Argentina players celebrate at fulltime after beating the All Blacks in Wellington. Photo / Photosport
All Blacks v Argentina, Rugby Championship, 7.05pm, Saturday, Eden Park, Auckland
All you need to know about the second round Rugby Championship clash between Scott Robertson’s All Blacks and Argentina.
Played 38
All Blacks won 34
Argentina won 3
Draws 1
It will be Argentina’s second clash at Eden Park, their only other match there being the 2011 Rugby World Cup quarter-final defeat to the All Blacks.
All Blacks
15. Beauden Barrett, 14. Will Jordan, 13. Rieko Ioane, 12. Jordie Barrett, 11. Caleb Clarke, 10. Damian McKenzie, 9. TJ Perenara, 8. Ardie Savea (c), 7. Dalton Papali’i, 6. Ethan Blackadder, 5. Sam Darry, 4. Tupou Vaa’i, 3. Tyrel Lomax, 2. Codie Taylor, 1. Tamaiti Williams
Reserves: 16. Asafo Aumua, 17. Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 18. Fletcher Newell, 19. Josh Lord, 20. Sam Cane, 21. Cortez Ratima, 22. Anton Lienert-Brown, 23. Mark Tele’a.
Argentina
15. Juan Cruz Alexander, 14. Matias Moroni, 13. Lucio Cinti, 12. Santiago Chocobares, 11. Matteo Carreras, 10. Santiago Carreras, 9. Gonzalo Bertranou, 8. Joaquin Oviedo, 7 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 6. Pablo Matera, 5. Pedro Rubiolo, 4. Marcos Kremer, 3. Lucio Sordoni, 2. Julian Montoya (c), 1. Thomas Gallo
Reserves: 16. Ignacio Ruiz, 17. Mayco Vivas, 18. Joel Scalvi, 19. Franco Molina, 20. Tomas Lavanini, 21. Lautaro Velez Bazan, 22. Tomas Albornoz, 23. Bautista Delguy
Italian Andrea Piardi is the man in charge, the first time he will be in the middle of an All Blacks match. Inexperienced at the top tier his biggest match to date was the Six Nations clash between Ireland and Wales earlier this year. The 31-year-old is a regular referee in the United Rugby Championship.
Liam Napier - All Blacks 1-12
Elliott Smith - All Blacks 1-12
Clay Wilson - All Blacks 13+
Alex Powell - All Blacks 1-12
Bonnie Jansen - All Blacks 13+
Elijah Fa’afiu - All Blacks 1-12
Will Toogood - All Blacks 13+
Christopher Reive - All Blacks 1-12
The All Blacks have gone 49 test matches unbeaten at Eden Park, with two draws sprinkled in amongst 47 victories since France defeated Sean Fitzpatrick’s side on July 3, 1994.
Over the past 30 years, South Africa, Canada, Australia, Scotland, England, Ireland, the British and Irish Lions, France, Tonga, Argentina, Wales and Samoa have all tried and couldn’t get the win. The Wallabies have failed 22 times.
Expect a wet one at Eden Park on Saturday. According to Weather Watch, there is an 81% chance of rain at kickoff, with rain expected throughout most of the day.
All Blacks: $1.17 Draw: $21 Argentina: $4.60
For live commentary of All Blacks v Argentina join Elliott Smith on Newstalk ZB, Gold Sport and iHeartRadio.
You can watch the game on Sky Sport 1 and live streaming on Sky Sport Now; an alternative commentary option from the Alternative Commentary Collective is available on iHeartRadio, Hauraki and Sky Sport 9.
You can also find live updates at nzherald.co.nz.
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