Argentina stun New Zealand with a 38-30 victory in Wellington

New Zealand 30-38 Argentina, Wellington

Argentina stunned New Zealand with a 38-30 victory in the opening round of the Rugby Championship in Wellington on Saturday.

The result also means the All Blacks now have lost their last five encounters at the venue as Scott Robertson's troops had no answer to a solid Argentina display.

The South Americans conceded an early penalty in the 11th minute and Damian McKenzie kicked to perfection to make 3-0 before they scored the opening try in the 15th minute when McKenzie, Beauden Barrett and Codie Taylor combined to send Sam Darry over the line.

McKenzie also kicked the conversion to make it 10-0.

The Pumas responded in the 23rd minute when Santiago Chocobares sent a pass to Lucio Cinti to touchdown before McKenzie, with his second penalty, restored the six-point lead.

Santi Carreras kicked a three-pointer of his own around the half-hour mark before the Gloucester playmaker and New Zealand's Anton Lienert-Brown traded tries as the teams completed the opening 40 with a 20-15 scoreline.

The visitors were the quickest to get out of the blocks in the second half as Franco Molina powered his way over to put the Pumas into the lead but that was short-lived as McKenzie kicked his third penalty to make it 23-22.

Carreras cancelled out that effort but on 53 minutes, Mark Telea dotted down after evading a tackle from Marcos Kremer and McKenzie kicked the conversion to make it 30-25.

However, Argentina would not go away and a further three points from Carreras was followed by the decisive moment of the contest when Joaquin Oviedo sent an offload for veteran Agustin Creevy to touchdown.

Carreras kicked the conversion to make it 30-35, a lead the Pumas managed to hold as they sealed a famous victory and their second over the All Blacks in two years.

“It was amazing. I think we had a really good performance. We spoke in the week about hitting first and we hit first. I thought we dominated the whole game," said Creevy.

“For me, personally, I am 39 and this is the first time in my life I have won in New Zealand. This game for us is f----- amazing. And now, thinking, I want to win next week.”

The Pumas head to Eden Park on Saturday while South Africa will be looking to build on their opening 33-7 victory against Australia when they travel to Perth.

Team line-ups:

New Zealand: 15. Beauden Barrett, 14. Sevu Reece, 13. Anton Lienert-Brown, 12. Jordie Barrett, 11. Mark Tele’a, 10. Damian McKenzie, .9 TJ Perenara, 1. Ethan de Groot, 2. Codie Taylor, 3. Tyrel Lomax, 4. Tupou Vaa’i, 5. Sam Darry, 6. Ethan Blackadder, 7. Dalton Papali’i, 8. Ardie Savea (c)

Replacements: 16. Asafo Aumua, 17. Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 18. Fletcher Newell, 19. Josh Lord, 20. Wallace Sititi, 21. Cortez Ratima, 22. Rieko Ioane, 23. Will Jordan

Argentina: 15. Juan Cruz Mallía, 14. Matías Moroni, 13. Lucio Cinti, 12. Santiago Chocobares, 11. Mateo Carreras, 10. Santiago Carreras, 9. Gonzalo Bertranou, 1. Thomas Gallo, 2. Ignacio Ruiz, 3. Eduardo Bello, 4. Franco Molina, 5. Pedro Rubiolo, 6. Pablo Matera (c), 7. Marcos Kremer, 8. 8 Juan Martín González

Replacements: 16. Agustin Creevy, 17. Mayco Vivas, 18. Joel Sclavi, 19. Efrain Elias, 20. Tomas Lavanini, 21. Joaquin Oviedo, 22. Lautaro Bazan Velez, 23. Tomas Albornoz