Richard Loe: Front row seat up for grabs

Nathan Harris. Photo / Getty Images

Nathan Harris is going to get his chance for the All Blacks today after Dane Coles came home for the birth of his child.

Harris will play at hooker because Keven Mealamu doesn't have 80 minutes in him and the younger man needs the experience. Harris could even come on at halftime if the All Blacks are comfortable. Even so, I don't think Mealamu will play for much more than 50 minutes and then we are going to see Harris thrown into the fray.

What we know about him is that he's mobile, dynamic and young. If I could give him one piece of advice, it would be to focus on his lineout throwing. That's the core skills he's got to get right today.

And it shouldn't be too hard. You have to remember a couple of things - it's not like he's a schoolboy being sent out there to play a test. He's a former New Zealand under-20 player with ample ITM Cup and Super Rugby experience.

He's also going to be throwing to two of the best lineout forwards in the world and, with Kieran Read out there, too, it's not as if he's going to be short of targets.

Scrummaging will be tough. We all know the Pumas are a good scrummaging side and will target that area of the game.

If I was coaching them, I'd have the tighthead and hooker ever so slightly angle in on Harris. The trick in being able to do that is to change your body positions ever so slightly without making it obvious.

It's a hell of a place, hooker. There will be, let's say, half a tonne of weight pushing behind Harris and then the same again coming at him from the other side through the Pumas.

That's a lot of pressure and, if the tighthead and hooker are angled a fraction towards him, they will have the chance to pop him right out.

But I'm not suggesting Harris is vulnerable. Test football is all about being taken to your limits and having to find solutions to problems and Harris will have plenty of good players around him.

Within the All Blacks, there's a long history of players coming in and delivering almost immediately, even if there is uncertainty about whether they are ready.

Brodie Retallick pretty much came from nowhere and Aaron Smith wasn't part of the World Cup squad, probably wasn't even close, and look at him now.

Opportunity is sometimes all it takes for a career to kick-start. It's unlikely but if Harris can give a good account of himself in Argentina and Coles remains with his family, Harris could even start in South Africa.