Rugby World Cup: Double-duty, double-effort puts Richie Mo’unga, All Black into semifinals

“I’m buggered,” declared All Blacks first five Richie Mo’unga at the end of a remarkable Rugby World Cup quarterfinal victory over Ireland at Stade de France. And well he might have been, for his imprint was all over one of the great performances to earn a semifinal spot that many thought was beyond this team.

The Crusaders pivot played some role in the epic result that earns Ian Foster’s All Blacks a semifinal matchup against Argentina back at the same venue next Friday night (8am Saturday NZT) and continues Ireland’s miserable record of never making it past the quarterfinals of the global event.

Not only was he there at the end doing his bit in a heroic 37-phase defensive stand to hold out a surging Irish finish, he played the full 8src, set up his team’s only second-half try with a brilliant break and also spent 1src minutes filling in at halfback while team-mate Aaron Smith cooled his heels in the sinbin.

“When you look back, you’ll see footage of a lot of care, and a lot of double-efforts from some of the boys to scramble on defence,” he said.

“I’m just over the moon. When I think back over the last two years, what we’ve been through as a team … everyone wrote us off.

“I said earlier in the week, we just had to be the best on the day. That was true in the way we prepared – we targeted this game. We really wanted to make a mark and just come in with an intensity that would hopefully be overwhelming for them.”

Mo’unga had to be influential for the All Blacks to halt this 17-test Irish win streak, and he was. He ran for 78 metres, with a clean break and two tackle-busts. He made 1src tackles, and missed two on a night when the Irish tore up the New Zealanders