Match Preview – Argentina vs New Zealand

New Zealand appear to have rediscovered their aura at the Rugby World Cup

There’s an almost sadistic cruelty to the fact that New Zealand don’t have time to bask in the glory of their quarter-final win over Ireland.

More often than not in sport the hype exceeds the spectacle. A contest built-up to nearly impossible heights only for the game itself to become one of attrition; of two teams too aware of what is at stake. Not trying to win, just trying not to lose.

On occasion, and it really is only rarely, a game lives up to its billing. Rarer still does it go beyond the expectations of even the most wide-eyed fan.

That happened on Saturday in Paris. It happened again 24 hours later.

Some are calling it rugby’s greatest weekend, and when the dust settles that is, in all likelihood, how it will be viewed.

But such eulogies must wait. Although the stories of Ireland, France, Wales and Fiji have been written, four teams have not yet penned their defining chapters.

It seems remarkable given what we saw last weekend, but there is still time for the campaigns of our four semi-finalists to go down in some circles as a failure.

In sport, regardless of the heights you have climbed, you are never too far away from somewhere that could be construed as rock bottom.

Just ask All Blacks head coach Ian Foster.

In August 2022, the New Zealand Herald took the step of publishing a front page editorial calling for Foster to go.

This was not just your average disgruntled fanzine’s knee-jerk response to a loss. This was, so deemed the Herald, a necessary intervention to preserve the legacy of the nation’s most hallowed institution.

Of course, this is not to assume that one paper speaks on behalf of a country. In this instance, however, the sentiment did reflect the national mood towards the team.

After losing a home series to Ireland, the All Blacks had been swept aside by South Africa in a one-sided Rugby Championship game in Nelspruit.

It was their fifth loss in six games. A big enough sample size for the Herald to conclude Foster was no more than “a decent man who is out of his depth in a brutal business”.

New Zealand’s Rugby Championship loss to South Africa in August 2022 was their fifth defeat in six games

A subsequent review by New Zealand Rugby agreed that the beleaguered coach should remain in position until after the World Cup, with Foster later announcing he would not reapply for the job upon the expiration of his contract at the end of the tournament, and criticising the review amid his preparations.

It has been a deeply unsettling World Cup cycle for rugby’s perennial powerhouse. They arrived in France widely regarded as the fourth-best side in the tournament, a position underlined by a comprehensive opening night defeat by the hosts.

There were, so onlookers assessed, far more potent threats at the World Cup.

But this tournament lasts a long-time. One which began in the stifling heat of France’s Indian summer will end as the pre-Christmas frost descends.

Over the changing of the seasons it appears New Zealand have themselves undergone something of a transformation.

It’s still to early to say definitively, but the signs suggest that Foster’s once troubled troupe have rediscovered the aura of the All Blacks.

Italy were the first to truly feel the force of a disgruntled sleeping giant coming alive. New Zealand’s win was expected, but a 96-17 dismantling was suggestive of a side keen to re-emphasise the difference between the best and the rest.

Then it was Ireland. A team who could scarcely have done more to tear down the other-worldy quality once attached to the All Blacks, having won three of the four meetings – including two in New Zealand – between the sides since the last World Cup.

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Take a look at the action from New Zealand’s epic win against Ireland and Argentina stunning Wales to reach the Rugby World Cup semi-finals

But even at their best, and make no mistake that this is comfortably the best Irish squad there has ever been, they found themselves once again shackled by a force they thought they had conquered.

Foster perhaps summed up best how his side managed to edge a contest between two elite sides playing at a level approaching top gear.

“We’ve been there before,” he assessed. “We knew we were going to have to dig into ourselves.”

What Saturday’s win proved above all else, more than it was evidence of the immense talent and skill New Zealand have at their disposal, was that the mentality responsible for the near-mythical All Blacks brand, has endured.

They have been here before and failed, of course. Four years ago off the back of a far more one-sided quarter-final win over Ireland, New Zealand were duly thumped by England in the semis.

That memory will have been dredged up already this week, and it is difficult to see complacency set in ahead of Friday night’s semi-final against Argentina, who themselves have shaken off an early-tournament malaise to reach the business end of the business end.

Argentina have shaken off a dismal opening-game loss to England to advance to the semi-finals

No one would rule out a shock, but it is not putting your neck on the line to suggest that New Zealand are now heavily favoured to reach the World Cup final.

This head coach and this team, only a year ago accused of risking forever tarnishing the century-long legacy of the All Blacks, are two games away from writing another victorious chapter in their storied history.

Ian Foster knows more than most what is round the corner if it were to all come tumbling down on Friday.

With that in mind, one doesn’t imagine they have spent much time at all basking in their epic quarter-final win.

The All Blacks know better than any team, perhaps than any team in any sport, that wins in isolation do not endure the passage of time. Theirs is a brand built on backing it up.

They have faced more turbulence, certainly more scrutiny in the digital age than their predecessors. But with every game that passes at the World Cup, New Zealand appear a little more determined to prove something that was, for the first time in a very long time, being seriously questioned in rugby circles.

That despite it all, the All Blacks are still the All Blacks.