Argentina vs New Zealand: Michael Cheika aims to guide Pumas to first Rugby World Cup final

When George Ford scored 27 points in England's opening game against Argentina, not many had the Pumas being 80 minutes away from a first Rugby World Cup final.

But Michael Cheika knows how to make sure a team peaks when it matters.

In 2015, he guided Australia to Rugby Championship victory, knocked England out of their home World Cup and helped the Wallabies to their first World Cup final since 2003.

Eight years on, he is at the helm of Argentina's run to the last four in France and next up is Friday's semi-final against New Zealand - who are coming off the back of one of the great All Black wins in their epic quarter-final against Ireland.

"I don't think there has been some radical turnaround," said Cheika, after the Pumas reached their third semi-final in five World Cups. "I think we have built from what we have learned, and try to be a bit better at it the next game.

"I have come to this tournament with different draws at different times. When I say the draw, I mean who you play first, second etc.

"I felt like we had a light prep [before England] because we know what our squad looks like. In the build-up we didn't play a lot of games.

"We knew the first game would be a bit rough from us. We learned a lot because there was a lot of first-time World Cuppers in there."

The Pumas had a mixed Rugby Championship in the build-up to the World Cup, which included a win over Cheika's former employers Australia.

But every game, detail and selection is part of a bigger picture.

Scrum-half Simon Keogh played under Cheika during Leinster's historic first Heineken Cup triumph in 2009, a year which had been planned around a "regimented structure" with European glory the end destination.

"He broke it into the climbing of Everest," Keogh recalled.

"He divided the season up into getting to each summit. It was a really structured approach to how the season was won and ultimately conquering Everest was the final.

"It helped our mindset in terms of the different stages that we had to go through. He consistently stayed with that message for the whole season."

Despite their disappointing opening to the 2023 World Cup against England, Argentina stayed alive in the competition by beating Samoa, Chile and Japan to finish second in Pool D.

What followed was the biggest winning margin of any side in the quarter-finals, a 12-point victory over Wales.

"They are all different experiences," Cheika said of his previous coaching roles. "This is different because I am dealing with a different culture of people, which I love and love being connected to.

"Leinster to Waratahs to Wallabies, those in that order has given me experience for this situation. We are doing everything to use it."

'An absolute menace'

Eleven Premiership players were named in Argentina's 33-man World Cup squad, with captain Julian Montoya playing his rugby for Leicester Tigers.

You have to go further north, to Newcastle, to find the second home of four squad members; Matias Moroni, Mateo Carreras and Pedro Rubiolo, plus new recruit Eduardo Bello.

Former Falcons lock Greg Peterson played alongside Moroni, Carreras and Rubiolo.

Off the pitch, the trio have managed to put their Argentine stamp on the team in the form of their local cuisine.

"They sourced all the meat and cut it all up and got it prepared and barbecued it all that day - it was absolutely incredible," Peterson recalled of a meal they prepared for the entire Newcastle squad.

The star performer among the quartet in France has been Carreras, whose hat-trick against Japan sent the Pumas into the knockout stage.

The speedy winger joined Newcastle in 2021 and initially struggled for game time, but remained one of the hardest workers.

"He did a lot of extra work leading into that World Cup over the past few years," USA international Peterson said.

"He is the one bloke when I was on the pitch with him and he got the ball, I thought 'he is going to make something happen'.

"As soon as he got a chance in terms of that Pumas jersey, I knew he would hold on to it and not let it go. He is an absolute menace but extremely diligent."

Peterson played for the Waratahs under Cheika and believes he is the perfect man to get Argentina "absolutely firing" for their semi-final.

He added: "In terms of the heartstrings that he will pull to get them emotionally charged to be in the right place, he would be a hard taskmaster but good for all of them.

"They have all been underdogs in their lives and pretty much spent their entire life from small towns and they create things for themselves."

'It's like being at home'

Alongside the mastermind and the talent comes the final piece of the Argentina jigsaw - their raucous fans.

From Marseille to Saint-Etienne and then to Nantes, the South American nation's supporters have been present in large numbers.

The next destination is the Stade de France in Paris, which will be the biggest venue yet, with a sea of white and blue expected on Friday.

"It's amazing the amount of support that we receive being here - they were really loud, it's like being at home," captain Montoya said.

Cheika added: "We want to inspire not just by our results but by our ambition, by our ability to get back up and overcome obstacles.

"To inspire is not about results, it's not just one player who played well, it's about our behaviour in general, our ability to be ready to come back from difficult times and seizing our opportunities.

"There are not a lot of opportunities in life - us playing in a semi-final is even rarer and we want to have no regrets."