At the risk of putting a jinx on the All Blacks before tonight's test against Argentina, there is an elephant in the room and it goes by the name of South Africa.
The Springboks are still the yardstick against which the All Blacks will measure themselves over the next four weeks and who will have the biggest say in whether Steve Hansen's men retain their Rugby Championship title, a competition in which they have yet to be beaten. For all of the buzz in Hawkes Bay this week with Argentina in town, next Saturday's test against South Africa in Wellington will be on a different level.
To the All Blacks' credit, they are treating the Pumas with the utmost respect, more so, probably, than they did Australia. Argentina, in fact, might even deserve more respect than the Wallabies, given that their forwards demand it. Anything less than 100 per cent commitment from Hansen's pack will result in potential embarrassment or at least a very difficult night in Napier.
One of the main lessons from the humbling of Australia at Eden Park a fortnight ago was the reminder that a pack with a soft centre has the potential to be exposed at the highest level. Even allowing for the sinbinning of lock Rob Simmons, the way the All Blacks drove the Wallabies' seven-man scrum backwards for a tighthead, and minutes later, for an attempted pushover which resulted in a penalty try, was unacceptable. McKenzie's pack weren't the same after that and will carry those mental scars into the third Bledisloe, now a dead rubber, in Brisbane on October 18.
The history between the Boks and the All Blacks is long and varied, and not always for the right reasons, but last year's two tests - that blood and thunder clash at Eden Park dominated by Bismarck du Plessis' red card, and the thriller in Johannesburg - will live long in the memory. There is nothing contrived about this rivalry. South Africa have been slightly disappointing so far in the Championship in struggling to beat the Pumas both home and away and how they respond against Australia in Perth tonight will be instructive.
