New Zealand vs. Argentina: Date, Time, Live Stream and 2014 TRC Preview
Argentina travel to Napier in the hope that Saturday's fixture against the All Blacks can bring about an almighty shock, having given South Africa a scare or two in their opening Rugby Championship fixtures.
New Zealand's 2014 title defence has gone largely to plan thus far. Despite the stumbling block of an opening-round draw in Sydney, their 51-20 win over Australia in Week 2 showed Steve Hansen's men are very much still the outfit to beat.
Daniel Hourcade's visitors certainly wouldn't be tipped as the most likely party to bring an end to that fine run of form, but New Zealand won't be taking the challenge lightly.
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Read on for a breakdown of the viewing information for Saturday's encounter, along with top talking points ahead of the clash at McLean Park.
Date: Saturday, Sept. 6
Time: 8:35 a.m. BST/3:35 a.m. ET
Live Stream: Sky Go (UK, subscription required), SuperSport stream (RSA, subscription required)
TV Info: Sky Sports 3 (UK), SuperSport 1 (RSA)
Hansen's Back-Line Shake-Up
One benefit of being All Blacks head coach is that the seemingly unending supply of top-class talent leaves Hansen with the option of experimenting in matches such as this while firmly maintaining a favourites tag.
Most notable among New Zealand's changes for Round 3 is their choice of backs, with Israel Dagg finally returning to the fray at fullback, leaving Ben Smith to shift onto the wing while Julian Savea retains his spot on the other flank.
Playing in front of a home crowd and in the wake of a Ranfurly Shield win with ITM Cup side Hawke's Bay, the Crusader is overjoyed to be back in Hansen's starting XV, per the official All Blacks Twitter account:
Dagg has been a revered figure in recent years, but Smith's emergence as an elite talent in the No. 15 jersey, mixed with a poorly timed knee injury, had seen the former kept out of the side for long stretches.
Ma'a Nonu returns from injury to give the hosts renewed brawn at inside centre, but another intriguing selection is to see Beauden Barrett starting at fly-half.
Aaron Cruden joins Dan Carter on the injured list for Saturday's clash, but as Paul Williams of Rugby World points out, depth once again shows itself to be one asset New Zealand boast in excess:
It makes for a new-look assortment of talents who are undoubtedly capable of pushing past Argentina, but one can expect the growing pains to be evident, at least to begin with.
Pumas Posing Set-Piece Test
Throughout both their close calls against the Springboks, Argentina again showed that their scrum has the potential to give them a fighting platform against competition of this magnitude.
However, it was in Salta a fortnight ago that their set-piece presence really told, stealing no fewer than four of South Africa's six scrum feeds, per ESPN Scrum, bullying Heyneke Meyer's pack on multiple occasions.
The Score rightly attests that it's not enough to bring them a result on its own, but Hourcade's forwards can at least hope to hold their own and then some when it comes to the tighter battles:
The Pumas' pack will need to be mobile in restraining their New Zealand counterparts considering Hansen's front eight is unchanged from the one that put more than 50 points on the Wallabies last time out.
The South Americans will take every advantage they can and will need a much more expansive run of fortune in order to topple the best side in the world, but their set piece is a good platform from which to launch.
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