Rugby: All Blacks captain Sam Cane intends to deliver a great performance against Argentina after the first loss

Everything indicates a quick response from the All Blacks this week. In fact, it might even suggest that tomorrow night’s game against the Cougars in Sydney is not a fair fight.

Argentina, in
After two games of preparation against Australia A, you may be heading towards the perfect storm.

A haunting All Blacks team restored to their first-choice combinations intends to rectify last week’s loss at Suncorp Stadium, a result that marked the first loss in Ian Foster-Sam Cane’s tenure.

There are no excuses available for the All Blacks and no mercy will be given.

“Obviously we weren’t too proud of last week’s performance,” said fit captain Cane. “We came out of the review at the beginning of the week with some clear approaches and there have also been some changes on the side with some guys that are refreshed, but also game ready because they have played a little rugby this year so we will go out. to improve our performance.

“Based on the way we have trained this week, the group has been quite clinical. With that we have to get the mental aspect of the game right, and that comes down to the attitude to get out of our line defensively and a lot to do with it. with the rate of work “.

The All Blacks arrive at Bankwest Stadium with the significant advantage of having played a full Super Rugby Aotearoa campaign followed by four tests in the last five weeks.

Meanwhile, many of the Pumas have savored little playing time since the Covid-19 outbreak in March, while their last test together was at the 2019 World Cup.

Remember the opening round of the Bledisloe Cup in Wellington and despite all the drama of overtime at 16-16 tie, the previous 80 minutes were riddled with awkward mistakes as both the All Blacks and Wallabies battled for the cohesion in your first outings. of the test year delayed.

That’s where the Pumas sit now.

Such under-done preparation was one of the main reasons why South Africa withdrew from the Rugby Championship at the 11th hour, forcing the tournament to cut half its games and change its name to Tri Nations.

No matter the outcome this weekend, the Pumas deserve respect for facing off in such unequal circumstances.

“We definitely have a bit of an advantage over them in that area after having played four test matches in the last five weeks,” Cane said. “With that, they will be very fresh and after having spent four weeks together training for this game, they will be well structured and they will know how they want to play the game, so I could make up for it a bit.”

Argentina always brings passion, physicality, strong angled running lines, rolling maul strength, and frequent shocks to first-half exchanges in particular, but its tendency to fade in the fourth quarter is likely to be reinforced by its lack of recent exposure to the proving ground. .

Australia A to the All Blacks is a gigantic leap in its class.

With Aaron Smith back as running back, Richie Mo’unga at 10 and Beauden Barrett in the 15 jersey, the All Blacks are expected to adopt a furious pace and tempo as they try to further test Argentina’s conditioning.

The last time they played the All Blacks in Buenos Aires in 2019, the Pumas came within four points of their first upset victory. However, the last five games between the two nations paint a more accurate picture, with the All Blacks averaging a 15-point margin of victory.

Despite the presence of seasoned Pumas Juan Imhoff, Nicolás Sánchez, Tomás Cubelli, captain Pablo Matera and Guido Petti, few would be surprised if that margin widens even further this weekend.

“Every time a team has had a lot of preparation for a test match and so much invested has been, it is always going to be a dangerous team,” Cane warned. “They are the first Argentine team to represent their country this year, so they will come out with immense pride and we know how passionate they can be, so we wait the first 20 minutes particularly for everything to be ready.”