By the numbers: A loss that doesn’t add up
“Maybe Ian Foster wasn’t so bad after all.’’
There would have been plenty of that sort of chat going on around the country on Saturday night, in the wake of the All Blacks’ shock defeat to Argentina in their Rugby Championship opener in Wellington.
Indeed, this was not the test match that had shaped as the possible first defeat for Scott Robertson. Not when New Zealand Rugby had last year anointed, and appointed, him, in a move geared towards eliminating these sort of stumbles.
Here’s a by the numbers breakdown of the men in black’s latest collapse in the capital city.
3
This was just the third time Argentina had beaten the All Blacks.
Saturday’s clash was the 41st meeting between the two nations, dating back to 1976, and the 37th test match, since 1985.
The Pumas’ maiden triumph over New Zealand was the 25-15 win in Sydney in 2020, before they also scored a 25-18 win in Christchurch in 2022.
38
The 38 points the Pumas piled on was not only easily their most-against the All Blacks, but it was also the most points the All Blacks had ever conceded in a test at home. Previously that mark had been 36, when the Springboks claimed a 36-34 victory at the same venue, in 2018.
5
The All Blacks have now failed to win any of their last five (and just one of their last seven) tests at Wellington’s Sky Stadium.
Two years ago they were beaten by Ireland in that fateful series decider, while there was a draw with Australia in 2020, a draw and a loss against South Africa, in 2019, and 2018, respectively, while a win over a 14-man France in 2018 had followed a defeat to the British and Irish Lions in 2017.
Prior to that, the All Blacks had been on a 16-game winning run at the venue, after dropping two of their first five there since the stadium opened in 2000, its first test being that famous Bledisloe Cup loss, where John Eales’ knocked over a last-gasp penalty goal.
It’s an astonishingly poor record, which now has the All Blacks’ test win rate at Sky Stadium dropping to 71%, behind even Newlands in Cape Town (73%), where they play in four weeks’ time, and slipping very close to the 69% they endured at Wellington’s former ground, Athletic Park.
6
With their latest win, Argentina will rise one place in the world rankings, leaping Scotland to No 6.
The All Blacks remain at No 3, where they slipped to following the 2023 World Cup final loss, but their drop in points has now seen them fall further from No 2 Ireland, and closer to No 4 France.