"He's Like a Ferrari" - 5 All Blacks Talking Points as Will Jordan Returns for Argentina Clash in Rugby Championship

The Pumas warmed up for the two Tests in New Zealand with a 12-try thrashing of neighbours Uruguay in a 179-5 victory after a 1-1 draw in their home series with France.

New Zealand blooded several new players in their 47-5 win over Fiji in San Diego last month having been made to work for two narrow victories in their 2-0 series win over England.

All Blacks captain Scott Barrett is sidelined after surgery to a finger injury, so misses the two games against the Pumas, at Sky Stadium then Auckland’s Eden Park with world player of 2023 Ardie Savea wearing the skipper’s armband for the hosts.

Here are the top five talking points from the All Blacks camp in the build up:

Will Jordan has grabbed 31 tries in as many Tests since a 2020 debut, a scoring rate which puts the 26-year-old on course to beat John Kirwan’s record of 67 tries for the All Blacks.

Jordan missed the entire Super Rugby Pacific campaign for the Crusaders with a shoulder injury and last played a Test in the World Cup final defeat to South Africa.

After a 60-min run out for his province Tasman last weekend in Christchurch, under the watchful eye of the All Blacks coach, Jordan will be on the bench to face Argentina as cover for full-back Beauden Barrett, wingers Mark Tele’a or Sevu Reece.

"He scored a trademark try and his anticipation was good. He's in good nick, he's fit, he's ready to go," Robertson said of Jordan."Beauden's been exceptional, so having Jordan off the bench to make an impact will be special."

The fleet-footed Jordan grabbed a hat-trick of tries when Argentina were dismissed 44-6 by New Zealand in the World Cup semi-finals last October.

"Will's looking great in training," All Blacks fly-half Damian McKenzie said ahead of the championship opener. "He's like a Ferrari -- bring him out of the garage at the right time and he's ready to go. "It's been a long time coming since the World Cup, so we're excited to have him back."

Scott Barrett misses both Tests against Argentina after surgery on a finger injury, but has been joined on the sideline by Patrick Tuipulotu, who picked up a calf injury.

Their absence leaves the All Blacks short of experience in the scrum’s boiler room. Blues lock Sam Darry, who only made his debut in the win over Fiji, will partner Chiefs forward Tupou Vaa’i in a new-look second row combination with back up from Josh Lord (four caps) on the bench.

Darry will win just his second cap, while Vaa’i has played 28 times in black. “There is some fresh blood coming through with the second-rows, Sam has been impressive since he came in,” said Robertson.“

Josh has worn the black jersey before, so he will be straight up to the standard.”As Robertson pointed out, the All Blacks won’t be short of tall timber at the line-out as Darry stands at 6 foot, eight inches, Lord is 6ft, 9in and Vaa’I is 6ft 7in.

New Zealand have racked up 40+ points in each of their last three wins over Argentina, including that World Cup semi-final rout. The All Blacks have won 16 of their 17 games against Argentina on New Zealand soil, but the hosts want no repeat of the Pumas’ historic win in Christchurch two years ago when Emiliano Boffelli punished the hosts ill-discipline by landing six penalties and converting a Juan Martín González try.

Jordie Barrett, who played at full-back in the defeat, said the All Blacks needed to learn from that night and stay on the right side of Australian referee Angus Gardner in Wellington.

“Discipline was the main thing. With the Argentinians, whoever is kicking their goals, they are always sharpshooters. So we have to be very clean in that area, take the decisions out of the referee’s hands and show great pictures there.“So it’s important we start well with discipline.”

The capital city has not been a happy hunting ground in recent years for the All Blacks, who are winless in their last four Test matches at Sky Stadium.Ireland won the last international there in 2022, running out 32-22 winners to seal a historic 2-1 series victory over the All Blacks, the first by the Irish on New Zealand soil.Previous to that, New Zealand drew 16-all with Australia in Wellington in 2020 having also drawn with South Africa at Sky Stadium in 2019 and lost to the Springboks at the same venue in 2018.The hosts are keen to start the Rugby Championship with a win to prove a point in Wellington.

“It’d be nice to flip that around and put that to bed,” admitted Jordie Barrett. "I think it's come to the surface due to the quality of the opposition we have played in big Wellington Tests.

"It's no different to what we are facing this week against Argentina. They got us on the nose a few years ago in Christchurch. They started well, so it's important we don’t let that happen again."

England’s blitz defence caused New Zealand plenty of problems in last month’s series and the All Blacks will want to improve their set-pieces, especially as Maro Itoje caused the home pack no end of grief at the line-out.

Robertson has opted for the physical presence of Anton Lienert-Brown over the pace of Reiko Ioane in the centre.The All Blacks head coach wants to see his side build on the strong defence shown so far this season, but also finish chances they create, having let a few early opportunities slip in both games against England.

“Defensively, we have been really pleased with the stats and tackle outcomes which have given us opportunities to win games, to grow our ability with the ball,” he said.

“We had a lot of opportunities early, which we didn’t execute and got into an arm wrestle, so the games got close,” he added about the England series.

“There has been a focus to execute but keep trust in our skills, to still be courageous. Now we want to play it two or three different ways, depending on who is in front of us and the weather."