Argentina served up one of the biggest upsets in Test rugby history when they stunned New Zealand in the Tri-Nations on Saturday in Parramatta, Australia, beating the three-times world champions for the first time in 30 attempts going back 35 years. An inspired Nicolás Sánchez scored all of Argentina’s points with a try, six penalties and a conversion, and the Pumas held off a fierce late onslaught to secure a famous victory in what was their first Test for more than a year. Argentina were given virtually no chance of winning their tournament opener after being sidelined for such a long period by the global health crisis. The Western Sydney Stadium was an unlikely venue for such a landmark win, but the ecstatic Pumas gathered in front of a small band of compatriots at the final whistle and celebrated with a song and dance. “They just showed themselves as they are, the players are like that and Argentinian people are like that,” said their coach, Mario Ledesma. “For a long time we were copying what other people were doing, but we’re different, really proud of being different. “This is really special for us. It’s surreal just playing that game after everything that has happened this year. Some of the players have not seen their families for four months and they haven’t complained once. We’ll remember this for a long time … I guess somebody will write a book about it.” The All Blacks coach, Ian Foster, insisted his team had not underestimated Argentina after losing back-to-back Tests for the first time in nine years. “We’ve had those sort of arm-wrestles with them before,” he said. “They are a team we have massive respect for. They challenged us on our composure and it’s probably two weeks [where] we haven’t handled that very well.” Foster paid tribute to the Pumas, who have spent much of their preparation time for the tournament in quarantined environments in South America and Australia. “Everybody said their disadvantage was that they hadn’t played a lot of rugby,” he said. “[But] they came here with massive energy and probably a massive desire to prove something for their country who have gone through a heck of a hard time. “There’s no excuses. It’s an All Blacks jersey and we have to do our best every time. But there certainly was a contrast in the intensity of the two teams.” Foster said there was plenty of work to do in the two weeks before New Zealand’s final match, also against Argentina. “We’ve got to recharge and make sure we finish on a high,” he said. “We don’t like having another team play with more intensity than us so we’ve got to figure out how to respond.”