Perenara: These Pumas have claws
All Blacks halfback expects Argentina to be highly confident after win in Australia
Off the back of a loss to the Springboks in Wellington, the All Blacks face containing a confident Argentina team in Buenos Aires on Sunday morning (NZT).
Argentina beat Australia in the last round of the Rugby Championship and have already achieved their best season since joining the competition in 2012.
All Blacks halfback TJ Perenara was aware of the ability of the Pumas to take advantage of opportunities they create.
Speaking to media in Buenos Aires he said: “We played them in Nelson and we won, but it was a tough game.
“And I guess the opportunities they took into their game exploited some of our flaws and for a team to be able to do that, well, we take great pride in what we do out on the field and they dismantled us a few a times out there.
“So we know the threats that they have, and we just know as a unit we need to be better.
“If we play to the level we played in Nelson, we don’t know if that is good enough this time, especially over here in their backyard. We know we need to step it up and play better than we have played against them this year already,” he said.
Adding to the All Blacks’ thinking for the game was their need to rebound from that loss to South Africa where the decision-making around the last plays of the game and the lack of a dropped goal attempt have been to the forefront of analysis.
Perenara said: “A couple of decision-making things that if we had scored in the end there we probably wouldn’t be having this discussion but there are opportunities to take a drop goal which a lot of people have highlighted.
“In all honesty, the winger [Aphiwe Dyantyi] makes the play on D-Mac [Damian McKenzie]. If he doesn’t make that play, we walk in.
“It’s tough when you lost those sorts of games. Hindsight’s a beautiful thing because you can look back on it and be like, ‘ man we should have dropped a kick’ but then if we dropped a kick and missed it and there’s a three-on-two we’re like ‘man we should have taken the three-ontwo’.
“That’s what sport is. It’s the heat of the battle and you make those decisions and you learn from them hopefully,” he said.
Hooker Codie Taylor said: “We know that they are going to have a lot of confidence off the back of their win and they should, they are a great team.
“They have new coaches and are playing really good footie and we respect what they do on the field, and the results that they’ve been getting just show they are a team that you can’t take lightly and we never have.”
Meanwhile, Argentina will be without wing Ramiro Moyano for the test. Moyano scored a superb individual try for Argentina in Nelson.
He suffered a rib injury in the test against Australia. A comeback not even Tiger Woods saw coming a year ago.
A chaotic celebration that golf hasn’t seen even in the best of times.
Woods delivered the perfect ending to his amazing return from four back surgeries with a performance that felt like old times. He left the competition feeling hopeless as he built a five-shot lead early and hung on to win the Tour Championship.
Woods raised both arms over his head after he tapped in for par and a 1-over 71 for a two-shot victory over Billy Horschel, the 80th victory of his PGA Tour career and his first in more than five years.
“It was a grind out there,” Woods said. “I loved every bit of it.”
It felt like a coronation coming down the 18th green, his second shot to the par 5 safely in a bunker in front of the green. The crowd came through the ropes and walked behind him, similar to when he won the Western Open in 1997 for the first dose of Tigermania.
This was better. It was bigger. One year ago, Woods was still waiting for his lower back to fuse and wasn’t sure he could ever play again. He told stories of being unable to get off the couch to watch his kids play football, much less to chip and putt. He was becoming a legend only in video highlights.
Woods brought it all to life over four days at East Lake, and the players who have taken turns at No 1 during his absence caught the full brunt of it. Rory McIlroy faded early. Justin Rose faded late.
Woods admitted it was an emotional final round as the crowds swelled to sizes never seen before on the PGA Tour.
“I had a hard time not crying coming up the last hole,” Woods added, before saying once he got on the 18th green he knew the title was his.
England’s Justin Rose finished in a share of fourth place which was enough to claim the Fed Ex Cup title and the US$10 million ($15m) bonus, denying Woods the massive pay day with a birdie on the last hole.
“I can’t believe I pulled this off, what the season has gone through. It’s been tough. Not so easy couple of years. I couldn’t have done it without the help of everyone around me,” Woods added at the trophy presentation.
“Some of the players I saw after the 18th green knew what I struggled with . . . it’s hard to believe I won the Tour Championship.”