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'They played no rugby': Ex-All Blacks at loggerheads over historic loss to Pumas
By Sam Smith
Former All Black wingers Jeff Wilson and John Kirwan have got into a heated debate over the latest loss to Argentina in Christchurch.
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The pair could not on agree on Sky Sport NZ’s The Breakdown over who had control of the test match with Wilson arguing that the All Blacks conceded the game through ill-discipline despite having a hold over proceedings.
The former right wing admitted he had trouble sleeping after watching the loss in Christchurch, the sixth defeat in the last eight tests for the All Blacks.
“I’m at a bit of a loss, I really am,” Wilson told The Breakdown panel.
“I look at the key moments in the game and we are not winning those right now.
“We were in control of that test match, we were up by six points, we miss a single kick-off which leads to them going in front.
“In the first half we were in control of that test match. The only opportunities they were getting to score points were from our ill-discipline.”
John Kirwan quickly interjected to refute Wilson’s idea that New Zealand had control of the test after heading into the sheds with a slim 15-12 lead.
“I disagree, we weren’t in control, we were never in control,” Kirwan said.
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“We weren’t in control of the scoreboard because you’ve got to be fifteen points ahead of any team to be in control now.
“I just don’t think we were in control, if you are playing Argentina. What was the score at halftime?”
Wilson reiterated his position that because Argentina did not have possession in position to attack for tries, they were never threatening but Kirwan wasn’t having any of it.
“Because we allowed them through our ill-discipline to score in threes but they weren’t threatening our goal line,” he said.
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“They never looked like scoring tries against the All Blacks.”
“I don’t care mate,” Kirwan retorted.
“They were outstanding, they were outstanding at the breakdown and they put us under so much pressure.”
Wilson: “They played no rugby and we allowed them into it.
Kirwan: “Who cares?”
The former Blues coach put the loss into the wider context of where the All Blacks are currently at and said that the Ellis Park win was not an instant fix.
“I think we all got carried away with one win [in South Africa]. It was an amazing win done on courage and passion and commitment,” he said.
“But if you are wobbling, you can’t change things that quickly. For me there is still a disconnect between the NZR and the players.
“I come back to three things that Ian Foster needs to look at: selection, our kicking game, our attacking kicking game when you are playing a team like Argentina.
“If you looked at that game yesterday, it was exactly the same loss that we had last time [in 2020].
“So under pressure, what is happening with our leadership. Our practising under pressure our decision-making because it looked a little bit like ‘wow’ yesterday and we made some really critical errors under pressure.”
I think we could have even had it in the final ten, we organised to destroy the scrum twice and get penalties then a lineout close, then an individual player did not execute his role twice.
Should not have in that position in the first place, but it was there to claim.
Wilson was bang on. Many of the brawn over skill teams realise that playing rugby is too dangerous in test rugby and play for territory and kicks at goal. SA are ,masters at it. England were for years, and it has been noticeable with Argentina for a while.
Rugby as a sport is in deep trouble. Kick chase is boring. The refs have far too much say, the situation with cards is a nonsense and the state of refs from the NH is a joke.
If the world's greatest ever rugby nation is struggling... well. think about it
How arrogant and ignorant is Jeff Wilson saying “they play no rugby” . Jeff Wilson , you better apologize to the rugby community. Who do think you are ? Argentina put pressure on you and you didn’t know how to deal with it. All blacks didn’t play bad at all but the pumas were better. That comment made you look so ignorant like a cave man.