The All Blacks were down to 13 men at one stage and still managed to win.
Argentina led New Zealand 16-12 heading towards the final quarter but tries from Aaron Smith and Sam Cane completed a comeback that had most of the world record 89,019 crowd at Wembley Stadium.
The Pumas were the superior side for the best part of an hour but may regret not taking advantage, on the scoreboard, while Conrad Smith and Richie McCaw were taking deserved pauses in the sin-bin.
Guido Petti Pagadizaval’s 20th minute try had the Wembley crowd roaring and the rest of the half saw Argentina’s Nicolas Sanchez trade penalties with Dan Carter.
Once the Kiwis were back to a full complement of players, they spread the ball wide and backed themselves.
Smith sniped in for a vital try and Cane dived over for his side’s second after a second bite of the cherry.
“We’ll have to make a lot of improvements, for next week, but that’s the nature of rugby,” said McCaw after the game.
