Argentina knocked-over the World No 1 New Zealand in a Rugby Championship match on Saturday. The 29-23 victory in Buenos Aires saw history made as Los Pumas claimed their first ever home victory over the All Blacks. It was Argentina’s fourth win against New Zealand while the win followed a home defeat in Córdoba seven days earlier.
Argentina started the contest on the front foot. Attacking play saw Argentina gaining advantage and taking the first shot at goal. Tomás Albornoz slotted for a 3-0 lead. It was brief, however, as Beauden Barrett responded to level the scoring.
Albornoz went down with a hand injury but played on. He was able to have a shot at goal but it was wide. He was subsequently substituted early. It appeared to be a significant blow for the home side; yet, Santiago Carreras came on to play one of the best matches of his career.
Before Santiago Carreras came on, Argentina tried to buy time. This saw fullback Juan Cruz Mallía moving to fly half. The Toulouse utility also stepped-up to take the next kick at goal which was successful to give Argentina a 6-3 lead on 15 minutes.
The first quarter concluded with New Zealand scoring the game’s first try. A move to the left had Rieko Ioane go close. Quick recycled ball saw Billy Proctor over. Beauden Barrett missed the wide conversion.
The All Blacks scored again sic minutes later. Again it came down the left side. This time tight head prop Fletcher Newell rampaged his way over. Again, Beauden Barrett’s conversion attempt was wide.
Argentina were behind and under pressure but hit back as Los Carreras combined. A cross-kick from Santiago Carreras saw Mateo Carreras gathering and kicking again. Will Jordan blocked his chase which saw the All Blacks fullback yellow carded.
The golden opportunity was taken by Los Pumas. From close range flanker Juan Martín González stretched out to get the ball down from a pick-and-go. Santiago Carreras slotted the difficult conversion while New Zealand found themselves two men down as Tupou Vaa’i was yellow carded for cynical play in the lead-up to the try.
The match was now back to a level scoreline of 13-13. Argentina looked to make New Zealand pay with wide ball in the final play of the first-half. Bautista Delguy had a half-chance but New Zealand recovered to tackle to Clermont winger into touch.
It took eleven minutes of the second-half before additional points were scored. New Zealand conceded an attacking penalty inside their own half which saw Santiago Carreras taking advantage with a penalty. The Bath fly half added another four minutes later, this time slotting from half-way to give Argentina 19-13 lead.
Both coaches were changing players. In the case of New Zealand, Scott Robertson decided to bring on Damian McKenzie for Beauden Barrett. Pablo Matera took the opportunity to target McKenzie and he went within inches of scoring from an attacking scrum. Scrum-half Gonzalo García picked-up to score. Santiago Carreras converted for a 26-13 lead at the close of the third quarter.
Robertson brought on Samisoni Taukei’aho for centurion, Codie Taylor. The Tongan delivered a masterstroke as he scored from a lineout to maul on 68 minutes. McKenzie converted to give New Zealand a fighting chance at a come-from-behind victory.
Argentina were not looking to hold-on for the victory; instead, Los Pumas looked to attack and put further pressure on the All Blacks. The tactic saw Sevu Reece slapping down a pass with Guido Petti and Mateo Carreras both outside him. Referee Nic Berry yellow carded the Fijian which saw New Zealand down to 14-men to close out the match.
Santiago Carreras slotted another challenging conversion. His stake put Argentina 29-20 ahead. New Zealand were down and out but found a way to finish the match with a losing bonus point. With time up, McKenzie beautifully landed a penalty.
The match was the second of the day in the 2025 Rugby Championship. In the earlier contest, South Africa recovered from their opening round defeat against Australia by recording a 30-22 win in Cape Town. When combined with Argentina and New Zealand also splitting their series 1-1, it means all teams have one win and one loss and no team can go unbeaten in the 2025 Rugby Championship.
- Argentina defeated New Zealand for the first time in Argentina.
