New Zealand defeats Argentina and reaches the final
Henry Brown – Rugby World / Rugby World via Getty Images
Aaron Smith scores New Zealand’s fourth try against Argentina in the 2023 Rugby World Cup semi-final.
Rugby – six minutes. This is the short time, at the start of the match, that Argentina will take the lead in the first Rugby World Cup semi-final. After being left cold in the rain at the Stade de France on Friday 20 October, New Zealand were not afraid for long and qualified, without even shivering, for another final.
After Ireland fell in the Selection quarter-finals, the New Zealanders got almost everything right, putting in a brilliant display against the quickly overpowered Argentines. An illustration of the two minutes before and after half-time which saw them score their third and fourth tries. In all, the three-time world champions scored seven goals to seal a 44-6 victory.
Winger Will Jordan alone scored three tries, taking his total to eight in this world, a record equaled by Jonah Lomu and Brian Habana.
England or South Africa in the final
We have to go back to 1987 and the first edition of the World Cup to find evidence of a greater gap at this stage of the competition. New Zealand had already blanked Wales 49-6 before winning the title a few days later against the French.
Thirty-six years later, and six weeks after their opening defeat to the Blues (27-13), the team moves forward with confidence after an impressive rise to a fifth World Cup final. The match on Saturday, October 28, will be against the winner of the South Africa-England match on Saturday.
For Argentina, the challenge on Friday 27 October will be to achieve the best result in its history: the third place it obtained in 2007 (already in France).
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