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'They are a great team, but…’: Why Los Pumas ‘can beat’ the All Blacks again

07 Jul 2023

Argentina celebrate after defeating New Zealand during The Rugby Championship match between the New Zealand All Blacks and Argentina Pumas at Orangetheory Stadium on August 27, 2022 in Christchurch, New Zealand. (Photo by Joe Allison/Getty Images)

The stage is set in Mendoza for what promises to be another exciting instalment of a fiery southern hemisphere rugby rivalry between Los Pumas and the All Blacks.

Especially over the last few years, this unmissable rivalry has reached new heights. The Argentines have made history with some truly memorable victories.

Los Pumas shocked the rugby world with a stunning win over the All Blacks in 2020, and that match will ripple throughout history as a milestone occasion for South American rugby.

Argentina had brought an end to a run of almost 30 winless Tests against their southern hemisphere rivals – and they weren’t done there, either.

Just last year, the Pumas upset the All Blacks in Christchurch. It was the All Blacks first-ever loss to Argentina on New Zealand soil.

But Los Pumas want more.

They aren’t close to done or content with what they’ve accomplished.

Ahead of their Rugby Championship opener against the All Blacks in Mendoza, 20-year-old replacement Pedro Rubiolo said Los Pumas “can beat” the New Zealanders again.

“Playing against the All Blacks is always a plus because they are one of the best teams,” Rubiolo told reporters. “I think we can make it an equal match and we’re going to try to win.

“The truth is that I think they are a great team, but we have been improving year after year and we can beat them again.

“We have to go day by day and game by game,” Rubiolo added.

“We always look at the World Cup, which I would love to go to, but first things first. Saturday s against the All Blacks and we are focused on that.”

With some legendary Argentine rugby stars etching their names into rugby folklore with a couple of incredible wins over the All Blacks over the last few years, another matchday squad of 23 players are hoping to do the same on Saturday.

Argentina have never beaten the All Blacks at home but will be playing with plenty of confidence when they take the field at Estadio Malvinas Argentinas.

“We know what it means to play against New Zealand in Argentina and what team they are, but we are focused on us,” replacement Santiago Grondona told reporters on Friday.

“We had a great week in which we prepared very well and we hope that everything will come out on the pitch tomorrow.

“We trust in our team and the most important thing is that we are united.

“We beat them twice and we know how to do it and it will depend on how we feel tomorrow. Let’s go for another victory.”

The Rugby Championship clash between Argentina and New Zealand in Mendoza will get underway at 7.10 am (NZST) on Sunday morning.

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Comments on RugbyPass

SG 4 minutes ago

All Black's England switch hanging by a thread

England have absolutely no need for him. Tom Willis and Ben Earl are better with a much higher work rate.

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Thomas Walsh 9 minutes ago

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JW 27 minutes ago

'Ulster, though no one wants to admit it, isn't much more than a development province right now.'

No full games on the IRU YT channel unfortunately, all on subscription? Looks a fairly good level (1A).

Yes I mean I wouldn’t really know the local ratio of origin here, but certainly as a province with less resources mine has a ratio that veers heavily towards club rep. The club stories are often the best so get probably an imbalanced proportion of coverage to where most players actually come from though.

Those were a couple of Ulster (regional) clubs too, good good. Those clubs/size towns are very much where you find most talent coming from (compared to the big city), so your productivity depends very much on your systems in place for scouting talent. With the more wealthy and popular sport of NRL (hence more info out there) I’ve seen some interesting studies on player origins in this respect, which I think would be a very balanced base of data to draw conclusions from.

Yes I’m wondering how those names as examples compare to the likes of Bryne getting squeezed out for a lack of places. I’m only thinking of effects far down the line as a result of Irelands #1 ranking and increased publicity/interest and how Irelands system will take advantage of them.

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GP 32 minutes ago

James O'Connor earns first Crusaders start against Moana Pasifika

Regarding the Crusaders side . Great to see promising young lock Jamie Hannah back in the starting team. He has certainly been through the mill since debuting for the Crusaders, even before playing for Canterbury. All his hard work has paid off. Antonio Shalfoon , who has been rested for this match has been amazing locking with AB captain Scott Barrett. I really rate Jamie Hannah as one of the best young locks of which there are a few coming through. Including his Canterbury and Crusaders team mate Liam Jack. Father is Graham Jack ,he played for Canterbury and the Crusaders in the 1990’s. Older brother of Chris, who of course was an All Black.

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Andrew Nichols 33 minutes ago

All Black's England switch hanging by a thread

Gloucester are in the market for a top-class replacement ..Well why would they then be talking to HS?

7 Go to comments

Utiku Old Boy 35 minutes ago

All Black's England switch hanging by a thread

I include Cunningham-South. He was born in England but moved to NZ at 4 yrs and learnt his rugby there. His dad was a schoolboy coach. In recent years, Teimana Harrison was - as was Brad Shields.

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GB 41 minutes ago

All Black's England switch hanging by a thread

Cunningham-South was born in the UK but raised in NZ.

Makes a good point, wouldn't walk into the English set up.

Better to roll his sleeves up and play himself into the ABs

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Spew_81 44 minutes ago

Rugby down under could have hit high gear with Anzac Tests

Not sure what the ethical issue is. If it’s going for the money, it’s either do that or NZ rugby slowly dies as all the better players leave. So it’s the more lesser of two evils. Sell out a bit more as a Union, or the players sell out one by one.

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Spew_81 46 minutes ago

Rugby down under could have hit high gear with Anzac Tests

Yes, the team was similar. But the two locks made a huge difference. Kaino wasn’t a lock and Tuipolutu has only very recently started playing close to his potential (his work rate was terrible until recently).

The Irish lineout maul wouldn’t have been the weapon it was on that day if Hansen started Whitelock and Retallick (or even two proper locks). Though they wouldn’t have been guaranteed to win.

Doing the new haka when the Irish were mourning a great of theirs didn’t help. The action at the end of that haka has been interpreted negatively and some see it as a but disrespectful.

Still if the All Blacks did their normal haka they wouldn’t have been guaranteed to win.

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Koro Teeps 52 minutes ago

All Black's England switch hanging by a thread

Absolutely no certainty he would make the current English squad. He’s not in the All Black conversation either. Physical, explosive player with ball in hand but sometimes struggles to impose himself fully on all aspects of the game.

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DC 1 hour ago

All Black's England switch hanging by a thread

Who are the Kiwis (plural)? The only one I can think of is Ethan Root.

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Gradier Walter 2 hours ago

Don't get out over your skis on the Highlanders