Rugby World Cup: Ian Foster’s restoration job has All Blacks making final World Cup surge

Credit where it’s due. The coach has stayed the course and his players have rewarded him with a brilliantly timed charge to the World Cup final in France that will unfold next Sunday (NZT) against the winner of the second semifinal between hot favourites, and defending champs, South Africa and England. As much as last week had been a dogged slog to the end, this was a classy expression of their skills from the awesome All Blacks against an outmatched Argentina outfit. They will take some stopping from here.

My goodness, this shapes as some story of redemption too. Think about it. When the All Blacks staggered from Mbombela to Johannesburg for an unpromising second of back-to-back tests against South Africa in August of 2022 they were in such disarray that HQ had already sacked two assistants and had a replacement head coach lined up to step in and save the day. The emergency glass was about to be broken, and the lever pulled.

At that stage the New Zealanders had lost five of their last six tests, including an historic home series defeat to Ireland from a match up, and a conclusive 26-10 drubbing by the Boks in Mbombela appeared to be the final straw. Every man and his dog pretty much agreed it was time to tear down the edifice and rebuild while there was still time.

But before that could happen, a funny thing happened. Foster refreshed his props, the rest of his squad gathered in tight, and they decided to do something about this dreadful plunge and play for, not only their coach’s survival, but their own pride and the legacy of this black jersey they hold so dear. They won in Johannesburg, roaring home over a remarkable final quarter of an hour when things had looked unpromising to roll the Boks 35-23, saved Fozzie’s bacon, and then set about changing the narrative of this World Cup cycle.

It was not all smooth sailing – the 2022 campaign remained mired in inconsistency, even while the wins were racked up –and even this year a promising start hit the skids with a record defeat to the South Africans at Twickenham and then their first ever pool loss to open the global tournament.

But here they are now, through to their fifth World Cup final, having dispatched a limited Argentina side with contemptuous ease at a rather flat Stade de France. There is only so much excitement generated by watching a side dominate a semifinal in the manner that these All Blacks did, running in seven tries to cruise to a 44-6 victory that was every bit as conclusive as those numbers screamed.

Right wing Will Jordan was magnificent, as he took his try tally to 31 in 30 tests with a sizzling hat-trick, Mark Telea’s return was triumphant (98 running metres and a remarkable 14 defenders beaten), halves Richie Mo’unga and Aaron Smith were outstanding as they dominated the contest and Jordie Barrett signed off on a player-of-the-match effort with 51 metres on the carry and a team-high 18 tackles nailed.

And so it continued through a polished performance. Beauden Barrett had a strong night, as did Rieko Ioane. The forwards soaked up the early energy and muscularity from the Pumas and then took control, at set piece, breakdown and around the park. Loosies Ardie Savea, Shannon Frizell and Sam Cane combined to make 50 tackles and lay on the sort of ball their backs can only dream of. Sam Whitelock – set to be the first player ever to make three World Cup finals – was a tower of strength. The scrum had its way.

Yes, Scott Barrett’s late yellow card was a bit of a blemish, but it was inconsequential. A minor footnote on a night of black dominance.

After the drama, competitiveness and dogged defiance of last week, and that classic quarterfinal victory over Ireland, this was a much more coolly efficient, classically controlled performance from Foster’s men as they breezed into their fifth World Cup final, in search of their fourth global crown.

They didn’t recapture the relentless energy and burning desire that got them through against Ireland. But they didn’t have to. This was beautifully controlled after the early Argentine fury was eventually quelled, and exquisitely executed. It looks a daunting prospect for whomever they face.

Skill, speed and teamwork triumphed over an opponent who roared out of the gates, then hit empty too soon. And so this team now gets to play for the greatest honour of all, when just a year ago it seemed so very, very far away. Impossibly so.

After all this team, and its embattled head coach, have been through it’s quite remarkable to think that the last tango in Paris will be a World Cup final. Now that’s a movie we never thought we would see.