New Zealand 44 (20) Argentina 6 (6)
The All Blacks marched into their fifth Rugby World Cup final by swatting Argentina aside with a display of clinical finishing and ruthless defence, but also very little serious resistance in the first semi-final.
Wing Will Jordan scored a hattrick to move to eight tries in the tournament, as the men from New Zealand posted a record winning margin at this stage of the tournament.
Jordan could surpass the record of eight tries in a single tournament in next week’s final, which he now shares with Jonah Lomu, Julian Savea and Bryan Habana.
The Pumas were outgunned in just about every department and after last week’s two thrilling quarterfinals at Stade de France, this first semi-final was a massive anti-climax.
As a contest it was flatter than a platteland vowel.
Anton Lienert-Brown of New Zealand battles for the ball with Lucio Cinti of Argentina during the Rugby World Cup France 2023 semi-final match between Argentina and New Zealand at Stade de France on October 20, 2023 in Paris, France. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)
The All Blacks ran in seven tries and calmly kept the Pumas at arms’ length in the first 25 minutes when the game was still alive.
The Pumas had no answer to unlocking the All Blacks’ defence and couldn’t cope with New Zealand’s slick attack while the South American’s set piece was never on par. They buckled in the scrums and couldn’t handle the All Blacks’ maul.
A fan of New Zealand waves an All Blacks flag during the Rugby World Cup France 2023 semi-final match between Argentina and New Zealand at Stade de France on October 20, 2023 in Paris, France. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
Either the Springboks or England await in the final, and after the obvious gulf in class on display here, and the quality of the quarterfinals at Stade de France last week, the organisers must be silently hoping for an all southern hemisphere final.
New Zealand were in such command they were able to bring on their entire bench before the hour mark. They also have the advantage of an eight-day turnaround for the final while England or the Boks will only have seven days.
Over by halftime
After taking an early lead and making the early running with multiple phase play, which never seriously looked like puncturing the All Blacks’ defence, the Pumas were stumped.
It was over as a contest on the stroke of halftime because the All Blacks did what they do so often, scored a try two minutes into injury time at the end of the half.
Until that point the Pumas were just about clinging on, but when Shannon Frizell cantered in unopposed in the left corner, it sucked what little atmosphere there was from the stadium.
Mark Tele’a, the reinstated l
…. to be continued
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