All Blacks to ‘get it right’ this time
All Black coach Steve Hansen says they learned a valuable lesson this time last year and insists they will give the Pumas their full respect.
Hansen made wholesale changes and opted to rest a number of first-choice players for last year’s corresponding clash with Argentina in Wellington.
The world champions struggled as a result and stuttered to an underwhelming 21-5 win – the Pumas’ best result against the All Blacks in New Zealand – after leading 6-5 at half-time.
Hansen, ahead of Saturday’s Round Three Test in Hamilton, said they won’t make the same mistake this time around.
“It was this week last year we weren't really that happy with how we did things,” Hansen said.
“We didn't get the performance we wanted in Wellington [but] we're really looking at making sure we get it right this time.
“We know that the South Africans have beaten them twice obviously, but the second time they really struggled and the Argentineans put them under a lot of pressure and it wasn't till late in the game with two penalties that they got home.
“So we know it will be physical and we know they will play for 80 so we're going to have to be right on our preparation and right mentally to produce the skill execution we're after.”
Meanwhile, lock Sam Whitelock said they are focused on improving their line-out play after having mixed fortunes in this facet in the back-to-back wins over the Wallabies.
"The line-out hasn't been up to scratch," he told Fairfax Media.
"We're the first to admit that. We've got to make sure we get our processes in place. That's something we can always go back to if something goes astray.
"We've got to make sure our jump is perfect, the lift is perfect. That will allow our hooker to have the consistent area to throw to. If we can nail those three areas I'm sure we should be fine with our ball and then hopefully put pressure on their line-out too,” he said.
Whitelock added that the Pumas pose a different threat at line-out time to what they are used to.
"Their line-out is probably a little bit different to what we see in Super Rugby. In their second Test against South Africa they got a couple of balls at the front and a couple at the back,” he said.
"We've got to be prepared to everything they can bring."
