Argentina have beaten the All Blacks for the first time in New Zealand, with a 25-18 victory in Christchurch tonight.
Photo: John Davidson / www.photosport.nz
The home side led 15-12 and scored two tries to one, but ill-discipline throughout the match cost them dearly.
Argentina's Emiliano Boffelli scored six penalties, as well as a conversion to a Juan Martin Gonzalez try early in the first half.
Santiago Carreras of Argentina eludes David Havili. Photo: John Davidson / www.photosport.nz
The All Blacks - who scored two tries through Samisoni Taukei'aho and Caleb Clarke in the first half, but could only manage a single penalty in the second - have now lost six of their last eight games.
It is the first time they have lost three home games in a row in the history of the All Blacks.
See how the game unfolded with Jamie Wall's live blog
It is Argentina's second victory over New Zealand after their 25-15 victory in Sydney in November 2020 and tonight's victory was from the same mold as the earlier win, with magnificent defence backed up by iron discipline.
"I'm very proud of our team, we are starting to believe what we can do, not just a magic moment like our first win (in Sydney)," said captain Julian Montoya.
"Very, very happy, very, very proud, it's a very special moment for us."
Photo: RNZ / Martin Hunter
New Zealand, who played the last nine minutes with 14 men after Shannon Frizell was shown a yellow card, will almost certainly be plunged back into the crisis that was apparently ended by their victory over South Africa two weeks ago.
The victory gives Argentina successive wins in the Rugby Championship for the first time after their impressive 48-17 thrashing of Australia in San Juan two weeks ago.
They also remain top of the championship standings on points difference ahead of Australia, who earlier beat South Africa 25-17 in Adelaide.
- Reuters / RNZ
