An attendance at a boisterous Boca Juniors football fixture in Buenos Aires has helped the All Blacks quickly settle into the swing of things in Argentina – the only significant apparent setback ahead of the first Test the continued unavailability of loose forward Wallace Sititi.
Head coach Scott Robertson would have hoped for Sititi’s presence in the No.8 jersey in Cordoba on Sunday morning NZT, but instead the big Chiefs player remains out with an ankle problem.
It means, with no other specialist and experienced No.8 available apart from Ardie Savea, that Robertson will be forced into a reshuffle, with the All Blacks vice-captain likely to move from openside flanker, where he started in two of the three recent Tests against France, to the back of the scrum.
The uncapped Simon Parker, named recently in his first All Blacks squad, is also considered a specialist No.8 but has only just arrived in the city after playing for Northland on Friday night and this may count against him.
“He’s off one sleep but he turned up today in great weather here and slotted straight in,” Robertson said this morning of Parker.
The same potentially applies to Peter Lakai, who will be option for the No.7 jersey but has only just arrived after playing for Wellington on Saturday.
Luke Jacobson has remained at home due to a quadriceps injury suffered in the warm-up to the third Test against France.
A trio of Savea, Sititi and Tupou Vaa’i would have been an ideal combination of heft, power and pace at a place that traditionally values prime beef, but instead Robertson may look at the inexperienced Du’Plessis Kirifi to wear the No.7 jersey alongside Savea and Vaa’i.
Another option would be to select Samipeni Finau at No.8 which would allow Savea to stay at openside flanker and Kirifi to potentially provide impact off the bench.
Robertson will announce his team on Friday morning.
Prop Tamaiti Williams remains unavailable due to his knee injury but was always considered at long odds to be available for the first Test of two against the Pumas.
Fortunately for Robertson, everyone else, including the Barrett brothers Scott and Beauden, are available and Savea, the head coach believes, is in the “form of his life” despite his recent heavy workload.
“He’s just had three weeks off and is in the form of his life,” Robertson said of Savea. “We’ll take it week by week. We’re mindful of his minutes. One thing about him is his resilience and consistency. We look after and manage individuals. He’s in the zone at the moment.”
The All Blacks are expecting an extremely physical challenge against a team who tasted success against Robertson and company in Wellington last year and will be hoping to create history by beating New Zealand for the first time on home soil.
Coincidentally, the man known as Razor was involved in a close shave with the All Blacks in Buenos Aires in 2001, the loose forward scoring a try deep into injury time to allow his side to win 24-20 after Felipe Contepomi, the current Pumas head coach, failed to find touch with a clearance.
The All Blacks trained at the River Plate stadium - the venue for that tight win - earlier in the week, which brought back a few memories for Robertson.
“It was nice to be back there and reflect on it. It’s interesting… it’s such a football country but when you arrive as All Blacks everyone remembers that moment – they remember [Diego] Maradona being there, they remember leading for 80 minutes.”
The Pumas, who beat the British and Irish Lions in Dublin recently, lost two recent home Tests to England but have several players back from Europe and will be far stronger for it.
The All Blacks lost four Tests last year, Robertson’s first as head coach – two against South Africa, one to Argentina and one to France. Of those the loss at the Cake Tin to the Pumas would probably qualify as the worst performance.
“It’s still in our memory from a year ago,” Robertson said. “A couple of bounces of the ball and they stayed in the fight in Wellington. They create a lot. They’re a team with a lot of experience – a lot of them play in Europe. They’re really well coached and they play with passion.
“I’ve mentioned this before, but the top eight in the world can beat anyone on the night. You’ve got to be at your best every game so that’s the exciting part of this tour.”
Indeed, this Rugby Championship is shaping up to be one of the most competitive ever.
“You’ve got an Aussie team that played some great footy at the back end of the [Lions] Test series, you’ve got the South Africans - we know how strong they are - and the Argentinians on their day are so creative and they’ve got a lot of professional players coming through Europe that have come back.”
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