Much-changed All Blacks beat Argentina but coach Hansen unhappy with defence

Steve Hansen gave his rearranged New Zealand side a pass mark after their 46-24 victory over a much-improved Argentina yesterday, conceding they were not as good as they should have been.

Hansen made eight changes to his starting line-up for the third-round Rugby Championship match, saying he needed to see how less experienced squad members could handle pressure if called up for next year’s Rugby World Cup in Japan when they will bid for a third successivetitle.

The situation was not helped by losing Brodie Retallick and Ngani Laumape early in the match and having Ben Smith off for a 10-minute head injury assessment, which forced a rethink in the second half.

But the All Blacks outscored Argentina six tries to three for a bonus point victory that Hansen said was imperfect but showed a lot of resilience as they remain top of the Rugby Championship table with a 100 per cent record.

Mario Ledesma blamed his side for not taking advantage, bemoaning that New Zealand replied almost immediately each time Argentina scored.

But Hansen said the All Blacks had still expected to win. “We expect to play well and we expect to win well, and even when we make changes, like we have, those expectations don’t change.

“We got the opportunity to blood some young men and they got put under pressure by a good Argentinian side. I thought they played particularly well at times and put us under pressure so we had to show a lot of mental fortitude.”

Hansen said the fact Argentina scored three tries showed the All Blacks’ defensive work “wasn’t as good as it could have been, but every time they scored we came back and that showed a lot of strength of character.”

Argentina led 7-3 early in the match with a converted try to Ramiro Moyano after a Richie Mo’unga penalty opened the scoring for the All Blacks.

Nehe Milner-Skudder and TJ Perenara quickly responded for the All Blacks with Mo’unga landing a conversion and a second penalty to have New Zealand up 18-7 at the turn.

When Nicolas Sanchez scored and converted to get Argentina within four points of New Zealand at the start of the second half, Ben Smith replied with a try for the All Blacks.

A penalty by Sanchez saw the All Blacks reply with Perenara’s second try and when Sanchez put Emiliano Boffelli in for Argentina’s third, the All Blacks came back with two more through Shannon Frizell and Jack Goodhue.