An amazing victory for the All Blacks over Ireland after a giant battle (28-24)
New Zealand beat Ireland in a thrilling match (28-24) on Saturday at the Stade de France and qualified for the semi-finals of the Rugby World Cup. The All Blacks maintained their lead throughout the match, but they had to make a great effort to withstand in order to overthrow the Irishman, ranked first in the world, and earn the right to face Argentina in the semi-finals next Friday.
Thus the New Zealand fern overcame the Irish clover.
Sam Keane, third row and captain of the New Zealand national team, after beating Ireland 28-24 in the World Cup quarter-finals, via Sky Sports: “We're very pleased. It was a crazy game, an 84…83-minute encounter. We have to applaud what Ireland did. They've been at the top of world rugby for two years, so we knew the challenge we had to face this evening. I'm very proud of the effort.” The effort we put into our preparations this week and our ability to defend our line for over 30 minutes of play at the end of the game was tremendous. What an atmosphere, what a game, what a tournament! I'm really glad we can stay another week! (Regarding the temporary exclusion of two All Blacks players) Obviously we didn't want to play with 14 men, but we had to do it at one point…no, at two points actually. The guys moved out a little bit, and our defense was great tonight. We managed to contain them for long periods and this is what allowed us in the end to win the match. I can't wait to play in the semi-finals!
Therefore, it will be against Argentina, which beat Wales 29-17 on Saturday after an exciting match, and which qualified for the semi-finals of the Rugby World Cup for the third time in its history.
Thanks to the long-awaited win, the Pumas are once again in the semi-finals, after 2007 and 2015, where they will face the All Blacks.