ALL BLACKS 25 ARGENTINA 19:

Flyhalf Daniel Carter scored 15 points for New Zealand as they beat Argentina 25-19 in a stop-start match dominated by the whistle of referee Nigel Whitehouse in Buenos Aires on Saturday.

Whitehouse awarded more than 20 penalties, most stemming from the breakdown, and issued yellow cards to Pumas winger Jose Nunez Piossek and All Blacks fullback Leon MacDonald for professional fouls.

Whitehouse's intervention stymied any flow in a match which the Pumas could have snatched at the end when they had several attacking lineouts in the final seconds only for desperate All Blacks defence to keep them out.

"It was pretty frustrating that the game didn't flow because there was a lot of whistle," New Zealand coach Graham Henry said in a televised interview. "But I can't say whether it was good bad or indifferent until I look at the tape.

"The weather didn't help and the ball was as slippery as soap and very hard to hang on to."

Carter, who seemed to suffer a knock midway through the second half which affected his goalkicking, scored a try and slotted 10 points from two penalties and two conversions. The flyhalf, however, also missed four shots at goal as well as a mid-field drop-goal attempt.

MacDonald and debutant winger Scott Hamilton scored tries for the All Blacks while Argentina blindside flanker Martin Durand scored his side's only try.

Flyhalf Federico Todeschini also had trouble with his footing on the slippery surface and missed four shots at goal, though managed to slot four penalties and a conversion for 14 points.

Todeschini had opened the scoring when he calmly slotted a long-range penalty.

That was matched by Carter five minutes later before MacDonald slipped over on the blindside of a ruck after a well-worked backline movement that involved players running into gaps and beating their opposition with well-timed passes.

The Argentine flyhalf narrowed the gap with his second penalty before Pichot capitalised on an All Blacks turnover and fed right wing Jose Nunez Piossek who drew the last man and fed the flying Durand.

Todeschini added the conversion then another penalty to give his side a 16-8 lead after 27 minutes.

The All Blacks then put pressure on the Pumas in the slippery conditions when Gonzalo Tiesi fumbled on his line and Carter was able to scoot under the posts untouched from the resulting attacking scrum.

Todeschini then suffered the yips with his kicking, badly mistiming two late penalty attempts meaning his side were unable to extend their 16-15 lead by the break.

Hamilton scored his first Test try eight minutes after the break when he fell on a ball that had been kicked off an Argentine defender's feet after the All Blacks forwards Jason Eaton and Chris Masoe had rampaged down field.
Carter's conversion gave the All Blacks a 22-16 lead with 30 minutes remaining.

Todeschini brought the margin back to three points when he added his fourth penalty before Carter ended the scoring with his second penalty.

The Pumas defended for most of the remainder of the match until the final three minutes when they hammered away at the All Blacks line, though were held out.

"It was tough. We hadn't played for a couple of weeks and we made it tough on ourselves," said All Blacks captain Jerry Collins.

"But I can't take anything away from Argentina, they are pretty hard to beat at home."