All Blacks offer tough lesson for Argentina
The Pumas have learned quickly so far but still tend to run out of steam late in games
Argentina must ditch their habit of fading in the final stages of Rugby Championship Tests if they are to prevent New Zealand clinching the title today.
The All Blacks defeated the Pumas 21-5 in wet Wellington this month and another win at the 35,000-seat Estadio Ciudad de La Plata will give them an unassailable lead in the new-look southern hemisphere event.
New Zealand have 16 points from four consecutive victories, Australia eight, South Africa seven and Argentina three in a tournament many pundits believe is harder to win than the four-yearly Rugby World Cup.
Argentina were added to the former Tri-Nations this year and fears that the South Americans would be out of their depth against world champions New Zealand, second-ranked Australia and third-ranked South Africa have proved unfounded.
After being outplayed by South Africa at Newlands in Cape Town, the Pumas have fulfilled the promises of coach Santiago Phelan and captain and No8 Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe that they would learn quickly.
They led the Springboks 16-6 in the return match in the western city of Mendoza before a Marcelo Bosch clearance was charged down by Francois Steyn and the centre went over for a try which helped the visitors sneak an undeserved draw.
Argentina led New Zealand in Wellington through a try from veteran prop Rodrigo Roncero and were only four points behind entering the closing stages before two tries gave the world champions a flattering victory margin.