LONDON — Rattled holders New Zealand were forced to dig deep before subduing a fired-up Argentina 26-16 in a terrific Pool C opening match in front of an all-time record Rugby World Cup crowd at Wembley Stadium on Sunday.
A day after Japan had stunned SA, another shock looked a possibility as the All Blacks trailed until the 56th minute, before tries by livewire scrumhalf Aaron Smith and replacement forward Sam Cane restored order. Flyhalf Dan Carter chipped in with four penalties and two conversions.
But it was far from plain sailing against the Pumas who showed huge intensity to lead 13-12 at halftime thanks to Guido Petti’s try as the All Blacks made repeated errors and lost their discipline, being reduced to 13 men late in the first half after Richie McCaw and Conrad Smith were sin-binned.
An 89,019 crowd at Wembley, just short of the 90,000 capacity at the home of English football, was the biggest to watch a Rugby World Cup match, eclipsing the 82,957 who watched England beat Australia in the 2003 final in Sydney’s Olympic Stadium.
Earlier on Sunday, Samoa beat the USA 25-16 and vowed to fight fire with fire as the Boks come at them "all guns blazing" in their Pool B match on Saturday, said coach Stephen Betham.
He believes Japan’s stunning triumph over the Boks had been a huge jolt for the major nations. "The tier-one nations have got a wake-up call from Sunday and our surprise factor has gone," said Betham, who claimed they had not watched the match, only seen the result at the end.
"They will come at us with all guns blazing. We’re going to give it everything and we’ll be ready for the backlash."
In Sunday’s other match Cory Allen scored three tries as Wales opened their campaign with a 54-9 win over rank outsiders Uruguay at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium.
But the Pool A victory over a gutsy Uruguay side was over-
shadowed by injuries to Allen and fullback Liam Williams.
It all added to Wales’ problems in their back division after both goalkicking fullback Leigh Halfpenny and scrumhalf Rhys Webb were ruled out of the World Cup before the tournament started. Wales next face England at Twickenham on Saturday.
Reuters, AFP
