Pablo Matera said it was mission accomplished after "hungry" Argentina were able to fill "chests with pride" by securing a historic victory over New Zealand.

The Pumas sparked jubilant scenes on the pitch and in the stands at Bankwest Stadium on Saturday when they defeated the All Blacks for the first time in 30 Tests.

Fly-half Nicolas Sanchez scored all of Argentina's points in a famous 25-15 Tri Nations win in Sydney.

Argentina had not played since the Rugby World Cup in October 2019 due to the coronavirus pandemic, but they came out firing in their first game of the tournament to consign Ian Foster's side to back-to-back defeats.

Captain Matera savoured a special day for his country.

The flanker said: "I don't know how to put it into words. They were eight very hard months [without being able to play].

"A lot of work, a lot of people who are not here, but we have a very hungry team and we came to fill all the people in Argentina's chests with pride."

The skipper added: "We play for the boys, for Argentine rugby.

"There are a lot of boys who haven't played rugby with their friends for eight months and we went out onto the pitch to show that we can and hopefully bring more people to rugby."

Argentina do battle with Australia at McDonald Jones Stadium in their next Tri Nations encounter on November 21.