LA PLATA, ARGENTINA – New Zealand put one hand on the Rugby Championship trophy by outclassing Argentina 33-15 with a key bonus point on Saturday.

Still perfect after five matches, the All Blacks head to Ellis Park next weekend for a fitting finale against archrival South Africa and the advantage of retaining the title with even a narrow loss.

The Springboks, however, will need a bonus-point win, but they haven’t beaten the All Blacks with at least four tries for nine years.

The All Blacks scored their fourth try for the bonus point in the last seconds at La Plata, when winger Ben Smith stepped one Pumas defender, ran over another and dived between the posts for his second try of the match, and tournament-leading seventh.

“That (bonus point) could be crucial,” New Zealand captain Kieran Read said. “We worked hard for that, and were lucky to get there at the end.”

A sloppy first 50 minutes on a damp field, in which New Zealand conceded penalties and free kicks while Argentina frittered away hard-won possession, saw the All Blacks leading 14-12 but hardly feeling in danger.

The Pumas, who have yet to beat New Zealand, failed to threaten a try before 40,000 fans and could stay with the visitors only in scrums, and on the scoreboard through penalty kicks. But even by the end, New Zealand’s scrum was untroubled.

New Zealand finally broke open the match with tries in the 52nd and 56th minutes featuring inside center Ma’a Nonu, leaving the Pumas behind at 26-12. The All Blacks then spent most of the last quarter desperately seeking their fourth try for a bonus point, and had to wait until the last minute to secure it.

The Pumas have yet to win a match in their second year but will welcome a reeling Australia to Rosario next weekend. The Wallabies only beat the Pumas by a point at home two weeks ago, and fell to South Africa 28-8 earlier Saturday.

“(Australia will be our) last game of this Rugby Championship, and we’re just going to throw everything in, everything we have,” said Pumas skipper Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe.

Springboks pick up win

CAPE TOWN
AP

South Africa overwhelmed Australia 28-8 on Saturday to retain hope of wrestling the Rugby Championship title away from New Zealand in a mouth-watering decider at home to the top-ranked All Blacks next weekend.

Although the Springboks’ celebrations were initially muted at Newlands after missing out on a four-try bonus point in a game they almost completely controlled, the win still meant they can threaten the world champion All Blacks next Saturday in Johannesburg — even if the task might be that much harder without the extra log point.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been so disappointed by beating the Aussies by 20 points,” South Africa captain Jean de Villiers said.

“I thought we didn’t play well. We got the victory again but there’s still areas that we need to improve on if we really want to take our game to the next level.”

South Africa scored 23 unanswered points in the first half against a creaking Australian defense for a record win over the Wallabies at Cape Town. Yet the early momentum capped by tries from hooker Adriaan Strauss and fullback Zane Kirchner in the first 15 minutes disappeared in the second half.

Trailing 23-3 after 32 minutes, Australia won back a shred of respect by holding the Springboks scoreless for most of the second 40, with wing Willie le Roux grabbing the Boks’ third try only in the 72nd minute before teenage debutant Chris Feauai-Sautia had a consolation score for the visitors.