The All Blacks won’t take anything for granted when they take he field at the Stade de France against Argentina in Paris on Friday at 9pm.
Driven by their failure at the semifinal stage four years ago in Japan when they lost to England, scrumhalf Aaron Smith says they will leave nothing on the field when they face Los Pumas for the right to play in the Rugby World Cup final.
Smith, 34, says: “Just remembering the pain of it is a big driver especially for a few of us boys who’re there. That feeling helped us reset after what was an emotional game [against Ireland in the quarterfinal]...”
Two teams 🇦![CDATA[]]>🇷 🇳![CDATA[]]>🇿
— Rugby World Cup (@rugbyworldcup) October 20, 2023
A place in the final at stake 🏆#RWC2023 | #ARGvNZL pic.twitter.com/ST4hh69Ec5
Argentina, meanwhile, enter the match as heavy underdogs.
But they will find some hope from the fact that their two wins in 36 matches against New Zealand both came since the last World Cup, with their first win coming in 2020 and the second one in 2022.
Argentina coach Michael Cheika knows they are up against it, but says: “New Zealand have been playing for many years, they are the number one team in world rugby. We know the challenge they represent. This is the World Cup...
“The history is not in our favour but it is up to us to change that. We have a chance to [do that] and we will be ready. When we arrive on the field we will do what we do best.”
New Zealand: 15 Beauden Barrett, 14 Will Jordan, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Mark Telea, 10 Richie Mo’unga, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Ardie Savea, 7 Sam Cane (captain), 6 Shannon Frizell, 5 Scott Barrett, 4 Samuel Whitelock, 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Codie Taylor and 1 Ethan de Groot. 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: 15 Juan Cruz Mallia, 14 Emiliano Boffelli, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Santiago Carreras, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Facundo Isa, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Guido Petti; 3 Francisco Gomez Kodela, 2 Julian Montoya (captain) and 1 Thomas Gallo. Replacements: 16 Agustin Creevy, 17 Joel Sclavi, 18 Eduardo Bello, 19 Matias Alemanno, 20 Rodrigo Bruni, 21 Lautaro Bazan Velez, 22 Nicolas Sanchez, 23 Matias Moroni.
dudley.carstens@inl.co.za