Argentina 15-54 New Zealand, Rugby Championship
McCaw delighted by performance
ESPN Staff
September 30, 2012
New Zealand's Aaron Smith dives in to score, Argentina v New Zealand, The Rugby Championship, Estadio De La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina, September 29, 2012
Scrum-half Aaron Smith scored one of seven tries for the All Blacks © Getty Images
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New Zealand captain Richie McCaw was more pleased with the manner more than the margin of their 54-15 victory over Argentina in Buenos Aires.

Wingers Julian Savea and Corey Jane scored five tries between them while Aaron Smith and Ma'a Nonu also crossed for the visitors as the All Blacks claimed the inaugural Rugby Championship title. And skipper McCaw, who claimed his 99th Test win, was thrilled with the way the world champions - unbeaten in eight Tests this year - went about their task.

"The goal is to put last year behind us but we've got the tag of world champions and we want to play like that," he said.

"To secure the Rugby Championship this year was a big goal and it's nice to be able to do that but I think a better performance is what the guys are pretty happy with. Rather than scoreboard-wise, it was the manner in which we did it was satisfying."

Coach Steve Hansen was equally delighted with the display and highlighted the efforts of the forwards in setting the platform from which New Zealand's backs tore apart the Argentine defence.

"We trained all week to do things with purpose, accuracy and execution and by a large we succeeded in doing that," he said. "It was one our best performances of the season.

"The manner we did it was very satisfying. To be able to attack like that, you have to have a platform and the forwards played very well."

Argentina skipper Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe accepted his side had been well beaten.

"We met a really, really good team today," he said. "We made more mistakes than usual and every mistake seemed to cost us seven points.

"However, we will learn some lessons from that. It was a very, very tough game and we tried everything. Against Australia next week we will try to finish on a high. It has been a great tournament for us."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

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