Pablo Matera and the unforgettable All Backs victory in New Zealand: “We became the first Puma to win here”

Paolo Matera is no longer the captain of The Cougars. But he continues to lead with strength of contrasts and runs to propose a team that seems convinced they can beat anyone in this rugby championship. He did it two weeks ago before wallabyin San Juan, and did it again this Saturday before All black. It was also the first victory on Maori land since the baptismal triumph two years ago, in Sydney, in the improvised Tri-Nations in times of pandemic. On that occasion there was also Matera, who returned to Christchurch, the city where he lived seven months while playing for the Crusaders, with a clear goal.

“First you have to dream that things happen. We work to make them happen. We came for that. To be the first Pumas to win here“, released the eighth in dialogue with ESPN after 25-18 obtained at Orangetheory Stadium.

Matera, over 25-18, in the third row considered “the clash complicated” and evaluated “the temperance and maturity of the team”.

The former captain spoke at length about Boffelli’s great performance, who finished with 20 of the Argentine team’s 25 points. “He played a great game. Nothing went wrong, even from behind the half way line. He has a very difficult role, he gives us a lot of confidence, we know we can score from all sides with his foot,” he stressed.

And he also appreciated how the team defended themselves well in the final minutes when the All Blacks, nervously and even persistently, sought the goal and transformation that would allow them to equalize the duel despite not having played well at all.

“This is the confidence that we have next to us. Defense works when we are disciplined. We know it can’t happen to us when we are like that. We have been working on defense for a long time,” he said.

Although it was not the first against the All Blacks, Matera felt that this Saturday’s victory, at dawn in Argentina, is the most important in the history of Los Pumas. “For me it is the most important victory, the most beautiful, to have obtained it in Christchurch, to have been the first in New Zealand”.

And he closed: “We had never won here. It was the goal, we achieved it. And we did it in Christchurch, a special city for me, where I lived for seven months. And we achieved it. We did it. reached with my team. I feel at home, they adopted my wife, my son. The seven months here were among the best I have lived in New Zealand. Coming here and winning is very special. I think it’s a beautiful dream come true “.