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Watch: Pablo Matera takes umbrage with Dane Coles after Hamilton thumping
By Sam Smith
After landing on the wrong side of a 53-3 pasting in Hamilton, Pumas loose forward Pablo Matera appeared to let out some of his frustrations on All Blacks hooker Dane Coles during the post-match formalities.
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The All Blacks raced out to a 24-3 lead at halftime off the back of tries to Ethan de Groot, Caleb Clarke and Rieko Ioane, and things only got worse for Argentina in the second spell as the home team exacted their revenge following last week’s historic defeat in Christchurch.
Coles, who entered the game in the final quarter, wasted no time getting in the faces of the Argentinian forwards, chipping away at the opposition whenever things didn’t go their way.
One particular instance resulted in some handbags towards the end of the match, when the outcome of the game had already been well and truly determined.
While most frustrations are typically forgotten following the final whistle, Matera’s evidently flowed over into the post-match and came to the fore when the rival sides assembled for the post-game handshakes.
No love lost between Matera and Coles.#NZLvARG pic.twitter.com/CBsF0faFdZ
— Jared Wright (@jaredwright17) September 3, 2022
Coles was unsurprisingly in a chipper mood but while Matera was happy to congratulate the rest of the All Blacks, he took umbrage with New Zealand’s replacement hooker.
Matera showed no interest in shaking hands with Coles, instead giving the No 16 a shove in the chest. Coles raised his hands in bemusement before both players continued with the formalities.
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The All Blacks’ win catapults them to the top of the Rugby Championship standings after entering the round in last place. In contrast, the Pumas look set to drop to fourth, having started out the weekend in first place.
The bonus point victory has seen NZ jump to 10 competition points, meaning only Australia (currently on nine) can finish the round ahead of them. The Wallabies, however, went into halftime 12-3 down against the Springboks in Sydney.
