Rugby Championship 2014: Argentina vs New Zealand head to head ratings

No.	Argentina	Rating	New Zealand	Rating
1.	Marcos Ayerza – Superb scrummager and alarmingly mobile in the loose. One of the top performers in the world in his position.	8.5	Wyatt Crockett – Has had a good tournament but will face a fierce examination from Herrera. Must be at the top of his game.	7
2.	Agustin Creevy (c) – A weak link going into the tournament, captaincy has galvanised him. A fiery, passionate player who leads by example.	7.5	Keven Mealamu – Still churning out the performances 117 caps later. With a rookie on the bench he might have to dig deeper than usual.	7
3.	Ramiro Herrera – The young prop has steadily got better and better this championship. Will relish another chance to get stuck into Crockett.	7	Owen Franks – Like his front row compatriots, must be at the top of his game to keep the Argentinian scrum from dominating.	7
4.	Mariano Galarza – Strong carrier and springy lineout jumper, but not in the league of his opponents this weekend.	7	Brodie Retallick – Unquestionably the best lock in the world right now. How can a man so big be so skilful?	9
5.	Tomas Lavanini – A huge ask for a man who was playing in the under 20s as recently as last year. Massive potential, but still pretty raw.	7	Sam Whitelock – The line-out maestro and one of the unsung heroes of the team. A useful carrier with delightfully delicate hands.	8
6.	Benjamin Macome – Has been in and out of the team for a few years, which doesn’t suggest consistent brilliance. Needs the game of his career.	6	Jerome Kaino – Restored to the team for the excellent Luatua and needs to repay the faith. Works hard in defence and offloads well when carrying.	8
7.	Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe – The heartbeat of the Pumas, even if he doesn’t have the captaincy band. With other experienced heads missing, he’s even more important.	8	Richie McCaw (c) – Started the championship slowly but has stormed back into form the last couple of rounds. The arch poacher has developed a handy try-scoring knack, too.	8.5
8.	Leonardo Senatore – Played well in the reverse fixture, despite being slightly out of position. A strong ball carrier, he’ll do well to match Read.	7	Kieran Read – His assist for the game-defining try against South Africa was a thing of real beauty, showcasing his strength, skill and awareness. Simply the best.	9.5
9.	Tomas Cubelli – Livewire scrum-half who has earned his start with some sparky substitute appearances. Will threaten the fringes more than Landajo did.	7	Aaron Smith – Fizzing service for his fly-half, an eye for a gap and a decent kicking game. Looking like the complete scrum-half at the moment.	8.5
10.	Nicolas Sanchez – Has had an astonishingly good championship, pulling the strings and putting his powerful runners in place. More of the same please.	7.5	Beauden Barrett – Outrageous to think he is third choice fly-half, given he is probably in the top five worldwide. Supremely quick and understands the space better than most.	8.5
11.	Manuel Montero – One of the finds of the tournament. Can be a bit suspect defensively at times, but is one of the best finishers about.	8	Julien Savea – Annoyingly for Montero, Savea is the best finisher about. His try-scoring record speaks for itself.	9
12.	Juan Martin Hernandez – Has the potential to dazzle at his mercurial best, but we’ve only seen glimpses of that in recent times. Perhaps the move to Toulon will galvanise him.	7.5	Malakai Fekitoa – Brimming with raw physicality, Fekitoa is one of the most prodigiously talented players around. Will be interesting to see if he is used as a distributor at all.	7.5
13.	Marcelo Bosch – A classy player at his best, but at the moment it is his boot that is most valuable to the Pumas. One of the longest goal kickers in the game right now.	7	Conrad Smith – The glue that holds the side together (it’s a cliché for a reason). Expect him to make the most of the space left from defenders following Fekitoa.	8.5
14.	Juan Imhoff – Another arch-finisher, lending this Argentine back three a dangerous feel. Like Montero, he is big and strong but with a good sidestep, too.	7	Ben Smith – Has been a bit quieter since his move out to the wing but is still a massively dangerous weapon in New Zealand’s attacking armoury.	8
15.	Joaquin Tuculet – Has impressed at the back this tournament, solid in defence and capable of a dangerous counter attack, too.	7.5	Israel Dagg – Has come back hugely strongly after being dropped. Loves to get his long legs galloping about the wide spaces, and a brilliant link man with the wingers.	8
TOTAL		109.5		122

PREDICTION

It’s becoming a real psychological battle for the Argentinians to get their first win – they keep coming so, so close only to fall at the final hurdle. Let’s face it though – a game against New Zealand is never likely to be the one in which they finally break their duck. The front row aside, they are simply in an inferior class.

The one thing that might work in Argentina’s favour is that New Zealand have a couple of new combinations to try out – inside centre is not Fekitoa’s best position and he has never played outside Beauden Barrett. But we’re splitting hairs here really – the All Blacks have too much class, and that will shine through by the final whistle. New Zealand by 15.

By Jamie Hosie
Follow Jamie on Twitter: @jhosie43

Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images