Australia’s desperate two-point win over defending champion South Africa and the All Blacks’ grinding 33-10 win over Argentina on Sunday completed a World Cup semifinal lineup with a familiar feel for New Zealanders.
Archrivals New Zealand and Australia will meet in a blockbuster semifinal next Sunday, a day after France and Wales fight for the other spot in the final. The same four teams featured in the semifinals at the inaugural World Cup in 1987, the last time the tournament was staged in New Zealand.
The All Blacks beat Wales in the 1987 semifinals and then had too much firepower in the final for France, which was coming off a comeback semifinal win over the Australians.
New Zealand hasn’t won another title since then, while the Wallabies triumphed in 1991 and 1999 and – after the 11-9 win over South Africa in Wellington – are in the hunt to become the first team to win three World Cups.
France has lost both times it reached the final – to New Zealand in ’87 and Australia in ’99 – while Wales is back in the semifinals for the first time in 24 years.
The Welsh haven’t lost since their opening pool win over South Africa and have grown in confidence along the way, culminating with a 22-10 win over Ireland in the first of four weekend quarterfinals. The French lost to New Zealand and went down in a shocking upset to Tonga and only narrowly qualified for the knockout stage, but rallied for a spirited victory over 2003 champion England on Saturday night.
The rain and wind that buffeted Wellington for a week finally lifted on Sunday, giving the Australian backs a chance to shine against the most experienced Springboks test lineup ever fielded. But it was the defence that won the day for the Wallabies, who made three times as many tackles as their opponents and spent most of the match in their own half of the field.
“Not everything went our way tonight, but one thing you can’t train and you can’t teach is effort and commitment from the group,” Wallabies captain James Horwill said. “In games like that you have to find a way to win and that’s what we did.
“It took a lot of guts to get the result.”The Wallabies haven’t won at Eden Park since 1986, and haven’t beaten the All Blacks anywhere in New Zealand since 2001.
But two things are in their favour – they beat the All Blacks in the Tri-Nations decider in Brisbane this season to claim the southern hemisphere’s biggest prize for the first time in a decade. And in World Cup semifinals head-to-heads, it’s: Australia 2, New Zealand 0.
Also of concern for the New Zealanders was an increasing injury toll, particularly since Daniel Carter was already sidelined from the tournament with an injured groin. Maintaining their unbeaten record against the Pumas may have come at a cost with 100-test fullback Mils Muliaina only lasting 41 minutes before he was replaced with a serious shoulder injury and new flyhalf Colin Slade replaced after picking up a groin injury.
Carter’s tournament ended last week with a torn tendon in his groin in training, elevating Slade to the starting flyhalf. In for Slade went Aaron Cruden, the squad replacement for Carter, and after his first All Blacks appearance in a year he was praised by coach Graham Henry for his composure.
Skipper Richie McCaw didn’t seem to be slowed down by his injured foot as much as the slow ball.
“I’ve twice played Argentina and never had an easy game,” McCaw said. “They’re passionate, and when it comes to a World Cup quarterfinal, they showed how much it means to them, and we expected that.