All Blacks beat Argentina 39-0 in Rugby Championship

GOLD COAST, Australia (AP) — Rieko Ioane was a late addition to the New Zealand starting lineup and he was on the scoreboard early against Argentina.

Ioane scored in the 10th minute and New Zealand crossed for two more tries just before halftime on the way to a 39-0 win Sunday to kick off a month of Rugby Championship doubleheaders.

Australia was hosting World Cup champion South Africa later Sunday at the same venue.

The All Blacks had back-to-back wins over Australia in the second and third Bledisloe Cup tests that also doubled as Rugby Championship matches and now have three wins from three starts in the 2021 tournament.

Argentina was coming off back-to-back losses in South Africa before heading to Australia to spend 14 days in isolation on the Gold Coast.

The Pumas were trailing 7-0 until Beauden Barrett slotted a penalty goal in the 34th minute. Then the All Blacks piled on, with winger Sevu Reece burrowing over from close range in the 37th and flanker Dalton Papalii scoring in the left corner just before the break to make it 22-0.

Between those tries Argentina backrower Pablo Matera was yellow carded for a ruck infringement, leaving the Pumas a man short in defense.

Beauden Barrett took the ball to the line in the 47th and beat two defenders before flicking a back-of-the-hand pass to No. 8 Luke Jacobson to score New Zealand's first points of the second half.

New Zealand had a try disallowed in the 66th but, with Argentina down a man again with replacement prop Carlos Muzzio yellow carded, Jacobson barged over from close range for his second try.

A big hit by All Blacks tighthead Nepo Laulala on Matera in the opening seconds of the game set the defensive tone for the match.

Ioane, who was drafted in when center Anton Lienert-Brown was ruled out hours before the match with a hamstring strain, opened the scoring when he beat Jordie Barrett to the ball in the in-goal area.

Jordie Barrett went close to doubling the lead four minutes later when he jumped high to grab a cross-field kick from his brother but couldn’t quite ground it inside the dead-ball line.

The New Zealanders created chances but desperate defense from the Pumas held them out for most of the first half.

It was a vastly different outcome to the corresponding match last November in Sydney when Argentina, by dominating possession, controlling field possession and defending faultlessly for 80 minutes, was able to beat New Zealand for the first time in 31 tests. New Zealand responded to that loss by winning the return game 38-0 and winning the condensed Tri-Nations series.

New Zealand now leads the Rugby Championship after beating Australia 57-22 and 38-21 in its first two matches of the tournament.

The remainder of the tournament is being held in Queensland state because of travel complications caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, with double-headers on the Gold Coast and in Brisbane and Townsville over the four weekends.

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