Argentina has beaten the All Blacks for the first time in history. Video / Sky Sport
Five tests, two wins, is grim reading in anyone's book. For a team with lofty expectations such as the All Blacks, it's completely unacceptable.
The Bledisloe Cup is locked away but over the past two weeks any sense of euphoria surrounding the All Blacks has evaporated faster than a raindrop in the outback.
Successive defeats for the first time in nine years paints a stark picture of where this team, at the beginning of a new cycle, sits.
Saturday's maiden defeat to the Pumas, which follows last week's loss to the Wallabies in Brisbane, is a black mark no All Black ever wants against their name. So, too, Ian Foster who has the worst win rate (40 per cent) of an All Blacks coach after five tests since Alex McDonald in 1949.
Foster shrugged off mounting pressure but the manner in which the Pumas brought more passion, urgency and accuracy to their 25-15 triumph cut the All Blacks deep, leaving them searching for answers as to how they were upstaged by a side that had not played a test for 402 days.
"We're all hurting in there," Foster said of the back-to-back losses. "It's been a massively difficult year for everyone but when you come to the game we've prepared well but we've been met with a team with a little bit too much passion for us and we've got to sort that out.
A dejected looking Sam Cane after the All Blacks are beaten by the Pumas. Tri Nations rugby union test match. New Zealand All Blacks v Argentina Pumas. Photo / Photosport.co.nz
"There's no excuses. It's an All Blacks jersey and we want to be at our best every time. There certainly was two contrasting intensity levels with those teams.
"This role always comes with pressure so what I feel right now is massive disappointment. The key right now is we've got a lot of good people in this group, we've shown we can perform at a high level and we've just got to go back to doing it.
"We're bitterly disappointed with the result, the way we played. What happened in the game is we saw a team where everyone said their disadvantage was they hadn't played a lot of rugby. Their three-week camp and two games meant they came in here with massive energy and desire to prove something for their country that has gone through a heck of a hard time."
Foster, his new coaching staff and leadership group have plenty of areas to confront before their chance to seek revenge on the Pumas in two weeks, in their final test of the year.
Discipline will be top of the list after many culprits, Dane Coles and Shannon Frizell guilty parties, lost their heads to give away costly penalties. That such incidents came one week after the All Blacks copped a red and yellow card in the loss to the Wallabies only enhanced frustrations.
Elsewhere, in a repeat of their opening draw in Wellington, the All Blacks were beaten to the punch at the breakdown. Attacking wise they were far too predictable in the face of a relentless defensive onslaught from the Pumas. There was little sign of plan B; few attempts to go up the guts and suck in ruck defenders, with aimless kicking instead gifting away valuable possession.
"We've clearly got to go away and ask ourselves some serious questions," Foster said. "We've got to use the next seven days to recharge the tank and make sure we finish this year on a high. I know every man in our shed will want to do that. We've got to figure out how to respond.
Sam Cane of the All Blacks looks on during the 2020 Tri-Nations rugby match between the New Zealand All Blacks and the Argentina Los Pumas. Photo / Photosport.co.nz
"We certainly didn't underestimate them we've had those sorts of arm wrestles before. They're a team we've got massive respect for. They challenged us on our composure again. It's probably two weeks in a row we haven't handled that as well as we could. We tried to work on that, we guessed that was coming, and still didn't get the result we wanted.
"We gave them a lot of field position, a lot of penalties, particularly in that first 40. To their credit they looked pretty fresh and they went right through the 80 so they've done a fantastic job getting their team to that point.
"We kicked away too much ball when we had an opportunity to put some phases together against them. We didn't impose ourselves enough on them. We weren't able to take some chances in that second half through probably rushing things. As each opportunity got lost you could see the Argentineans grow in belief and they didn't stop."
Absent composure is not an easy fix. The All Blacks of Richie McCaw's era escaped countless defeats - Dublin and Sydney two examples - through holding their nerve under intense pressure.
On this occasion, in the final 10 minutes alone, the All Blacks squandered three try-scoring chances which promoted captain Sam Cane to defend suggestions the team is lacking leadership.
"If you look through the team I think there's plenty of experience but there's no doubt there were times in that game where as individuals and as a team we didn't have as much composure as we would have liked," Cane said. "That's a clear area of focus for us but I think we've got the right men in there for the job."
