The All Blacks regained the No 1 ranking from the world champion Springboks for the first time since late 2018, and placed one hand on the Rugby Championship title, with their eighth straight win of the year. Video / Sky Sports
It says everything about the All Blacks' drive that they immediately brushed off regaining the No 1 world ranking mantle, and are instead much more satisfied with their compelling depth that's bursting at the seams.
World Rugby's rankings have long been viewed with a grain of salt but there wasno basking in the glow of reaching the top for the first time since late 2018 from the All Blacks following their 36-13 victory over the Pumas in Brisbane.
All Blacks coach Ian Foster sidestepped the achievement, saying: "It's not in our mind at all. We're about to play South Africa next week. We'll get excited about that. We're more interested in winning a test match than where we sit. If we focus too much on the other thing we'll get tripped up and we won't be there for very long and that doesn't interest us either."
Ardie Savea, who returned from injury to captain the All Blacks from openside flanker, made his thoughts on the rankings clear too. "My mindset is you've got to beat the No 1 to be the No 1," Savea said. "We'll enjoy tonight and then refocus next week."
After leading 24-3 at half time Foster acknowledged the All Blacks lost their way in the final quarter when the Pumas came back at his men to dominate territory and possession in the latter stages but felt that scrappy period will provide invaluable lessons for several inexperienced members of his squad.
Tupou Vaa'i runs in to score against Argentina in Brisbane. Photosport
"There's enough there tonight that people are going to pick a few holes in things and rightly so," Foster said.
"We've got to be a lot more ruthless when we do create stuff because we left a few points out there that tightened the game up unnecessarily but, overall, it was good for our newer players to feel that tension.
"That fourth quarter will be gold for us because they'll realise you never have anyone beaten at test level and if you don't finish them off when you've got a chance, you're in for a bun fight."
With successive tests against the world champion Springboks to come in the next two weeks, Foster ushered in 11 starting changes from the team that defeated the Pumas 39-0 on the Gold Coast to hand many fringe prospects chances to impress.
Loose forwards Ethan Blackadder and Hoskins Sotutu; 21-year-old lock Tupou Vaa'i and combative hooker Samasoni Taukeiaho - that emerging quartet combining for 25 test caps – all seized their moments.
Aside from banking a third bonus point win to sit 10 points clear in the Rugby Championship standings, Foster's calculated gamble to rotate his entire starting forward pack and make three further changes in the backline paid off.
Samisoni Taukei'aho dives over for a try against Argentina in Brisbane. Photosport
"It gives us a lot of confidence. In a lot of ways we exposed ourselves to a potential pitfall by making the number of changes we did but I keep reminding everyone in 2021 we've got two blocks of five tests in a row and that's something we've never had before," Foster said.
"Taking a few gambles in some senses of utilising the squad is going to reap rewards later on but right now there's a lot of guys playing themselves into form and creating some good conversations.
"It's not surprising because the quality of how we've been training is really good. Every team is going to dig deep into their well over the next fortnight and the strategy for how we went into this game puts us in a pretty good place for the next two weeks."
Despite the Springboks suffering their second straight loss to the Wallabies on Saturday night – this time going down 30-17 at Suncorp Stadium – Foster is predicting a swift response in the 100th test between the All Blacks and South Africa in Townsville this week.
"It will be a torrid game, they always are. I saw about 50 minutes of that game to know what's coming. The Wallabies did a really good job against them two weeks in a row. They played well. It's probably the first time the South Africans have faced a team that plays with a lot of tempo in the past two years.
