All Blacks into World Cup final as Will Jordan leads demolition of Argentina

New Zealand are now just 80 minutes away from writing a fresh chapter in their fabled rugby history. No country has ever previously won four World Cup titles and, conveniently, they have an extra day in which to recover prior to next Saturday’s final. Whoever they end up playing the All Blacks are going to take some stopping.

Argentina certainly had no answer, conceding seven tries and finishing a distant second in the end. Even when they are not at their absolute best, New Zealand’s ability to keep the scoreboard ticking allows them to dictate terms and in the shape of fly-half Richie Mo’unga they have the competition’s most in-form conductor.

They also have the deadly Will Jordan, whose three tries took him above France’s Damian Penaud as the tournament’s leading try-scorer. Jordan, who now has a record-equalling eight tries, would be the first to pay tribute to the All Black pack who do the hard yards but New Zealand’s point of difference remains their ability to take a higher percentage of their chances than most.

It also did no harm that the Australian referee, Angus Gardner, awarded almost every first-half decision against the Pumas, to the point where they almost seemed resigned to their fate. Refereeing is a tough job but, once again, here was an English-speaking referee seemingly on a completely different wavelength to a Latin American side. While New Zealand would have won anyway, it remains a situation that badly needs addressing. The All Blacks, now through to their fifth World Cup final, will not care unduly.

In truth, though, it was not quite the throbbing occasion it might have been. Knockout outcomes can never be choreographed but there were several thousand conspicuously absent friends from Ireland. Visible among the black-shirted Kiwis and blue-and-white-hooped Argentinians, sure enough, were a few poignant splashes of green, putting a brave face on the Zombie-less reality. A semi-final involving Ireland and Wales really would have been some occasion.

The Pumas, though, were not remotely bothered about wistful Celts. They deliberately lingered in a defiant line for a few moments after the haka had ended then started brightly, moving the ball slickly and forcing an early penalty, kicked by Emiliano Boffelli. It was not at all what New Zealand had been expecting.

On a showery evening, with a greasy surface and a slippery ball, the much easier policy was to look to the air. The All Blacks initially kicked too long but soon found their range and began to ratchet up the pressure. A series of lineout drives stretched the Pumas’ cover and deft passing put the increasingly prolific Jordan over untouched on the right.

If that felt ominous for Argentina, there was worse to come. Again New Zealand kept the ball expertly alive and this time Jordie Barrett skittled past three defenders to score. Mo’unga’s conversion drifted wide but the No 10 has unquestionably been among this tournament’s best performers.

It helped to have some turnover ball to work with. New Zealand knew the breakdown would be a key area and attacked it hard, with some success. The Pumas responded by nicking a lineout but were getting no joy from the unhelpful Gardner whose loud instructions in English also jarred. Argentina’s captain, Julián Montoya, lives and plays in Leicester but even a couple of words of Spanish would have helped.

The Pumas, though, kept on coming and the All Blacks were fortunate to avoid a yellow card for killing the ball on their own line. Boffelli still landed another three points to make it 12-6 only for Mo’unga to do likewise at the other hand when an increasingly exasperated Montoya was penalised for going off his feet.

For a while the one-way whistling became almost farcical. Argentina could seemingly do nothing right and almost every marginal decision went against them. It was to prove doubly costly when, in added time at the interval, New Zealand were allowed to work their way back into their opponents’ 22. Mark Telea made good yardage down the middle and Shannon Frizell ambled over to claim his side’s third try.

At 20-6 down at half-time, the last thing Argentina needed was to concede another score immediately, Aaron Smith darting through to register a try in an increasingly fine tournament. From that moment on it was simply a question of how much as New Zealand slowly turned the screw.

Jordan, whose pace is only matched by his sense of anticipation, has the knack of being in exactly the right place at the right time and did so twice more with the minimum of fuss. Frizell, an increasingly important cog in the All Black wheel, helped himself to a second and even after Scott Barrett was sent to the sin-bin for a deliberate knock down there was no real sense of Argentina taking advantage.

Not only were New Zealand able to take off many of their frontline players in preparation for the final but they even opted to finish the game with 14 men after Barrett’s card had expired. Argentina’s reward, if that is the right word, is a place in the third-place playoff next Friday. New Zealand, having lost out in the semi-finals to England four years ago, are right back where they believe they belong.