Three-time champions New Zealand on Saturday inflicted more Rugby World Cup heartbreak on Ireland, beating them 28-24 in a tense quarter-final to bring a bitterly disappointing end to Irish captain Johnny Sexton’s stellar career, while Argentina defeated Wales to advance.
The All Blacks avenged a historic home series defeat at the hands of Ireland last year, taking their chances when they had them in clinical fashion at the Stade de France to reach a semi-final against Argentina.
The defeat ended Ireland’s run of 17 successive Test victories and denied Andy Farrell’s team the chance of reaching the last four for the first time in their history.
Photo: AFP
“You’ve got to work hard for fairytale endings and we didn’t get it, but that’s life,” 38-year-old Sexton said. “We left no stone unturned, we ticked every box, trained the house down, and played pretty well tonight, but fair play to the All Blacks.”
The All Blacks came into the eagerly awaited clash in what for them was the unaccustomed position of underdogs.
However, the New Zealanders roared into a 13-0 lead, and although Ireland hit back again and again, the All Blacks kept their noses in front and showed their pedigree to reach the semi-finals.
Ireland did pierce the New Zealand defense on a couple of occasions, but their discipline let them down and it was their opponents who turned their chances into points.
“We all knew it was going to be a monster game. It was a real arm wrestle,” New Zealand coach Ian Foster said. “They’re a proud team, Ireland, they really hung in there. I thought we had them a couple of times, but they kept making the game really tight.”
“Sometimes the sweetest victories are when your opposition plays very well and tests you to the limit,” he said.
In Marseille, Emiliano Boffelli kicked 19 points to help Argentina to a dramatic 29-17 victory over Wales.
Los Pumas came into the quarter-final at the Stade Velodrome as underdogs, having finished Pool D runners-up to England, while Wales booked their place in the quarters with a perfect four wins from four in Pool C.
However, Argentina played the territorial game, and while not shining in attack, proved to be solid in defense, disruptive at the line-out and disciplined enough to contain a fancied Welsh side seeking to make the semi-final for the third time in four tournaments.
‘SOURCE OF PRIDE’: Newspapers rushed out special editions and the government sent their congratulations as Shohei Ohtani became the first player to enter the 50-50 club Japan reacted with incredulity and pride yesterday after Shohei Ohtani became the first player in Major League Baseball to record 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season. The Los Angeles Dodgers star from Japan made history with a seventh-inning homer in a 20-4 victory over the Marlins in Miami. “We would like to congratulate him from the bottom of our heart,” top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters in Tokyo. “We sincerely hope Mr Ohtani, who has already accomplished feat after feat and carved out a new era, will thrive further,” he added. The landmark achievement dominated Japanese morning news
When Wang Tao ran away from home aged 17 to become a professional wrestler, he knew it would be a hard slog to succeed in China’s passionate but underdeveloped scene. Years later, he has endured family disapproval, countless side gigs and thousands of hours of brutal training to become China’s “Belt and Road Champion” — but the struggle is far from over. Despite a promising potential domestic market, the Chinese pro wrestling community has been battling for recognition and financial stability for decades. “I have done all kinds of jobs [on the side]... Because in the end, it is very
No team in the CPBL can surpass the Taipei Dome attendance record set by the CTBC Brothers, except when the Brothers team up with Taiwanese rock band Mayday. A record-high 40,000 fans turned out at the indoor baseball venue on Saturday for Brothers veteran Chou Szu-chi’s first farewell game, which was followed by a mini post-game concert featuring Mayday. This broke the previous CPBL record of 34,506 set by the Brothers in early last month, when K-pop singer Hyuna performed after the game, and the dome’s overall record of 37,890 set in early March, which featured the Brothers and the
Olympic bronze medalist Lee Meng-yuan has become the first Taiwanese athlete to top the International Shooting Sport Federation’s (ISSF) men’s skeet world rankings, while top Taiwanese shooters won golds in each of yesterday’s finals in Taoyuan. Lee’s 6,610 points put him ahead of fellow men’s skeet medalists from the Paris Olympics Americans Vincent Hancock and Conner Prince. Lee on Monday said that he was surprised by the result, although he had expected his ranking to rise after the Games, which was also the first time a Taiwanese athlete had competed in men’s skeet. Despite topping the rankings, Lee said he believed Hancock, who