The Rugby World Cup semi-finals have happened and I found
both games to be thoroughly enjoyable. I’m planning on talking about both
semi-final games and briefly about the final two games of the tournament. It is
crazy to think this tournament is nearly at an end.
The first semi-final match was between New Zealand and South
Africa. New Zealand were coming into this one having demolished France, whereas
South Africa had won a very tight game against Wales with a little bit of magic
towards the end of the game. New Zealand had won the encounter earlier in the
year between the two teams during the Rugby Championship 27-20 but that game
would have no bearing on this one. Before talking about the game, I want to
mention something that happened before the game. For those who just know, or
who found out by watching the film Invictus (great film by the way) – the South
Africa team that won the World Cup in 1995 went for a jog around the streets of
Johannesburg the morning of the final against New Zealand. On Saturday morning,
members of that same team, led by the 95 captain Francois Pienaar, went for a
jog around London. They were joined by thousands of fans and all ended up at
the statue of Nelson Mandela in Westminster. When there, Francois Pienaar led
the crowd in singing the South African national anthem. What a great moment.
On to the game - I’d say it was a fairly even first half,
perhaps South Africa edging it as the better team of the half. They took the
lead in the game with an early penalty but found themselves down on the
scoreboard after 6 minutes when Jerome Caino scored a try which Dan Carter
converted (at the second attempt mind, because Bryan Habana attempted to charge
it down too early causing the first attempt to miss). These were the only points
of the half for New Zealand. An interesting talking point occurred after 20
minutes when Richie McCaw appeared to strike Francois Louw with his elbow,
causing him to need 20 stitches after the game. As of this writing, it seems as
though he will not be cited for this. There is a case either way for whether or
not he should be cited, but given a Samoa winger got a 5 week ban (reduced on
appeal) for running and catching a low tackling player with his knee – it is
easy to see why some of the Tier B nations feel aggrieved at the differences in
sanctions they receive in comparison to a tier A nation. Anyway, one thing I
noticed was just how many penalties they were conceding. I think in the first
half, they conceded 9 – which is shockingly high for New Zealand. As a result
of that though, South Africa were able to nudge ahead, scoring another two
penalties to make the score 9-7. Then at the death, Caino conceded a pretty
cynical penalty and was sent to the bin for 10 minutes. The last kick of the
half was scored and South Africa went in at the break 12-7 up. New Zealand were
down on the scoreboard, and would be without a member of their pack for the
first 9 minutes of the second half – things weren’t looking good for the All
Blacks.
You couldn’t help but feel that New Zealand needed something
special to overcome those odds. Or at the very least, not to lose too many
points when they were shorthanded. Up steps Dan Carter. His 10+ years of game
management experience for the All Blacks shone through. He was sublime in this
game. His first contribution of the half in terms of altering the scoreboard
was a rare successful drop goal for New Zealand (only his 7th in
international games). He also had a hand in New Zealand’s second try, a try
which came about following a South African knock on. He converted that try from
the touch line. New Zealand had not only not conceded points in Caino’s
absence, but had now taken the lead 17-12. To add insult to injury, Bryan
Habana was sent to the bin for his somewhat illegal attempt to disrupt the ball
to try and prevent New Zealand from scoring a try. New Zealand scored the try
and he got a 10 minute sit down in the bin – not ideal for him or for South
Africa. South Africa scored two more penalties in this half, but these came
either side of a successful penalty kick for the All Blacks, meaning the score
was 20-18 in the 60th minute and lead to a tense conclusion. No more
points were scored but both teams but South Africa came close with JP Pietersen
coming close following a probing kick from Pat Lambie but Dan Carter got to the
loose ball first and cleared it away into touch. New Zealand won the game, and
made it to their 2nd successive final. They have been one of the
best teams at this tournament and deserved to make it there.
The second semi-final took place yesterday between Argentina
and Australia. Australia made the semi-final after a late win against Scotland
(enough has been written about that game in the last week without me briefly
recapping it again). Argentina made the semi-finals for the first time since
2007 by taking apart Ireland. The first half could not have started worse for
Argentina, as they were passing the ball around a bit loosely and one of those
passes was intercepted by Australian lock Rob Simmons who ran over for the
first try of the game. The second try came as a result of an Argentinian
mistake as well. Argentina were awarded a penalty in their own 22, and instead
of clearing their lines, scrum-half Martin Landajo tapped the ball and them
knocked it on, giving Australia a scrum right under the posts. A long pass
after the scrum allowed Adam Ashley-Cooper to go over in the corner. 14-3 and I
was wondering if the game was done. A yellow card was given to Argentinian lock
Tomas Lavanini for not using his arms in a tackle. Personally I agree with it
being called back and Australia getting the penalty but I’m not sure a yellow
card was fair. Australia made the extra man count and scored another try with
Ashley-Cooper again going over, this time in the other corner. This try was not
converted but the score was 19-6. Argentina got another 3 points before half
time but what was evident is that the Australian defence we saw against Wales
was not a one off. Argentina were furiously knocking on the door looking for a
way through. On occasion they even found a clean break but Australia held firm
and did not concede. Half time 19-9.
The second half was mostly how Argentina battled back into
the game. They found themselves within a converted try away from tying the game
up twice. Bernard Foley scored one penalty and Nicolas Sanchez scored two. Argentina
were starting to rumble forward, winning scrum battles and gaining territory. I
think a lot of people started just to believe a little bit. However, with this
came wasted chances. There were at least 3 times Argentina had overlaps out
wide which they didn’t convert into points. And then, a moment of sheer magic.
Drew Mitchell broke the line and dodged so many Argentinian tackles before
shipping the ball out for Ashley-Cooper to score his hat trick – game over. The
full time score was 29-15 and that score line is probably fair. Australia were
superb at the breakdown again, with David Pocock making 4 of them. I mentioned
it earlier but the defence was imperious. Australia made 142 tackles – which shows
just how much Argentina were trying to break through their back line. Australia
have looked to be one of the world’s best in this tournament at times, and
definitely have earned their place in the last two.
So, the final is Australia versus New Zealand. Remarkably,
this is the first time these two nations have met in a Rugby World Cup final.
Whatever happens, a record will be broken as no team has won the competition 3
times. New Zealand could set two records if they win as they will be the first
team to retain the World Cup. I really have no idea which way the final will
go. I think they have played each other twice this season and each won a game –
so looking back on past results doesn’t really help. However, the game
Australia won was a very close affair, the one New Zealand won…not so much. We
are down to the last two games, and what has arguably been the best Rugby World
Cup in history will be over. These last two months have been a great time to be
a rugby fan for sure, and I have no doubt the last weekend will be fantastic.
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