The Rugby World Cup “spoiled like never before” by a draw made “years too early”, according to foreign media
During the match between New Zealand and Argentina, at the Stade de France, in Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis), October 20, 2023. THEMBA HADEBE / AP “And yes, it’s the All Blacks, concedes, disappointed and fatalistic, Luciano Bottesi, the special correspondent in France of the Argentine daily Clarin for the 2023 Rugby World Cup. Even in a diminished […] The Rugby World Cup was "spoiled like never before" by a draw made "years too early", according to foreign media. The New Zealand team dominated the game, scoring seven tries and conceding only two penalties. This defeat is described as the second heaviest defeat in a World Cup semi-final after that by Wales in 1987. Despite this, the All Blacks still have a chance of securing a third place in the tournament, becoming the first team to win a fourth world championship in their history. The draw was also criticised by some as being made prior to the start of the competition. The All Blacks will play in their fifth World Cup final.
प्रकाशित : 2 साल पहले द्वारा David Sadler में Sports
“And yes, it’s the All Blacks, concedes, disappointed and fatalistic, Luciano Bottesi, the special correspondent in France of the Argentine daily Clarin for the 2023 Rugby World Cup. Even in a diminished version, the New Zealanders had the ability to wipe the Pumas off the map. » The Argentines will only have had any illusions during the first five minutes of this semi-final, Friday October 20, in Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis). “Their third but the worst in their history”, Judge Liam Napier of New Zealand Herald.
With seven tries scored, when the Argentinians only scored two penalties, including one at the very start of the match, the New Zealanders outrageously dominated the game. Alejo Miranda, The Nationdon’t hesitate to talk about “beating”, recalling that this is the second heaviest defeat in a World Cup semi-final after that inflicted – again by the Blacks – on Wales in 1987 (49 to 6).
“Since 2007, no team has scored 30 points or more in the semi-final,” added the New Zealand Herald. And “the All Blacks did it with ease”. Such ease that they allowed themselves to finish the match at 14. Indeed, at the 65e minute, Scott Barrett receives a yellow card, synonymous with a ten-minute exclusion. After serving his sentence, he did not return to the pitch, coach Ian Foster certainly believing that it was better to preserve him for the final. And the Blacks play the last quarter of an hour of this semi-final with one player less. The Argentines were unable to take advantage of it.
“When the fundamentals don’t work, the heart can’t do the job,” notes, bitterly, Alejo Miranda. As proof, notes the journalist of The Nation, “on the last ball of the match, when the result had already been established for a long time, the Pumas benefited from a penalty. They looked for a throw-in to try to score a try and save the honor. But Nicolas Sanchez didn’t even manage to kick the ball out of bounds.”
The feat therefore did not take place for the Argentines. “In front of 77,653 spectators, the All Blacks left no room for miracles”, confirmed The Nation. But without a draw carried out very well in advance, the Pumas would certainly not have found themselves at this stage of the competition, recalls Liam Napier, of New Zealand Herald. “Everyone knows that the organizers of the World Cup ruined the tournament like never before by making the draw years too early,” he asserts. Argentina and England were thus able to qualify when Ireland and France, two of the favorites, were eliminated. “The madness of this failed program has, once again, been exposed on this big stage” of Stade de France.
And in the end, the party was not there, laments the journalist from Clarin. Where we expected the Argentinian supporters, whose enthusiasm has invaded French cities and stadiums since the start of the World Cup, they got lost “in the immensity of Paris”. The cold and the rain are also to blame. In any case, “there was not the communicative energy that supporters usually give off before matches”. And above all, insists Luciano Bottesti, “the tournament lost the atmosphere that reigned until the elimination of the host country in the quarter-finals” : ” the party is over “.
In fact, even the Stade de France was completely sluggish at times. That’s the saddest part, writes Liam Niaper. “Before the match, pockets of Argentinian supporters gave their voice, but, in the second half, when the match was over, the public was content to throw an ola half an hour from the end. »
“The dream is over”, blurted out the Clarin journalist. “The All Blacks even turned it into a nightmare. » There still remains the prospect of securing a third place, perhaps by beating the XV de la Rose, the same one which inflicted a defeat on the Argentines at the start of the tournament.
For the All Blacks, the prospects are quite different, writes the New Zealand site 1News : they will take part in their fifth World Cup final and “remain on track to win a fourth world championship title”. They would thus make history, by becoming the first team to win a fourth coronation. Making all those who had buried them too quickly lie, recalls Gregor Paul, in the New Zealand Herald. This same team, “in the grip of chaos” 14 months ago after a home defeat against Argentina “is in the World Cup final today, and the coach that even his employer seemed to want to fire is now 80 minutes away from writing one of the greatest redemption stories in rugby history”.
विषय: Rugby, World Cup