All Blacks continue winning run with 17-36 win over Pumas
Argentina 17-36 New Zealand, Jose Amalfitani Stadium
Scorecard
The All Blacks continued their winning run in the ongoing 2016 Rugby Championship with a 17-36 win against the Pumas at the José Amalfitani Stadium in Buenos Aires on Saturday.
Steve Hansen's men ran five tries against Daniel Hourcade's Pumas to secure another try bonus-point displaying their ceaseless dominance as shown throughout the tournament.
The visitors took a decisive 26 points lead at the end of the first-half, leaving the hosts an eventually impossible task of catching-up with the 2015 World Cup winners.
However, Agustin Creevy and his men did an admirable job to bag 14 points in the second half as opposed to All Blacks' seven points, to reduce the margin of defeat to 19 points.
Fly-half Beauden Barrett's early third minute penalty got the visitors up on the board.
The All Blacks were finally rewarded for their persistent push against the Pumas on the 28th minute when outside-centre Anton Lienert-Brown scored the first try of the match for the visitors.
Barrett as expected successfully made the conversion to give his side a steady 10 points lead by the end of the 29th minute.
The hosts got their first opportunity to put some points on the board on the 34th minute when Nicolas Sanchez converted a penalty the Pumas earned from a scrum.
However, just a minute later, the All Blacks rallied in full force to put inside-centre Ryan Crotty over the try line. A terrible linout by the hosts, just five meters away from their own try line allowed the the visitors to score their second try of the match.
Before the dust could settle from Barrett's conversion on the 37th minute, hooker Dane Coles crossed over for the third try for the visitors on the 39th minute. Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias' quick kick infield resulted into a horrible disaster as the All Blacks took brilliant advantage of the situation to put Coles over the try line.
Barrett's conversion made it 3-24 in favor of the visitors.
However, the All Blacks, who were completely pumped after scoring three tries, added another one in the extra minute of the first half as scrum-half TJ Perenara on this occasion claimed the infield kick to cross over the try line.
Barrett pushed the conversion wide of the posts as the scoreline remained 3-29 at the end of the first half.
Only five minutes into the second-half, aided by an inside pass from Lienert-Brown, fullback Ben Smith crossed over to score the fifth try for the visitors.
Barrett's conversion stretched the lead to decisive 33 points as the scoreboard read 3-36.
All Blacks' loosehead prop Joe Moody was sent to the bin on 52nd minute for foul play handing the Pumas a scrum five metres out in front of the posts. The All Blacks then went on to concede five more penalties as finally on the 57th minute the Pumas were able to push the All Blacks back over their line. Number-eight Facundo Isa had the honor to cross over the try line.
Sanchez added the extras with the conversion.
The visitors lost another player to the sin bin, this time on the 65th minute as blindside-flanker Liam Squire was sent to the bin for continued offside.
The hosts continued searching for points and finally managed to score their second try of the match in the concluding stages of the game when fullback Joaquin Tuculet picked up a loose ball and dive in the corner after a cross field kick got the better of All Blacks fullback Damian McKenzie.
Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias made the conversion in Sanchez's absence as the hosts finally succumbed to a 19 points defeat.
Although the All Blacks managed to control the play for more than better half of the game, the Pumas can take pride in the fightback they launched in the concluding stages of the game while putting massive amount of pressure on the visitors.
The only concern for Creevy and his teammates would be the lack of ability to convert the possession into points.
