New Zealand boss Ian Foster plans to enjoy a bowl of popcorn while watching England’s blockbuster with South Africa after his side eased into the Rugby World Cup final by dispatching Argentina.
Foster can put his feet up for Saturday evening’s colossal semi-final clash between Steve Borthwick’s men and the Springboks thanks to a crushing 44-6 success over Los Pumas in Paris.
The 58-year-old expects an “interesting contrast of styles” in the other last-four fixture and is not bothered who the All Blacks face in next week’s showpiece match at Stade de France.
New Zealand barely broke sweat in booking an unprecedented fifth World Cup final appearance and now have the luxury of an extra day’s rest as they await the identity of their ultimate opponents.
“I’ll be watching it,” said Foster. “I’ll probably have some popcorn and sit there and watch it and I don’t care who wins. We’re very much in a focus-about-ourselves stage.
“One thing that extra day does give us, it gives us a bit of a chance to have a break mentally and not to spend too much juice worrying about if it’s them, if it’s them.
“They’re both good teams. South Africa have been playing some brilliant rugby the last few weeks and are clearly on top of their game.
“But we’ve also seen an English side that just build away quietly and are probably starting to understand how they want to play and they’re starting to get really good at how they want to play and believe in that.
“It will be an interesting contrast of styles.”
All Blacks wing Will Jordan ran in a hat-trick during the seven-try rout in Saint-Denis to lift him above France’s Damian Penaud as the World Cup’s leading try scorer on eight.
The treble also saw the 25-year-old equal the record for tries in a single tournament, putting him alongside Jonah Lomu, Bryan Habana and Julian Savea.
Foster was able to empty his bench long before the full-time whistle due to the emphatic scoreline and opted to keep the sin-binned Scott Barrett on the sidelines for around five minutes longer than required as the Kiwis finished with 14 men.
Asked if those situations could prove advantageous moving towards the final, Foster said: “I don’t think they’ll make a massive difference.
“Finals are finals and whoever we play, they’ll be a hundred per cent.
“It was an opportunity for us to make sure that we looked after our resources as best we could.
“We really didn’t see a need of putting Scooter (Barrett) back on, only from the perspective that if he had another little yellow card incident in the next five minutes, it might have made it a little bit niggly.”
Argentina were a shadow of the side who stunned Wales in the last eight.
A pair of first-half Emiliano Boffelli penalties was all they could muster.
Shannon Frizell’s double, plus further tries from Jordie Barrett and Aaron Smith, added to their punishment.
Los Pumas head coach Michael Cheika felt New Zealand ruthlessly exploited each of his team’s errors and was unhappy with some of the refereeing, particularly during first-half rucks.
The Australian promised his players will respond to a difficult outing in the bronze-medal match.
“It’s not a sad moment; it’s a moment when I’m actually proud of my team,” he said.
“It’s not an easy path that we’ve been on. We’ve invested ourselves a lot in this. But we’ve lost on details. I’m sad for them.
“It’s hard but its a good thing it’s hard. On Friday, we will be there, have no doubt. We will not leave this way.
“We want to finish third. We’ve got things we want to show in the bronze final. Right now, we’re hurting.”
Second washout stops England and Pakistan's T20 World Cup preparation
For the second time this series, England and Pakistan saw a game abandoned due to rain, this time at Sophia Gardens on Tuesday.
After their opening game at Headingley was washed out, the teams endured another frustrating day in Cardiff as the umpires called off the third match without a single bowl being bowled.
England’s 23-run victory at Edgbaston on Saturday means they have an unassailable 1-0 lead in the series.
However, Pakistan have one last chance to level things at The Oval on Thursday before both teams head off to the United States for the T20I World Cup in June.
Owen gives Bellingham 'massive chance' of Ballon d'Or success
Michael Owen believes Jude Bellingham has a "massive chance" of winning the Ballon d'Or after a stand-out debut season at Real Madrid.
Los Blancos won their 36th LaLiga title, losing just one of their league games while finishing 10 points clear of second-place Barcelona.
Bellingham ended the league campaign as Madrid’s top-scorer, netting 19 LaLiga goals and added another four in the Champions League to help them on their way to the final.
The attacking-midfielder has also created more chances under pressure (19) than any other midfielder in the Champions League, with four of those resulting in an assist for a Madrid teammate.
Bellingham is due to join up with England for Euro 2024 following the Champions League final as the Three Lions aim to win their first major trophy since 1966.
Bellingham is among the favourites to get his hands on the Ballon d'Or and would be the first Englishman to win it since Owen himself in 2001.
"The Ballon d'Or comes to players who have an exceptional season, not only personally, but who have had a season where they have won something or multiple titles," Owen told TNT Sports.
"If Jude Bellingham goes and wins LaLiga, which he already has done, as well as the Champions League all while being one of the stars of the show in that team, then he has got to be in the conversation.
"A lot will depend on Euro 2024 with England. If he has a good tournament and England go far, then you could rightly say that he has a massive chance."
Bellingham will face former club Borussia Dortmund at Wembley on Saturday as Madrid aim to lift a record-extending 15th title in the European Cup.
Shaw hits back at critics questioning Man Utd loyalty
Luke Shaw has hit back at those "questioning his loyalty" to Manchester United following an injury-hit campaign.
The left-back made just 15 appearances for United in all competitions this season and has not played since February due to a muscle injury.
Despite that, Shaw received a call-up to Gareth Southgate’s provisional 33-man squad for Euro 2024, though the England manager said he is a "long shot" to make the final squad.
Taking to Instagram, Shaw posted: "There’s nothing I want to do more than play and win with United.
"I don’t normally react to things I see on social media but there’s a lot of people questioning my loyalty to this club and asking how I am fit for England but not United.
"The reality is I am not 100% fit for either right now, but I am doing everything I can and constantly working to be [fit]. I have been at this club for 10 years through highs and lows and for anyone to question my loyalty is obviously frustrating.
"My biggest focus right now is being fit and then whatever happens this summer I will be ready."
England will play two friendlies before the Euros, and Southgate will announce his official 26-man squad following their game against Iceland on June 7.
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