The fearsome loose-forward trio is back.
Kieran Read, Richie McCaw and Jerome Kaino are expected to be reunited for the first time in over a month this weekend.
In fact, veteran loosehead prop Tony Woodcock, who is out for the remainder of the season, could be the only player absent from the All Blacks' first-choice forward pack.
With Beauden Barrett and Malakai Fekitoa thrust into starting roles, the onus falls on the big boys up front to lay a foundation and make life easier for the rejigged inside backs.
In this regard Kaino's presence should provide a significant boost. Having not featured since hyper extending his elbow in the forgettable Sydney draw with the Wallabies in mid-August, Kaino is well rested and will relish the prospect of confronting the typically powerful Pumas pack.
This is his type of test.
Since returning from Japan, Kaino has resumed the mantle as the All Blacks' premier blindside flanker - a title that may see Liam Messam make his return from a thigh injury via the bench in La Plata, with Steven Luatua laid low by illness yesterday.
Kaino's aggressive nature, ball carrying ability, punishing defence and love for contact should go some way to improving the cleanout which lacked vigour and numbers in the narrow last-up win against the Springboks in Wellington.
The Boks found success by attacking the breakdown and slowing the All Blacks' ruck ball, blunting their favoured high-tempo approach in wet conditions.
At their destructive best, Kaino, Read and McCaw form the world's best trio. That collective status that was a foundation of the 2011 World Cup success has been seamlessly regained after Kaino's two-year stint abroad.
Their combination and influence on the All Blacks' play cannot be understated and the secret to the success lies in their complementary abilities.
Kaino's close-quarter combativeness frees up Read to roam on the edges - attract at least two defenders and flick out creative offloads to open space for his wings. This is where Ben Smith and Julian Savea have been lethal in recent times.
McCaw holds the crew together by performing the hard graft; frequently topping the tackle count and consistently challenging the opposition's possession.
"Our loose forward trio, whoever gets put on the park, is one of our greatest strengths - being able to link and be a physical presence," Read said.
"When we do put that on the field the team goes well. Jerome coming back in, he was great early in the year so he'll be looking forward to this chance."
Whitelock's return from rib cartilage damage also provides added grunt that will be needed to counter the Pumas vaunted scrum, maul and increasingly creative lineout manoeuvres.
"It's great to have those two back," Read said. "Jerome has been out for a wee while so he's itching to be back and Sam is probably the same. He's a quality player and he'll slot straight back in pretty comfortably, I imagine."
England, South Africa and Australia all pushed the All Blacks to the brink of defeat this year. Mental fortitude has seen them hold on and build a 21-test unbeaten run but Read is clearly conscious that won't always be good enough.
"There's certainly a lot of things for us to improve on as a team. I don't think we've gone backwards this year but certainly other teams have improved as well," he said.
"From our point of view, we want to play at a high level every time so there's a lot of pressure on ourselves to do that.
"Sometimes you're not at your best but it's what you do with how you are playing. When you can win when you're not at your best, that shows the great character of this team and the belief we have with each other."
