Argentina v New Zealand All Blacks: Rugby Tri-Nations – live!

And they’re closely followed by Argentina in a blue and white kit of great beauty. The jersey has a collar and buttons, and the men mountains stuffed inside them are wearing them like high-schoolers awaiting detention.

There are plenty of No.10 Argentina jerseys in Newcastle tonight, in honour of Diego Maradona, the country’s transcendent footballer who died earlier this week. It will be an emotional night for the Pumas and their fans.

This is a fascinating feature interview with referee Nigel Owens ahead of his 100th Test. Among the nuggets offered by the Welsh whistle blower is this gem on the challenge of officiating a sport with such byzantine laws in an age of TV reviews.

So much of rugby is a grey area. You’ve got to use your experience, empathy and interpretation to decide whether that whistle needs to get blown or not. The way the game is going it’s becoming unreffable in a sense because every decision is being looked at. We need to get back to the referee actually reffing the game and relying less on the TMO.

You don’t need me to tell you that things are not going according to plan for New Zealand rugby at the moment. An early World Cup exit followed by a poor run of form for the All Blacks has focussed attention on the game’s decision makers. As Matt McIlraith writes, Ian Foster’s role should already be under threat, while the suits who overlooked Scott Robertson’s claims to replace Steve Hansen should not be sitting comfortably either.

The national calamity – feared, if largely unspoken about, since the underwhelming appointment of Steve Hansen’s former assistant late last year – has become a reality.

We are in for one of the hottest Test matches in history this evening with Newcastle sweltering through a late Spring heatwave. Temperatures have hovered around the 40C mark for much of the day and despite sundown providing some respite the mercury will remain around 30C for most of the contest.

To make matters worse there is a not insignificant northerly breeze.

Do not expect a high-intensity 80 minutes.

Despite facing intense scrutiny following consecutive defeats, Ian Foster is standing his ground with regards team selection. There are just three changes from the side outplayed by Argentina a fortnight ago with Akira Ioane replacing Shannon Frizell at blindside flanker, lock Scott Barrett coming in for Patrick Tuipulotua, and Nepo Laulala swapping his place on the bench with tighthead Tyrel Lomax.

“There’s a real determination in the team to perform well, not only for ourselves, but also our families and friends at home and our country,” Foster said.

Joe Moody lines up for his 50th cap.

Los Pumas are much changed, and it’s little surprise after delivering two huge performances in a row following a year’s lay-off. Only five players remain from last week’s draw with the Wallabies, but they are Mario Ledesma’s big five: points machine Nicolás Sánchez, inspirational captain Pablo Matera, back row destroyer Marcos Kremer, lineout monster Guido Petti and hooker Julian Montoya, who excelled against New Zealand a fortnight ago.

It would be an incredible statement of the depth of Argentinian rugby if this XV can keep pace with an All Blacks outfit hell-bent on revenge.