- It was Argentina’s 4th victory against New Zealand. Prior wins were in 2000 in Sydney, 2022 in Christchurch and 2024 in Wellington.
- Four Pumas played in all of Argentina’s victories against New Zealand: Marcos Kremer, Pablo Matera, Santiago Carreras and Mayco Vivas. Lucio Cinti was involved in all, but was an unused replacement in 2020.
- Simon Parker debuted for New Zealand.
- Nahuel Tetaz Chapparo retired. The match was his final appearance for Argentina. His 81 caps are an Argentine record for a prop.
- Argentina had 538 meters gained compared to New Zealand with 186.
- Argentina had 60% possession.
- New Zealand made 187 tackles compared to 102 by New Zealand.
- Bautista Delguy defeated 6 defenders. Santiago Chocobares and Lucio Cinti were next with 5 each. Deploy also placed first for clean breaks with 3.
- Santiago Carreras was first for meters gained with 80m.
- Pablo Matera had the most carries with 18.
- Pablo Matera also won 2 turnovers as did Codie Taylor and Beauden Barrett.
- Fabian Holland won the most lineups with 9.
- Scott Barrett conceded 4 turnovers. He was the top tackler with 22.
- Jordie Barrett had 5 missed tackles and Tupou Vaa’i had 4.
- The top Argentine tackler was Pedro Rubiolo with 11.
ARGENTINA (29)
TRY – JM González (31′); G García (57′)
CON – S Carreras 2 (32′, 58′)
PEN – T Albornoz (2′); JC Mallía (14′); S Carreras 3 (51′, 55′, 73′)
NEW ZEALAND (23)
TRY – B Proctor (19′); F Newell (25′); S Taukei’aho (68′)
CON – D McKenzie (69′)
PEN – B Barrett (11′); D McKenzie (80′)
YC – W Jordan (31′); T Vaa’i (33′). S Reece (73′).
ARGENTINA
1 Mayco Vivas, 2 Julián Montoya (capt.), 3 Pedro Delgado, 4 Franco Molina, 5 Pedro Rubiolo, 6 Pablo Matera (vice-capt.), 7 Juan Martín González, 8 Joaquín Oviedo, 9 Gonzalo García, 10 Tomás Albornoz, 11 Mateo Carreras, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 13 Lucio Cinti, 14 Bautista Delguy, 15 Juan Cruz Mallía
Replacements: 16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 18 Joel Sclavi, 19 Guido Petti, 20 Marcos Kremer, 21 Simón Benítez Cruz, 22 Santiago Carreras, 23 Justo Piccardo
NEW ZEALAND
1 Ethan de Groot, 2 Codie Taylor, 3 Fletcher Newell, 4 Scott Barrett (capt.), 5 Fabian Holland, 6 Tupou Vaa’i, 7 Ardie Savea, 8 Simon Parker, 9 Cortez Ratima, 10 Beauden Barrett, 11 Rieko Ioane, 12 Jordie Barrett, 13 Billy Proctor, 14 Sevu Reece, 15 Will Jordan
Replacements: 16 Samisoni Taukei’aho, 17 Tamaiti Williams, 18 Pasilio Tosi, 19 Josh Lord, 20 Wallace Sititi, 21 Finlay Christie, 22 Quinn Tupaea, 23 Damian McKenzie
| RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS |
| # | TEAM | WIN | LOSS | POINTS |
| 1 | NEW ZEALAND |
1 | 1 | 6 |
| 2 |  AUSTRALIA |
1 | 1 | 5 |
| 3 |  SOUTH AFRICA |
1 | 1 | 4 |
| 4 | ARGENTINA |
1 | 1 | 4 |
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Referee: Nic Berry (Australia)
Assistant Referees: Pierre Brousset (France); Morné Ferreira (South Africa)
TMO: Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
FPRO: Damon Murphy (Australia)
| VS OVERALL RESULTS |
New Zealand Wins 36
Argentina Wins 4
Draws 1
