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: Argentina beat New Zealand 38-30 in Wellington on Saturday to win four games to three, dealing a major setback to the hosts’ dreams of retaining their Rugby World Cup title.
It was the Panthers’ third win over New Zealand in 38 games, with Argentina’s adventurous spirit overcoming a ragged-looking, error-prone All Blacks.
The lead changed hands several times in a thrilling match that ended with Argentina’s victory, in stark contrast to last October’s 44-6 win over the Panthers in the World Cup semi-final in Paris.
Argentina’s attempts came from Lucio Cinti, Mateo Carreras, Franco Molina and the decisive try from 39-year-old Agustín Crevy.
Santiago Carreras scored a crucial 18 points on four free throws and three extra points.
New Zealand’s scores came from Sam Darry, Anton Lienert-Brown and Mark Tele’a, while Damian McKenzie scored three penalties and three touchdowns.
It was typical All Blacks ingenuity when the home side opened the scoring in the 15th minute when McKenzie won back possession in his own half before slipping the ball to Beauden Barrett who kicked the ball down the field to chase it down the field before lock Darry scored.
Stripping
Argentina scored its first goal eight minutes later after losing the ball in a scrum when captain Pablo Matera dribbled across the goal line before passing short to Santiago Chocobares, who broke through before Cinti could shoot.
In the 35th minute of the game, Lienert-Brown lost the ball at the end of a sideline kick, but two minutes later, Sevu Reece received a high ball and flicked it, Mateo Carreras successfully received the ball and accelerated across the goal, scoring another goal for Argentina and tying the halftime score to 20-15.
The visitors took the lead three minutes into the second half, as Molina scored a touchdown on a clever sideline pass, and Carreras followed up with another score to give Argentina a 22-20 lead.
In the 52nd minute, the All Blacks scored their third try when winger Tele’a broke through under the post and scored.
New Zealand’s mistake gave Argentina their fourth chance, as two poor passes from Asafo Omuah and McKenzie forced Rico Ione to cover behind his own line. Argentina used the ensuing five-meter scrum to create a scoring opportunity for Creevey and lead 35-30 with 10 minutes left.
Two minutes before the end of the game, New Zealand was awarded a penalty for slowing down the pace of the game. Carreras eventually scored the penalty and Argentina secured the victory.
Earlier on Saturday, South Africa defeated Australia 33-7 away in Brisbane to conclude the opening match of this year’s Southern Hemisphere Championship.
New Zealand will face Argentina again next week at Eden Park in Auckland.
(Written by Mark Gleeson, Cape Town; Edited by Christian Radnitch)
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