New Zealand smoked Argentina in tonight's Rugby World Cup semi final, with a scoreline of 44-6 at the Stade de France.
Despite most predicting a straight-forward win for New Zealand, there were hopes that Argentina would raise their game and make a contest out of the match.
It was evidently from early on that this would not be the case with the All Blacks going into half-time with a 20-6 lead, before an utterly one sided second that featured a multitude of easy run-ins, while Will Jordan completed his hat-trick.
Predictably, there was much dismay and complaining social media about the lack of competition in the last four of rugby's flagship tournament.
Once again, World Rugby were under fire for farcically holding the competition's draw so long before the beginning of the tournament, which resulted in the four best teams in the world on one half of the draw.
Fans Complain About Rugby World Cup Semi-Final Spectacle
Off to play some chess. I’ll watch the rest tomorrow when I can scrub through the replay at 2x speed. This has been not only one of the worst matches of rugby I’ve seen, but probably the most disappointing. Godawful.
— A-P (@rugby_ap) October 20, 2023
Really not pretty this. #ARGvNZL
— Jared Wright (@jaredwright17) October 20, 2023
If you’re not watching this, it’s impossible to adequately describe now embarrassingly bad this is as an “event” and how lucky you are not to be watching this.#ARGvNZL #NZLvARG
— Andy McGeady (@andymcgeady) October 20, 2023
READ HERE: Stephen Ferris Feels Interest In The Rugby World Cup Has Faded After Ireland And France Exit
Speaking after the match, New Zealand captain Sam Cane spoke about the Argentinian fight, and the 'crucial moments' that broke the hearts of the opposition and put the game to bed.
"Yeah, it was tight. We managed to get a couple of tries early but then it was a real arm wrestle for a while.
"The scrum penalty just before half-time, we were able to kick for touch. We had numerous phases and then Shannon Frizell scored right on half-time.
"Then those couple of minutes after half-time when Aaron Smith scored, I thought they were really crucial moments.
"Pretty stoked!"
I talked some bollocks about Argentina, really, probably trying to convince myself that it might be a worthwhile game as much as anything.
Not their fault, and certainly not New Zealand’s — but that was dogshit.
(Obviously, I’m mainly still just sad about last week)
— Gavan Casey (@GavanCasey) October 20, 2023
That contest was way below what you'd hope for in a World Cup semi-final. Poor fare, terrible atmosphere.
England and South Africa have some heavy lifting to do tomorrow night
All Blacks in the final without even a raised arm at the end. So, so comfortable
— Rúaidhrí O'Connor (@RuaidhriOC) October 20, 2023
SEE ALSO: World Rugby Admit To Five Huge Refereeing Errors In France - South Africa Semi-Final
