Last Updated: October 21, 2023, 03:30 IST
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Argentina captain Julian Montoya made the uncomfortable admission that his side were blown away in areas they normally pride themselves on as New Zealand strolled to a 446 World Cup semifinal victory on Friday.
PARIS: Argentina captain Julian Montoya made the uncomfortable admission that his side were blown away in areas they normally pride themselves on as New Zealand strolled to a 44-6 World Cup semi-final victory on Friday.
“I think set-piece, the scrums were completely dominant on us, so we need to look inside each other and know that we need to be better,” he said.
“Every opportunity they have they scored. An awesome team and they were the better team today by far.”
Montoya said his team were well below the levels they wanted to show and hoped they would improve for next week’s Bronze final.
“I’m really disappointed with that,” he said. “Our dream of playing in a final is over but we still have work to do.”
Coach Michael Cheika said: “The effort was huge. They put everything out there and I think it was just in the details of the game, the small details on transition in scrums, the last couple of minutes before halftime, the first couple of minutes after halftime – they are the little nuances that we don’t have as yet in our game.
“But we’ve certainly got a lot to be proud of. I know the score was hard but their effort today, their defence and their work around the field. We just didn’t have the class to match New Zealand.”
Cheika also quickly turned his attention to the third-place playoff back at the Stade de France.
“It’s not finished yet, we want to go home with a medal,” he said.
“We will have to get over tonight because we really believed we could get in there and do something and it’s going to hurt but…”
The Australian also had a word of thanks for the Argentine supporters, who had desperately little to cheer on Friday.
“I want to really thank our fans, sorry it wasn’t a bit closer tonight,” he said. “They’ve been huge for us and I look forward to next week and seeing them there as well.”
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – Reuters)
