New Zealand secured their place in the 2023 Rugby World Cup final beating Argentina 44-06 at Stade de France on Friday. The All Blacks are the favourites to be crowned as World Champions following their display of brilliant 15 man rugby.
Argentina started like a house on fire in the first half, however, the speed of the All Blacks' attack combined with Argentina conceding several penalties resulted in the All Blacks leading 20-06 going into the second half. The All Blacks continued the assault on Argentina and scored four tries in the second half to win 44-06.
Argentina dominated the early contacts and territory. The All Blacks conceded a penalty after 4 minutes of play which Emiliano Boffelli immediately converted to open the account for Argentina. to lead 03-00.
The All Blacks struck back almost immediately. Argentina defended a 5m lineout maul however, the All Blacks spread the ball wide with speed opening up space for Will Jordan to score with ease. The All Blacks led 07-03 after 12 minutes of play. The All Blacks dominated the second half and secured an easy
The All Blacks won a turnover in their own 22m which ended with a try by Jordie Barrett. Argentina are struggling to contain the All Blacks' attack at this stage. The All Blacks led 12-03 after 18 minutes of play.
Argentina set up camp in the All Blacks' half for most of the first half, however, the All Blacks' defence proved to be too good for them. With 5 minutes left to play Emiliano Boffelli converted a second penalty for Argentina to reduce the All Blacks lead to 12-06.
Richie Mo'unga converted a penalty for the All Blacks almost immediately and extended the All Blacks lead to 15-06.
Brilliant footwork by Mark Tele'a opened up space out wide for Shannon Frizell to score the All Blacks' 3rd try. The All Blacks led 20-06 going into the second half.
The All Blacks started the second half as they ended the first half. A dominant scrum and great step by Aaron Smith resulted in Smith scoring the All Blacks' fourth try after just 2 min of play in the second half.
Six minutes later Shannon Frizell bulldozed his way over the Argentina tryline to extend the All Blacks lead to 34-06.
The match lost a lot of its momentum after the All Blacks replaced several players. However, as they found their rhytm again, Will Jordan slipped through the smallest of gaps to score his second try of the evening. The All Blacks led 39-06 with 17 minutes still to play.
With seven minutes to play the individual brilliance by Will Jordan, who started his one-man attack in the All Blacks' 22m, resulted in him scoring his third try of the match to extend the All Blacks lead to 44-06.
Scorers:
All Blacks: Tries: Will Jordan (3), Jordie Barrett, Shannon Frizell (2), Aaron Smith. Conversion: Richie Mo'unga (3). Penalty: Richie Mo'unga.
Argentina: Penalties: Emiliano Boffelli (2).
Teams:
All Blacks: 1 Ethan de Groot, 2 Codie Taylor, 3 Tyrel Lomax, 4 Samuel Whitelock, 5 Scott Barrett, 6 Shannon Frizell, 7 Sam Cane (c), 8 Ardie Savea, 9 Aaron Smith, 10 Richie Mo'unga, 11 Mark Tele'a, 12 Jordie Barrett, 13 Rieko Ioane, 14 Will Jordan, 15 Beauden Barrett, Replacements: 16 Samisoni Taukei'aho, 17 Tamaiti Williams, 18 Fletcher Newell, 19 Brodie Retallick, 20 Dalton Papali'i, 21 Finlay Christie, 22 Damian McKenzie, 23 Anton Lienert-Brown.
Argentina: 1 Thomas Gallo, 2 Julián Montoya (c), 3 Francisco Gómez Kodela, 4 Guido Petti Pagadizabal, 5 Tomas Lavanini, 6 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 7 Marcos Kremer, 8 Facundo Isa, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 10 Santiago Carreras, 11 Mateo Carreras, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 13 Lucio Cinti, 14 Emiliano Boffelli, 15 Juan Cruz Mallia, Replacements: 16 Agustín Creevy, 17 Joel Sclavi, 18 Eduardo Bello, 19 Matias Alemanno, 20 Rodrigo Bruni, 21 Lautaro Bazan Velez, 22 Nicolas Sanchez, 23 Matías Moroni.