Everyone said they looked poor, but perhaps that’s because everyone expected the All Blacks to rip into Argentina. They have been the in-form team of the tournament and topped the Pool of death by beating England and Wales.
The All Blacks are 60 from 63, Wallabies 53 from 72, Boks 48 from 61 and Pumas 30 from 59.
You can’t knock them (South Africa and Argentina) for their methods though.
“Traditionally, we have played a hard, strong, committed and confrontational style, but it is true that we are now capable of playing more expansively and with great skill”, Ayerza said. His tally of World Cup tries is now 14, just one behind the joint all-time leaders, Jonah Lomu and Bryan Habana. The 100/1 on a Kriel double is also an appealing Hail Mary! “Playing the best on a yearly basis requires a level of perfection that makes you get used to it. This kind of game becomes normal, plus we like it. This is how we feel about it and the players like carrying it through”. Savea is back to his very best, reflected in the skinny 6/4 to break that drought this weekend.
The 27-year-old from Rosario has spent the last four seasons plying his trade with Racing Metro in Paris.
“This matches what I said before, that everyone can be free, everyone can do what they want, and it’s not that they are all the time on top of us, telling us what to do and not what to do”. But having teed up the Boks to cause an upset, I am chickening out and going with New Zealand. This is their time.
The last remaining hope of the Northern Hemisphere come late Sunday afternoon was Scotland and they didn’t disappoint in pushing the Wallabies every inch of the way.
Peters is the Kiwi riding the crest of Argentina’s rugby wave, the former Sanzar boss who was lured by opportunity of guiding the Pumas and their new Super Rugby team into the professional era.
“I also like to joke a little bit, but a little bit more shy”.
But we did score five tries to three. In many ways, the Six Nations Championship can be a secondary consideration for a professional rugby player.
“Before, the Pumas had a more closed game, with more kicks”. Their lone win over Australia since 2000 was in 2014 and they have enjoyed a relatively smooth run to the semis.
Australia, on the other hand, had theirs somewhat halted by Scotland as they laboured, having looked irresistible in the group stages. Australia may have conceded a few unusual tries against Scotland but up to that point their defensive line has been absolutely superb. The Wallabies had the fright of their lives in the quarter-final, and I think there will be shades of 1991 when they so almost fell to Ireland only to knock out the All Blacks a week later.
With Scott Sio, David Pocock and Israel Folau still in doubt with injuries sustained over the past two weeks, the Wallabies most senior player Matt Giteau has said the team will be expecting nothing less of a challenge from the Pumas.
They will struggle to match Argentina up front, in scrums and mauls, but I suggest that is not where the game will be won or lost.
Sanchez is best remembered by Australian fans for his niggling tactics in the Wallabies’ 34-9 victory in Mendoza in July, where tensions between he and Australian vice-captain Michael Hooper reached boiling point following a late try to Dean Mumm. Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe, 8.
The other players did okay but are not in his class.
Read on for a full examination of both matches along with scheduling and live streaming information, as well as predictions for who will advance to the final from the last-four fixtures.