AUCKLAND: New Zealand thumped Argentina 42-10 on Saturday as Will Jordan grabbed two of their six tries in The Rugby Championship to avenge last week’s shock defeat by the Pumas.

Fly-half Damian McKenzie scored 17 points as the All Blacks defied wet conditions in Auckland in a skilled attacking display to maintain their 30-year unbeaten record at Eden Park.

It was a vast improvement on the 38-30 loss in Wellington last week, with an explosive first-half performance pushing the hosts 35-3 ahead through five converted tries.

It was built on a dominant display from the forwards, who heeded the call for “redemption” by coach Scott Robertson after they were outplayed last week. “We said all week about looking at ourselves in the mirror. For the All Blacks, we have to bring that every week,” New Zealand captain Ardie Savea said.

“We can’t rely on a loss to get that response. “It was about playing in the right areas of the field. I thought Damian and ‘Baz’ (fullback Beauden Barrett) controlled the game really well and allowed us forwards to roll up our sleeves and get to work.”

Argentina’s scrum was overpowered and they weren’t the same force at the breakdown in a performance punctuated by mistakes. Their lone try came late in the match to fullback Juan Cruz Mallia, with tighter defence from the visitors levelling the second-half score at 7-7.

Pumas captain Julian Montoya, who missed the first Test through injury, said his side was outclassed. “We weren’t good enough this week. We need to try to be consistent, week in, week out and we didn’t do it,” he said. “We made a lot of mistakes, we need to be better. Congratulations to the All Blacks. They were quality today.”

It was New Zealand’s best performance under first-year coach Robertson in his fifth match in charge. New Zealand have now won their past 50 Tests in Auckland since their last defeat there against France in 1994.

McKenzie landed all six conversion attempts and his general play was superior to the first Test, mixing an astute long kicking game with some clever chips to counter the Pumas.

He also opened the scoring with a try after pouncing on a chip from Jordie Barrett. Santiago Carreras responded with a Pumas penalty goal before Savea powered over for his 27th Test try, lifting him level with former skipper Richie McCaw for the most by an All Blacks forward.

Wingers Jordan and Caleb Clarke were both put into space for tries, Jordan capitalizing on a blindside break from scrum-half TJ Perenara.

McKenzie’s sweetly timed pass put Barrett across just before the interval.

Jordan continued the rout soon after the break, lifting him to 33 tries in as many Tests in his first starting appearance since last year’s World Cup.

The game entered a lull before Mallia’s try and a late yellow card was shown to All Blacks hooker Asafo Aumua for a high tackle. New Zealand’s next two Rugby Championship Tests are against the world champion Springboks in South Africa, while Argentina will host Australia in two Tests. — AFP