Ardie Savea is congratulated by Finlay Christie after crossing in the All Blacks' win. Photo / Getty
Ardie Savea is congratulated by Finlay Christie after crossing in the All Blacks' win. Photo / Getty
OPINION:
World order hasn't quite been restored, but the All Blacks have at least stopped the rot, cheered everyone up and hinted there may yet be something of note flourishing within.
Given the constant rain, the niggly nature of how Argentina play and the pressure the All Blacks were underto produce a victory, their performance in Hamilton was bordering on gold star.
There was enough attacking potency and variation piled on top of yet more solid grunt work to be quietly optimistic about what we may see in two weeks.
But it's all a big maybe, because we have been here before – seen the All Blacks twice already this year notch two wins on the back of relatively slick and enterprising rugby only to follow those up with larger and more prolonged episodes of clunky, senseless football that sparked four defeats, frustration and disillusionment.
The braver types, or at least the more trusting and less cynical, may think they saw enough in Hamilton to be thinking about going fully on message and believing that the coaching changes that have been made, the arrival of a dynamic and modern front row, and the new attacking structures that have had a bit of time to embed, are going to send the All Blacks on a new winning trajectory.
The one thing that has happened in the last three tests is the All Blacks have tapped into their inner beast.
The arrival of Jason Ryan as forwards coach has been transformational, and if the All Blacks were being branded pussy cats at the end of last year and to some extent throughout the Irish series in July, they have morphed into lions now.
They certainly look more inclined to roar than they do meow. The physical edge is there and it's hard to imagine that the All Blacks will now be shoved around the way they occasionally have been at times in the last two years.
Their scrum was again excellent, their lineout almost flawless and their maul and maul defence are no longer displaying the volatile and unpredictable tendencies of a middle child.
And the secret sauce is mostly a heavy dose of Ryan, but the spice which has made it that little more piquant has been the discovery of and willingness to start Ethan de Groot, Samisoni Taukei'aho and Tyrel Lomax.
Those three, particularly Taukei'aho, have added urgency and dynamism, but more importantly, they have given the All Blacks eight athletes in the pack – eight players who can carry, tackle, cleanout and do their specific, core roles.
Against Ireland this year, and for all last year, the All Blacks were mostly working with six athletes and two set-piece props, leaving them light on presence around the tackled ball and short of numbers in open play.
The All Blacks celebrate Rieko Ioane's try during the win over Argentina. Photo / Getty
Now they have a pack that can muscle up, do the nasty stuff and get around the park a bit, which is why Ardie Savea was able to bounce around Hamilton with his frenzied leg drive, and why Sam Cane, on his home ground, played with energy, freedom and confidence.
The value of having a pack that can do its job and do it well is beyond measurement – it's the foundation of everything and while the All Blacks have been up and down in overall performance these past three tests, their one constant has been the improved and consistent work of their forwards.
But for all that the bounce-back win against the Pumas was comprehensive, almost emphatic, the less trusting will wonder if the real story of the night was that Argentina were a little bit rubbish.
Maybe even a lot rubbish and their inability to hold the ball wasn't so much due to the All Blacks defence being aggressive and relentless – although it was – but the Pumas simply not being able to lift themselves mentally after their historic win last week.
The All Blacks might feel like such an assessment would belittle their contribution and that they can't get a fair review at the moment. They lose to Argentina one week and they are labelled a travesty, bounce back and beat them the following week and oh well, it's only Argentina.
That's perhaps a touch unfair, but so too does caution have to be applied about getting carried away with a victory against the Pumas, however comprehensive it was.
They are a good but limited side at their best – not quite top tier and not really a team that should be able to regularly beat the All Blacks.
But weighing everything up and thinking particularly about the way this All Blacks side has been so erratic in 2022, the evidence is pointing more towards recovery than it is relapse.
