After they were written off early, Pumas and All Blacks meet in World Cup semifinal

PARIS: Argentina and New Zealand weren’t supposed to get this far after losing their opening games at the Rugby World Cup. The Pumas were seen as no-hopers, the All Blacks perceived as a faded force.

Both proved their doubters wrong to set up a semifinal showdown on Friday at Stade de France that few tipped to happen.

Reaching a final is unchartered waters for Argentina, while a fifth final in 10 tournaments is on offer for big-stage-veteran New Zealand.

“The history is not in our favor but it is up to us to change that,” Argentina coach Michael Cheika said. “We have a chance to on Friday and we will be ready.”

After a humiliating 27-10 defeat to 14-man England, the Argentines were written off and then only scraped past Samoa 19-10. After routing Chile 59-5 the Pumas concluded with a tense 39-27 win against Japan. Last weekend, they rallied twice to beat Wales 29-17 in the quarterfinals.

Cheika urged his players to remember both what got them this far and what it means back home.

“We want to inspire not just by our results but by our ambition, by our ability to get back up and overcome obstacles,” he said. “There are not a lot of opportunities in life — us playing in a semifinal is an even rarer chance and we want to have no regrets.”

The final will be against another team which wasn’t supposed to make it to the semis — England — or defending champions South Africa.

“Everyone is expecting a New Zealand and South Africa final,” Cheika said. “We just have to play our part in making sure that we are clear about what is going to be required when the heat comes on.”

The heat was on New Zealand a few weeks ago.

After losing by an unheard of 35-7 to South Africa in their final warmup, and then succumbing 27-13 to