New Zealand have narrowed the gap between themselves and France in the World Rugby Men’s Rankings powered by Capgemini thanks to their emphatic 41-12 win over Argentina in Mendoza on Saturday.
The All Blacks, who went into the weekend ranked third, couldn’t have wished for a better start to their defence of the Rugby Championship title, scoring seven tries on their first visit to Argentina since July 2019.
Dane Coles, Ardie Savea, Jordie Barrett, Rieko Ioane, Aaron Smith, Beauden Barrett and debutant Emoni Narawa crossed Los Pumas’ line, while Damian McKenzie was only successful with three of his seven conversion attempts.
For Argentina, Lucio Sordoni marked his return to international rugby with a try and their most-capped player Agustín Creevy dived over from close range on the stroke of full-time.
The victory extends the All Blacks’ unbeaten record against Los Pumas in Argentina to 15 matches and also boosts their rating in the World Rugby Men’s Rankings powered by Capgemini.
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