All Blacks: Calamity in Christchurch sees goodwill evaporate

Analysis – Say it out loud: two wins, four losses so far this year. It’s at this point that you could probably put together an entire reaction piece simply by cutting and pasting bits from the others that have been done so far this season.

Codie Taylor and Aaron Smith after the All Blacks 25-18 loss to Argentina in last night’s Rugby Championship game in Christchurch.
Photo: Photosport / John Davidson

Unwanted history, the acceptance of mediocrity, scrutiny on the wider group – and so on, and so on.

It shouldn’t be this way. The Pumas’ 25-18 win was their first against the All Blacks on New Zealand soil, but even the details of how they did it can be cropped from their historic first ever win two years ago.

The score line was almost exactly the same, as was the fact that the Argentines showed up ready to execute a well thought out game plan against an All Black team that was bereft of ideas and intent. Instead of Nicolás Sánchez banging kicks over from everywhere, it was Emiliano Boffelli. One well taken try and a patient desire to wait for the All Blacks to infringe (which they did far too often) was simply what the Pumas thought they had to do.

And that was what it took. It was clear after the hour mark that it would take a radical shift for the Pumas to lose the game, their defence bending but not breaking and waiting to pounce on loose tackle ball. Even noted hothead Tomas Lavanini kept his emotions in check, save for one very well-timed outburst to remind the All Blacks that they’d just given the ball away yet again.

While it was obviously very special for Pablo Matera, it is worth remembering that he’d not only beaten the All Blacks in 2020, but an awful lot of their players earlier this year during his stint with the Crusaders. One of his coaches there was none other than Jason Ryan, so it’s pretty hard not to think that Matera didn’t have a reasonably clear idea of what was coming at him, and his Pumas forward pack.

As for the All Blacks, it’s just hard to know where to start because they don’t even seem to know that themselves. They’ve managed to snap their habit of conceding tries in the first five minutes of games but have annoyingly retained the other habit of giving away stupid penalties and botching key set pieces. That was really the only fault of the Argentineans, their lineout was comical at times and the scrum went backwards.

But the All Blacks couldn’t do anything to make them pay for it. Another home test loss, which now means they’ve dropped three tests in a row in New Zealand for the first time ever.

The heart-warming homecoming narrative that was supposed to belong to Richie Mo’unga ended up being hastily repurposed for Pumas assistant coach David Kidwell, who was last seen coaching in New Zealand when he was in charge of the Kiwis’ ill-fated 2017 Rugby League World Cup campaign. It was a sweet moment for the hard-hitting former second rower, but also for the passionate Michael Cheika, who spent years having to deal with hidings handed out by the All Blacks when he was in charge of the Wallabies.

The big question now needs to be posed to the NZ Rugby board, who has hastily backed Ian Foster through to the World Cup next year, about what they can do about this mess. Whatever goodwill that flowed in their direction after the Ellis Park win has quickly evaporated after yet another history-making loss. It’s clear now that the PR job to cash in on that (admittedly very good) win now seems like a sticking plaster over a gaping gunshot wound.

The All Blacks taking pictures with fans after the game was a strange sight, something that is acceptable for the kids in attendance but not something you want shown on TV after a performance like that. It’s this lack of attention to detail that cuts, along with the excuses, the malaise of simply knowing the All Blacks are probably going to lose – it’s making it feel like we’re talking about the Warriors.

Forget about the World Cup, focus on the here and now. Otherwise, the All Black brand is going to be tarnished with the smear of failure forever – and given NZ Rugby has put all their chips on them, they had better do something about it, fast.