TOPS
The All Blacks slammed their fists on the table this Friday. Singled out for their recent checkered results, with record defeats against South Africa and France, they reacted in the most beautiful way by reminding us that we will have to count on them for the final victory with their speed of execution and their unparalleled precision on the rugby planet. The 14 attempts, recorded with disconcerting ease, delighted the Lyon public. Ireland, the world’s number one nation and likely quarter-final opponent, has been warned…
The Italians have never beaten New Zealand in sixteen confrontations. The statistic was known and while the gap seemed to be narrowing from year to year, the three-time world champions reminded that their reputation had not been usurped. The pre-match average will increase further. Over the sixteen matches, the average points scored was 62 points….
At 34, Aaron Smith is still among the references to his position. The scrum-half had a full match like the majority of his teammates, and stood out with a hat-trick in just 17 minutes. On two of them, he took advantage of a good advance from his forwards to score as a trickster (17th, 27th). On the third (34th), he took advantage of an inside delivery from Jordie Barrett to score without opposition. A health walk and, as a bonus, the record for the fastest hat-trick in this World Cup.
FLOPS
The Squadra Azzurra knew their road map: achieve success against New Zealand or France, and discover the quarter-finals of the World Cup. She blew a joker, and in what way by conceding 14 tries! A particularly heavy defeat, and difficult to predict – in any case, not in such magnitudes. If the Blues have experienced difficulties against the Italians recently, it is difficult to imagine this team causing problems for the premium team of the XV of France.
After a first quarter of an hour of play, and a scoreboard indicating a close score (7-3 for the All Blacks), the Italians seemed built to compete. Alas, they conceded 89 points between the 17th and 76th minutes, in less than an hour of play. No player was able to sound the revolt, under the dismayed gaze of Kieran Crowley, their coach. A defeat which risks weighing on the heads of the teammates of Capuozzo, author of one of his two tries (48th).
A quarter of an hour and then we run out of fuel. If we must credit the New Zealanders with their almost perfect score, the Transalpines were distressing on a physical level, being dominated during all the collisions and also on their replacement races. It’s hard to imagine that the Italians were indeed part of Tier 1 this Friday.