Argentina are top of the Rugby Championship table after two rounds with a crushing win over Australia in San Juan.
Wallabies coach Dave Rennie did not mince his words when he described the loss as simply “not good enough”. The home side ran in seven tries for their biggest ever victory over Australia, who have been depleted by injury and player absences for personal reasons.
“Massive disappointment. Not good enough,” Rennie said. “You could see there were four tries that were kicks in behind us. We certainly got dominated in the collision area.
“We created plenty of opportunities but we have to be patient. Rucks not a disaster, we just weren’t clinical enough.
“We lacked cohesion with a few changes. We’ll look at the footage but we’re better than that. It’s a massive disappointment. We want to earn the respect of the country and you don’t do it with performances like that.”
How to watch the matches on TV
(All times BST)
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
- Australia v South Africa (Adelaide Oval, Adelaide) 6.30am on Saturday, August 27 – Sky Sports
- New Zealand v Argentina (Orangetheory Stadium, Christchurch) 8.45am on Saturday, August 27 – Sky Sports
Round 4
- New Zealand v Argentina (FMG Stadium Waikato, Hamilton) 8.05am on Saturday, September 3 – Sky Sports
- Australia vs South Africa (Allianz Stadium, Sydney) 10.35am on Saturday, September 3 – Sky Sports
Round 5
- Australia vs New Zealand (Marvel Stadium, Melbourne) 10.45am on Thursday, September 15 – Sky Sports
- Argentina vs South Africa (Estadio Jose Amalfitani, Buenos Aires) 8.10pm on Saturday, September 17 – Sky Sports
Round 6
- New Zealand vs Australia (Eden Park, Auckland) 8.05am on Saturday, September 24 – Sky Sports
- South Africa vs Argentina (Hollywoodbets Kings Park, Durban) 4.05pm on Saturday, September 24 – Sky Sports
What is the latest news?
Ian Foster will coach the All Blacks through to the 2023 World Cup after New Zealand Rugby moved to end uncertainty over the team’s leadership.
Joe Schmidt will also be given an official, hands-on role within the set-up following Saturday’s 35-23 victory over South Africa in Johannesburg.
The former Ireland head coach will focus on the side’s attack ahead of upcoming home matches against Argentina on August 27 and September 3.
The NZR board voted unanimously to keep Foster, who had lost five of his last six Tests in charge prior to the weekend. That was despite Mark Robinson, the organisation’s chief executive, declining to give his backing to the status quo in the wake of the win against the Springboks.
Foster admitted that he was in the dark over his immediate future in post-match interviews at Ellis Park but voiced his satisfaction on Thursday morning, hours after hearing that he would be retained.
“It’s a privilege to be in this job and it’s never something you take for granted,” he said. “No doubt it’s been a hard time but you’ve got to be in the here and now. I’m a key catalyst for that and I’m delighted to be here.”
New Zealand were infinitely more convincing in their latest outing, opening up a 15-0 lead in the first half before staving off a fight-back from the hosts with two more late tries through David Havili and Scott Barrett.
When is the final round?
The final round is on Saturday 24 September. New Zealand host Australia in Auckland, while Argentina travel to Durban to face South Africa.
Last year New Zealand had already wrapped up the Rugby Championship before the final round, after beating South Africa 19-17 in the penultimate round. However, the Springboks would beat the All Blacks 31-29 a week later to end their campaign on a high.
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