All Blacks' 'big bodies' look to outmuscle Pumas in Buenos Aires

BIG BODIES: ALL Blacks coach Scott Robertson is banking on back row beef and a reinforced bench to deliver another Rugby Championship win over Argentina (10.10pm) on Saturday and send his squad home with momentum for a highly-anticipated showdown against South Africa. Pic: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile

ALL Blacks coach Scott Robertson is banking on back row beef and a reinforced bench to deliver another Rugby Championship win over Argentina (10.10pm) on Saturday and send his squad home with momentum for a highly-anticipated showdown against South Africa.

After a comfortable 41-24 win over the Pumas in Cordoba, Robertson is keen to see what huge loose forward Simon Parker can bring on his test debut at number eight between the similarly bulky Tupou Vaa'i and Ardie Savea.

With Savea reverting to number seven, the relatively lightly-built fetcher Du'Plessis Kirifi makes way in Robertson's push for power.

"We needed a bit of battle-hardened cohesion in our group and also the opportunity for Simon," Robertson told reporters in Buenos Aires.

"He's consistent, really accurate and in the last two weeks he's trained really well. He's ready for it."

With mobile big man Vaa'i now established at blindside flanker after playing mostly at lock, the bulked-up back row has been seen as a longer-term plan to muscle up to world champions South Africa in the collisions.

Having lost both tests and their title to South Africa last year, the All Blacks will hope to knock them out of contention on home soil next month following the Springboks' shock loss to Australia at Ellis Park.

That would, of course, mean heading home with a 2-0 record over the Pumas, who crept within seven points during a second-half surge after a slow start in Cordoba.

Robertson will hope the return of loose forward Wallace Sititi, World Rugby's 'Breakthrough Player of the Year' in his debut 2024 season, and prop Taimati Williams on the bench can buttress the visitors against a Pumas fightback.

"Yeah, some big bodies," said Robertson of the duo who play their first tests of the season after injury-disrupted starts. "If you look at the timing of this test series, for them to get back for this match is really important."

While the All Blacks have started the season with four successive test wins, including the 3-0 home whitewash of France, Felipe Contepomi's Pumas desperately need a victory to prevent a costly slide down the world rankings.

With the top six sides at the end of the season assured of a more favourable draw for the 2027 World Cup, seventh-ranked Argentina are in danger of losing touch with sixth-ranked Australia.

Making only two changes to his starting side, Contepomi has demanded more from the Julian Montoya-captained squad that showed signs in Cordoba but never really troubled the New Zealanders.

Despite defeating the All Blacks three times since 2020, the Pumas have never beaten them on home soil and will need a big lift in performance to break the drought.

Meanwhile, stand-in Australia captain Fraser McReight does not expect his new responsibilities to change his approach and style when he leads his country against South Africa in the Rugby Championship on Saturday (4.10pm).

The flanker takes over from the injured Harry Wilson as skipper, with coach Joe Schmidt hailing him a “quiet leader” when appointing him the Wallabies' 91st captain.

"I feel very privileged and honoured to be captain this week, although I'd probably say I’d rather be playing with Harry and for him to be leading us out,” McReight said. “But I also feel very proud to be part of a special club.” 

The 26-year-old, a former Australia under-20 captain, said it would be business as usual for him at the Cape Town Stadium on Saturday.

“It probably won't change too much from what I'd be doing if Harry was playing. I'll let my game do most of the talking, try to get to the referee when I can, but other than that, just do what I normally do," he added.

“We've got such great leaders in this team. Before this weekend, we had James Slipper, who's played almost 150 tests (but is injured); Nic White, James O'Connor, Will Skelton ... blokes who have been around for so long.

"I don't really need to speak. If I do, it would be about defence, and we've got so many great defenders and defensive leaders within the team as well.”

McReight is anticipating a bruising approach from the chastened South Africans, who Australia upset with a come-from-behind 38-22 win in Johannesburg last weekend at the start of the Southern Hemisphere championship.

“It’ll be pretty much more of how they were playing in the first 20 minutes,” he said of last Saturday’s test at Ellis Park where South Africa raced into a 22-0 lead before the Wallabies turned the test on its head.

“It was pretty poor from us (at the start) so it’s important for us to go out there and try to rectify that.

“I dare say, the Boks will want to come out and do that for the whole game. So how can we prevent them? What can we do better in our power? We've been looking in the mirror throughout the week and working on what we can do better,” McReight added.

Reuters