Many were quick to dismiss Argentina’s victory over New Zealand in Christchurch in the 2022 Rugby Championship – the Pumas’ first away win – as a one-off event, a blip in the turbulent tenure of now-departed All Blacks head coach Ian Foster.

Two years later in Wellington, when Argentina scored another Rugby Championship win with a stunning 38-30 victory over the All Blacks, it could be fate.

Argentina’s most capped player, Agustin Creevy, 39, came off the bench to score the decisive try in the 69th minute that put Los Pumas ahead. His team produced a legendary final quarter at the Sky Stadium to secure a huge victory for the country’s rugby community and for Felipe Contepomi, who is in his first year as coach and has been inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame.

For Argentina, it is only their third win in 38 matches against New Zealand, with all victories coming since 2020; Los Pumas’ first victory against the All Blacks came in Sydney during the 2020 Tri Nations Series.

And as for the All Blacks, first-year coach Scott Robertson (and former architect of the Crusaders dynasty) suddenly has to answer a lot of questions about his team, whose hopes of a fifth consecutive Rugby Championship title are now in imminent danger, especially with two test matches against reigning Rugby World Cup champions South Africa still to come.

The hosts started well, being the first to take the lead through Sam Darry, who scored a try in the 15th minute in only his second senior international appearance after making his debut against Fiji last month. His five-pointer, along with a conversion and a penalty from Damian McKenzie, put the All Blacks 10-0 up early on.

But while things could easily have gone wrong for Los Pumas from there, the South Americans showed little concern in a city where they have already lost to the All Blacks four times. Despite being caught getting in their own way many times in the first half, conceding 11 penalties, Argentina were far from out of the running at halftime, with the hosts leading 20-15 at halftime.

Centre Lucio Cinti scored the first of the visitors’ four tries in the 23rd minute and even when Anton Lienert-Brown scored for the All Blacks in the 35th minute to put them 20-8 ahead, Los Pumas remained calm. Moments later they capitalised on a botched clearance from McKenzie when Mateo Carreras picked up the loose ball and scampered away to reduce the deficit with a simple try before the dressing room.

As the second half began, Argentina began to write its name into legend.

While indiscipline almost doomed Los Pumas in the first 40 minutes, they limited themselves to just three whistles in the final 40 minutes and focused on one thing as the tension mounted – beating the All Blacks once again on their own turf. An almost instant try from Franco Molina, following a brilliant lineout where he caught the ball short and charged forward after Los Pumas had tricked the All Blacks with a jump shot, put Argentina 22-20 just three minutes into the second half.

After a penalty on both sides, the lead changed hands until the quickest Mark Tele’a broke through from close range and scored in the 52nd minute, putting the All Blacks back in front by five points. However, McKenzie’s subsequent kick was the last time New Zealand scored any points.

Santiago Carreras converted a penalty in the 56th minute to make it 30-28 and after a little over 10 minutes of waiting, Argentina finally broke through when the ageless Creevy blasted over from close range. A converted goal and a penalty then extended Los Pumas’ lead to a crucial eight points and New Zealand’s desperate attempt to get back into the game came to nothing and Los Pumas completed the surprise victory.

It was a deserved victory for Argentina and a brilliant result in the still young coaching career of Contepomi, who is already a playing legend at Los Pumas and succeeded Michael Cheika after the Rugby World Cup last year.

Meanwhile, New Zealand will look to avoid an arguably more disastrous second defeat in a Rugby Championship return match against Argentina next weekend at Eden Park, a venue where the All Blacks have not lost since 1994.