 26-16.
"It was very hard," Creevy said of the loss in front of 81 000 people at Wembley.
"The first half was excellent, but the second half the pace was very fast, we made some mistakes and we were not able to recover from them.
"The All Blacks are the best in the world and they know how to score points."
Creevy could not fault his side's attitude and said they recognised they were closing on the world's best teams.
Argentina were surprise semi-finalists in 2007, made the quarter-finals in the last World Cup and are favoured to finish second to New Zealand and make the quarters again this time.
"Our dream is reaching the top. We knew who the All Blacks were and felt we could win. We didn't make it today but the difference was not so huge and we are learning all the time," he said.
"Now we have five days to recover before playing Georgia. We have to do things right and be strong against Georgia."
The talismanic Pumas skipper, however, will have to pass a fitness test after suffering a back injury near the end of the All Blacks match.
Coach Daniel Hourcade said he could not afford to take any passengers into the next game after Georgia showed with their victory over Tonga that they too are improving.
"With Georgia we will have to have the best team so we need to check those players who have been injured or are very tired," he said.
Hourcade was disappointed Argentina could not maintain their lead over the All Blacks.
"We were dominating and we had to stay that way but it got to the point where they reacted. They took the ball and never gave it up"
Smith's try seized the initiative and although referee Wayne Barnes could have taken play back to an earlier infringement before Smith's try, Hourcade would not criticise the officiating saying "it was no big deal".
"Yes, it was a turning point of the match, of course. But we should have scored another try in the end but we didn't."
