Hamilton - The All Blacks put their Rugby Championship troubles behind them with a 53-3 dismantling of Argentina in Hamilton Saturday, as New Zealand coach Ian Foster lauded his team's ambition.
The rampant home side scored seven tries in an emphatic display to avenge last week's shock loss to the Pumas, with the outcome leaving both teams on two wins and two losses in the Rugby Championship.
Up 24-3 at halftime, New Zealand's display was vastly more clinical than last week's 25-18 defeat in Christchurch.
On that occasion, the Pumas' resolute defensive wall and breakdown physicality held sway, but the All Blacks found ways to overcome those hurdles in their most eye-catching performance of a turbulent year.
All Blacks rugby at its best 👏
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They score from what started as a 5m scrum on their own tryline to go 34-3 up.
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It brings some relief for under-fire coach Foster, who has now overseen three wins from his last nine Tests in charge -- a record he will hope to improve in two remaining Rugby Championship Tests against Australia this month.
Foster said he was proud of his players.
"I just love the ambition. When you've had a few losses, it's easy to shut down a little bit," he said.
"That’s what I think we saw in the in the last quarter last week, and this week's been about sort of just trying to change that and getting them just to trust the rugby players that they are. I was really pleased with the ambition particularly early when it was very wet.
"I thought we played with a bit of width and then spread them out a bit."
Despite the weather conditions, New Zealand made only three handling errors while unleashing several thrilling attacking moves.
They created first-half tries to Ethan de Groot, Caleb Clarke and Reiko Ioane while Jordie Barrett, Ardie Savea, Brodie Retallick and Beauden Barrett crossed after the interval.
Argentina wing Emiliano Boffelli, who scored 20 points with the boot last week, landed a solitary penalty for his team's only points.
Under pressure
Captain Sam Cane, whose position is also under scrutiny, expressed relief.
"It was massively important (to win), we were under a bit of pressure. We weren't happy with what we dished up last week," he said.
"This week, we were in the game right from the start and we're able to turn that into points. That was a pretty enjoyable night."
Argentina counterpart Julian Montoya said his team learned some valuable lessons.
"We need to keep working to be better. Last week we weren't world champions, this week we are not the worst of the world," he said.
"We need to look inside now and try to improve because in a couple of weeks we have South Africa. Congrats to New Zealand, they played really well."
New Zealand's forwards laid the platform, dominating the breakdown in a key reversal of last week, while they benefited from a strategy that entailed more kicking variations.
Argentina couldn't match the ball-running prowess of the All Blacks forwards, led by No.8 Savea and hooker Samisoni Taukei'aho -- an area Foster said they had focused on.
"We carried well, we carried smart and (there was) a big difference in the officiating, too, The breakdown was very different to last week and that gave us a lot of confidence to play with the ball."
The visitors were on the back foot from the start, when lock Tomas Lavanini dropped the first pass of the game.
Fly-half Richie Mo'unga slotted a penalty goal -- his first of 14 points -- and converted a close-range try from prop de Groot.
New Zealand were 17-0 ahead inside the first quarter, when quick hands and an injection of speed from the impressive centre Ioane put wing Clarke across in the left corner.
Boffelli kicked his only penalty shot but the visitors paid soon afterwards for a yellow card shown to Lavanini for a professional foul.
New Zealand exploited the numerical advantage to send Ioane over, capping a dominant first-half display.
Argentina enjoyed more territory in the second spell but they failed to capitalise and began to fade, allowing New Zealand to surge clear in a contrasting finish to their final-quarter struggles last week.
Fullback Jordie Barrett began a late try-scoring flood, followed by Savea and replacements Retallick and Beauden Barrett.
AFP