All Blacks v Argentina: Five takeaways as 'intelligent' Scott ...

Following a 42-10 victory for the All Blacks over Argentina at Eden Park in Auckland on Saturday, here’s our five takeaways from the Rugby Championship clash.

There were always questions as to how both Argentina and New Zealand would react to the result in Wellington. Could New Zealand answer their critics? Would the efforts of last weekend fatigue the visitors? Would a match with more scrums favour the hosts?

The answers to all three questions were a resounding ‘yes’ as the All Blacks delivered a magnificent display to continue their impressive record, running out 42-10 winners in a thrilling six-try effort in rotten conditions at their beloved Eden Park.

Tries from Damian McKenzie, Ardie Savea, Caleb Clarke, Beauden Barrett and a brace from the returning Will Jordan were simply too much for this weekend’s edition of Argentina, as New Zealand demonstrated a huge uplift in both power and precision, driven from fly-half by Damian McKenzie and underpinned by a massive forward effort from a pack much criticised for a powderpuff display in Wellington.

It couldn’t have gone much better for the All Blacks; Jordan came back in and showed that his injury woes are far behind him. Sam Cane trotted on for his first Test since the Rugby World Cup final to gain his 96th cap and their back-row, inspired by Ardie Savea, turned the tide completely away from the schooling they received last weekend.

It was a magnificent display of controlled and intelligent rugby from the All Blacks, one that will please both fans and coaches alike, and one that was essential given their loss last weekend.

All Blacks silence critics with dominant victory over Argentina to stretch unbeaten run at Eden Park to 50 games

New Zealand once again showed their ability to play precision rugby in inclement conditions in a masterful display of kicking and set-piece-based strategy.

Their individual skill sets under pressure were simply outstanding. Their locks dominated the lineout, whether it be in catch or disruption of Los Pumas’ throw, their half-backs and centres kicked with magnificent precision, led by the brilliance of McKenzie at fly-half, but augmented by Beauden Barrett at 15. The aerial dominance in kick-chase came from the accuracy of the kicks – never too far forward, never under-hit – allowing the chasers to collect or sweep up loose ball from the drop zone.

In carry, a feature of the New Zealand strategy was to have supporting players with soft hands available for the carrier to offload to create continuity, in stark contrast to Argentina who played with greater width, adding extra jeopardy onto any pass that was less than pinpoint perfect.

For many, the Scott Robertson era was billed as a festival of attacking rugby and it’s ironic that the best display by NZ in his tenure was a masterclass of wet-weather rugby, showing just how versatile his team is and underlining the tactical and pragmatic intelligence of the All Blacks coaching staff.

In stark contrast to the match in Wellington, the increase in intensity and personal performance from the All Blacks’ key leaders was obvious.

Savea, eclipsed by Juan Martin Gonzalez last weekend, was back to his brilliant and barreling best, grabbing turnovers at ruck time, creating tries with great handling and vision and even nipping over for one himself.

At half-back, TJ Perenara, heavily criticised by the Kiwi media in the lead-up to this Test, was spiky and intelligent – his wonderful offload out of a tackle opening the door for Jordan to scoot over for the first of his scores on the right wing in his comeback match.

And elsewhere, it was Jordie Barrett, anonymous in Wellington, who created the first try for McKenzie with a delightful chip over the Argentinian rush defence as he started the first-half rout.

McKenzie and Barrett enjoyed a field day with the boot, varying raking long touch finders with some really clever chips, with McKenzie enjoying a fine outing off the tee by slotting over a couple of miraculous kicks from the touchline in really poor conditions for place kickers.

In short, it was a big step up from the key All Black leaders and, after last weekend’s criticisms, their response was outstanding.

Many remarked that the lack of scrums in the Wellington Test had played into the hands of Los Pumas, with popular wisdom suggesting that New Zealand had a substantial advantage in that area of the set-piece battle.

They were not wrong and, with wind and rain howling around Eden Park, there was always going to be many more handling errors in this game and that undoubtedly gave the All Blacks the platform they craved to rediscover their mojo.

Tamaiti Williams had a huge match on the loosehead, causing all sorts of issues in the tight as he won three scrum penalties for his team, but elsewhere added so much in terms of carrying mobility and clatter around the breakdown. Behind him, Sam Darry and Tupou Vaa’i were far more muscular and impressive that a week ago, and with Tyrel Lomax as solid as a rock, it all combined to blow Argentina away with the swirling Eden Park winds.

Perhaps Argentina didn’t help their cause by playing one of their best flankers, Marcos Kremer, out of position at loosehead lock, but the sheer power and, crucially, the controlling of height by the All Blacks front-row, saw them use the scrum as a key weapon to unlock the Argentinian defence, and the visitors never got a foothold in the match as a result.

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The biggest takeout for the Argentinian management is that you don’t break up a world-class back-row without losing some impact.

Whilst in open play shirt numbers between lock and loose forward aren’t that important, the extra workload of the tight work is always going to have an effect on players unused to playing in the engine room and, bluntly, the wonderful performance of Kremer, Matera and Gonzalez in Wellington faded away on Saturday.

Sure, there were glimpses of their talent – Matera grabbing a couple of trademark turnovers and Gonzalez looking again a superb athlete – but there was obvious fatigue from their efforts seven days ago and the pack will be desperately disappointed with their work in both loose and tight.

Felipe Contepomi will also be concerned about how his team reacted to the pressure from the conditions and the All Black territorial game. Los Pumas’ exit strategy and kicking game simply fell apart under pressure and the difference in control at half-back between the two teams was huge.

New Zealand went into the match with a clear plan to control field position, whereas Argentina’s kicking game was pulled apart by the All Blacks rush defence and work around the fringes.

READ MORE: Argentina player ratings: ‘Pulverised’ Pumas fall WELL short in Eden Park ‘horror show’