The All Blacks admit they need to improve their discipline as a passionate and physical Pumas team awaits them in Sydney this Saturday.
Players have reviewed the 24-22 loss to the Wallabies in Brisbane last Saturday, in which they gave away 12 penalties.
The All Blacks were also reduced to 13 men at one point after Ofa Tuungafasi was sent off for a dangerous tackle and Scott Barrett sent to the sin bin for playing the ball on the ground deliberately.
Dane Coles says Tuungafasi has been quiet in the All Blacks camp after the sending off, as he waits to learn his fate tonight in front of a SANZAAR judiciary.
“Ofa is a big lad, but we’ve just got to be better,” said Coles during a press conference on Monday.
“We do a lot of tackling practice during the week. It’s only a split-second to make that decision, but we’ve just got to lower our sights and our targets to not get those red cards again because us tackling the same way ain’t going to change things.
“So we need to be better and adapt. It’s like at the World Cup, when we saw a few reds over there, and we did a lot of work to make sure we lowered our heights."
"It’s not just Ofa’s thing, it’s all of us. We got a few penalties round head-high, so we need to be way better in that department because discipline was a bit of a letdown at the weekend."
The All Blacks remain at the top of the Tri-Nations table with six points, two ahead of the Wallabies who have also won and lost a game.
Yet to play is Argentina, who Ian Foster's men come up against this Saturday after recently leaving quarantine.
The Pumas have not played a Test match since last year's World Cup in Japan, however they looked sharp in last weekend's match against an Australian XV team, winning 57-24.
All Blacks midfielder Anton Lienert-Brown says he expects a passionate Argentinean performance, highlighting their dangerous forward pack.
"I have no doubt they will turn up ready to go," he said.
"I watched a little bit of their play, they're a passionate country, passionate men, they're going to want to put their best foot forward."
"They are looking sharp. We expect them to turn up like the Pumas do normally."
The All Blacks are on a 27-match win streak dating back to a 21-21 draw in 1985 and have never lost to the Pumas.
In their last encounter in July last year, the All Blacks won 20-16 in Buenos Aires.
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