It’s always a big deal when New Zealand’s rugby team is defeated.
But for as long as some of the All Blacks players have been alive, there is one venue where this title has never been won.
Eden Park is a rugby giant in New Zealand’s largest city and frequent home of the All Blacks. Many countries have tried to outdo New Zealand at this stadium over the past three decades, but all have failed.
That could change if Argentina – which surprisingly defeated the All Blacks in the first round of the Rugby Championship on New Zealand soil last weekend – has another surprise in store.
This weekend, the All Blacks have both their back-to-back Rugby Championship title streak and their unbeaten record at Eden Park on the line as hungry Los Pumas look to become the first team in years to defeat New Zealand on its most famous ground.
Do we need to say more about the missions?
Here’s a look at everything you need to know ahead of the highly anticipated Rugby Championship return match between New Zealand and Argentina in Auckland:
New Zealand
What would be worse for New Zealand than losing to Argentina?
They lost two games in a row to Argentina – and one of those defeats came at a venue where the All Blacks had not been beaten for 30 years.
New Zealand have not been defeated at Auckland’s Eden Park fortress since the summer of 1994, when France did so. During that period they have recorded 47 wins and two draws against 12 different opponents. The All Blacks, regardless of their pre-match performance, always seem to kick things up a gear when playing on their de facto home ground.
But this winning streak has to end at some point. And although many would probably consider old rivals such as South Africa or Australia to be the winners of the success, given their performance against New Zealand in recent years, one has to respect the Pumas as the potential tail-end of their winning streak.
Those concerns have prompted new coach Scott Robertson to make four changes to the team that was beaten 38-30 in the opening round of this year’s Rugby Championship in Wellington last weekend. The All Blacks are also four-time defending champions and are on the wrong foot as they attempt their fifth title defence.
New Zealand start with two new wingers: Will Jordan, who came off the bench for the All Blacks last weekend in his first competitive match since the Rugby World Cup (after missing the entire Super Rugby season due to shoulder surgery), starts on the right, and Caleb Clarke – who had a strong year with the Blues in Super Rugby – starts on the left. These two replace Sevu Reece and Mark Tele’a respectively, with the latter relegated to the bench.
Centre Rieko Ioane is also back in the starting line-up after coming on as a substitute in Wellington to replace Anton Lienert-Brown. And with Ethan de Groot out as loosehead prop with a neck injury, it is Tamaiti Williams, a former Crusaders player under Robertson – not Ola Tu’ungafasi – who gets to start in the front row. He and second-row Sam Darry are the only players in the starting line-up with fewer than 10 caps to their name.
Ardie Savea is captain again, with Scott Barrett out as he recovers from a finger injury. But the All Blacks’ leadership was sorely lacking in the first Test against Argentina and will be looking to return to Auckland. That’s probably a big reason why former New Zealand captain Sam Cane has also been named on the bench, as he has plenty of dressing room experience, having made 95 appearances and appearing at three Rugby World Cups.
Argentina
For decades, a Test between New Zealand and Argentina was essentially a foregone conclusion before it even began.
Whether it was a tour by one of the teams, the Rugby Championship or the Rugby World Cup, the All Blacks have not lost a single game against Los Pumas from the first recognised Test in 1985 to 2020 – a streak of 29 consecutive games.
But since Argentina finally ended New Zealand’s dominance with their first victory over the All Blacks at the 2020 Tri Nations Series in Sydney, Los Pumas have shown that this is the dawn of a new era for both teams, for better or for worse.
All three of Argentina’s victories against New Zealand in rugby union have come in the past four years, with last weekend’s stunner in Wellington being the South Americans’ latest triumph over the All Blacks and new coach (and legendary Los Pumas player) Felipe Contepomi’s first win over them.
A win at Eden Park this weekend, however, would surpass all previous triumphs, as the decades of rugby titans coming to Auckland and faltering would finally come to an end, and in a way that few would likely expect – but would also undoubtedly be deserved if Los Pumas could pull it off.
Hooker Julian Montoya is back to captain Los Pumas after sitting out the Test in Wellington with a rib injury. Backrow forward Pablo Matera – who put in a titanic performance against the All Blacks last weekend – has been named vice-captain. He will hope to lead Argentina to their first consecutive win over New Zealand and add another victory over his former coach at the Crusaders, who Matera led to the Super Rugby title in 2022.
Ignacio Ruiz will drop to the bench with Montoya’s arrival, while Lucas Sordoni will play as tighthead prop to the right of the captain, replacing Eduardo Bello. Franco Molina has also been sent to the bench to replace Marcos Kremer, who switches from openside flanker to lock for the Auckland Test, as Juan Martin Gonzalez (starting No.8 last weekend) takes up his former role in the meantime.
Joaquin Oviedo gets the nod at No. 8 after Gonzalez started on the bench against the All Blacks last weekend, while Argentina’s defence remained unchanged. Agustin Creevy, the 39-year-old hooker and Los Pumas’ all-time best player who scored the try that put Argentina ahead last weekend, is out of the 23 entirely as Contepomi opted for a 5-3 split on his bench, rather than the 6-2 split used in Wellington.
Squads
New Zealand: 1 Tamaiti Williams, 2 Codie Taylor (VC), 3 Tyrel Lomax, 4 Tupou Vaa’i, 5 Sam Darry, 6 Ethan Blackadder, 7 Dalton Papali’i, 8 Ardie Savea (C), 9 TJ Perenara, 10 Damian McKenzie, 11 Caleb Clarke, 12 Jordie Barrett (VC), 13 Rieko Ioane, 14 Will Jordan, 15 Beauden Barrett
Bank: 16 Asafo Aumua, 17 Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 18 Fletcher Newell, 19 Josh Lord, 20 Sam Cane, 21 Cortez Ratima, 22 Anton Lienert-Brown, 23 Mark Tele’a
Argentina: 1 Thomas Gallo, 2 Julian Montoya (center), 3 Lucio Sordoni, 4 Marcos Kremer, 5 Pedro Rubiolo, 6 Pablo Matera (VC), 7 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 8 Joaquin Oviedo, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 10 Santiago Carreras, 11 Mateo Carreras , 12 Santiago Chocobares, 13 Lucio Cinti, 14 Matias Moroni, 15 Juan Cruz Mallia (VC)
Bank: 16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Joel Sclavi, 19 Franco Molina, 20 Tomas Lavanini, 21 Lautaro Bazan Velez, 22 Tomas Albornoz, 23 Bautista Delguy
