All Blacks crush Argentina 44-6 to reach fifth Rugby World Cup final

PARIS: New Zealand bulldozed through Argentina 44-6 on Friday to reach the Rugby World Cup final for a record fifth time.

The All Blacks will bid for a record fourth title against defending champion South Africa or England, who play their semifinal on Saturday.

Going into the semifinal, there was a question mark whether the All Blacks could back up physically and mentally their astonishing herculean effort to topple Ireland last weekend. It didn’t take long to show they were as up for the semifinal in which they started as the firm favorite as they were for the quarterfinal in which they were the heavy underdogs.

“I am incredibly proud of the way we backed it up tonight,” New Zealand coach Ian Foster said. “It is really satisfying, but now all the pressure of the final comes.”

The All Blacks outclassed Argentina with power and pace and sent the Pumas scrum reeling backwards. But the defense might have been the most impressive again, as it was in containing Ireland last weekend. They finished with 195 tackles, but made 121 of them in the first half when they missed only 10. That exhausted the Pumas, who threw everything at the All Blacks but were virtually out of the contest by halftime at 20-6 behind.

“Our forward did an outstanding job — set-piece, maul time, earned a few penalties, got a bit of dominance and it kept a lot of pressure on the Argentinians,” All Blacks captain Sam Cane said. “We knew they’re a team that will fight for everything and they wouldn’t go away. So that ability to keep piling on points was pleasing.”

As the game opened up more in the second spell, the All Blacks showed off their ruthlessness by building attacks and battering the Pumas to the point of fatigue. They led 39-6 going into the