Emotional Pumas coach Ledesma hails players after All Blacks win

Argentina coach Mario Ledesma shed tears of joy after the Pumas ended a 35-year wait for their first victory over New Zealand on Saturday, moved as much by the obstacles his players had been forced to overcome as by the performance.

A coaching year that started with zoom sessions, continued in lockdown in camps in Argentina and Uruguay before two weeks of quarantine in Australia produced its first result on the pitch with a stunning 25-15 triumph over the All Blacks.

"Unreal, unreal – surreal. After everything that happened this year," a tearful Ledesma said on the pitch at Western Sydney Stadium.

"We have been through hell and... and the boys just kept ticking, working and making efforts.

"Just staying positive with everything that is going on, which in itself is already a lot. And then coming out here and playing the game that they played, it is just incredible.

"Just so proud of them."

Still with tears in his eyes as he fronted the post-match news conference, the former Pumas hooker said the victory was his greatest as a coach and again paid tribute to his players.

"There's no magic formula, it's always the players," he said.

"They've been great throughout the whole pandemic situation. Going from quarantine to quarantine. Some of the players haven't seen their families for four months and they haven't complained once, they've always been positive."

Argentina captain Pablo Matera, who led by example with a brutal performance at blindside flanker, said he had fully expected to beat New Zealand for the first time in 30 attempts.

"Yeah, 100%," he said. "We have a great team, a lot of great young players arriving to the team and they put in a lot of energy and they really know what the jersey represents for Argentina."

Matera said that former Australia coach Michael Cheika, who Ledesma brought in as a consultant for the Tri-Nations, had helped imbue the side with that self-confidence.

"He just came to us first day and said, 'What are you waiting for? You've got everything, you've got big players, young players, you've got a lot of energy, just go and take it'," Matera recalled.

"I think that made us believe a lot more in ourselves."

Matera would have been a strong contender for man-of-the-match had flyhalf Nicolas Sanchez not scored all of Argentina's points with a try, a conversion and six penalties, including one from halfway that sealed the victory.

"You just don't come here and perform like that," Ledesma said. "There's no magic formula, he prepared himself to be successful, and he was spot on on the gameplan."