New Zealand vs Argentina Preview & Prediction | 2024 Rugby Championship | Round 2
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Revenge could be on the cards for the All Blacks here after their chastening defeat to the highly impressive Argentina last weekend.
START DATE/TIME: Saturday 17th August, 2024: UK – 8:05am / US ET – 3:05am / US PT – 12:05am
HOW TO WATCH ON TV: UK – Sky Sports / US – Not televised
HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: UK – Sky Go / US – FloRugby
NEW ZEALAND FORM: QUESTIONS BEING ASKED AFTER PUMAS DEFEAT
The post-mortem is still ongoing following New Zealand’s shock 38-30 to Argentina in their Rugby Championship opener last weekend.
Scott Robertson, who had taken charge of the All Blacks ahead of this summer’s international series, had a 100% win record heading into last weekend’s contest, but he is suddenly facing some unwelcome questions following the Pumas defeat.
LAST FIVE: L-W-W-W-L
ARGENTINA FORM: MORALE HIGH AFTER OPENING VICTORY
The Pumas were hugely impressive last weekend as they repeated their feat of defeating the All Blacks back in 2022.
Captain Pablo Matera set the tone for the Pumas, delivering an exceptional all-round display in both defence and attack, and all eyes will be on whether Felipe Contepomi's side can back this performance up as they face the same opponents again, this time in Auckland.
LAST FIVE: L-L-W-W-W
NEW ZEALAND TEAM NEWS
SQUAD: 15 Beauden Barrett, 14 Will Jordan, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Caleb Clarke, 10 Damian McKenzie, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Ardie Savea (c), 7 Dalton Papali'i, 6 Ethan Blackadder, 5 Sam Darry, 4 Tupou Vaa'i, 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Tamaiti Williams
REPLACEMENTS: 16 Asafo Aumua, 17 Ofa Tu'ungafasi, 18 Fletcher Newell, 19 Josh Lord, 20 Sam Cane, 21 Cortez Ratima, 22 Anton Lienert-Brown, 23 Mark Tele'a
ARGENTINA TEAM NEWS
SQUAD: 15 Juan Cruz Mallía, 14 Matias Moroni, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Santiago Carreras, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Joaquin Oviedo, 7 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Pedro Rubiolo, 4 Marcos Kremer, 3 Lucio Sordoni, 2 Julian Montoya (c), 1 Thomas Gallo
REPLACEMENTS: 16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Joel Sclavi, 19 Franco Molina, 20 Tomás Lavanini, 21 Lautaro Bazan Velez, 22 Thomas Albornoz, 23 Bautista Delguy
NEW ZEALAND VS ARGENTINA PREDICTION
Scott Robertson’s first setback as New Zealand coach was a significant one as defeat to Argentina was one of the low points of his predecessor Ian Foster’s reign. It was something of a reality check for the All Blacks, who could be in real danger of failing to defend the Rugby Championship title that they have won the previous four years.
Despite last week’s eye-catching display, Argentina have been plagued by inconsistency over the years; indeed, they lost to a vastly under-strength French team just last month. The New Zealand faithful will be expecting a big response here, and they can be favoured to exact revenge on the Pumas in a statement win.
NEW ZEALAND VS ARGENTINA TIP: NEW ZEALAND TO WIN
