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.”
Southgate envisages central role for 'brilliant' Foden at Euro 2024
Gareth Southgate believes Phil Foden's starting position is less important than the spaces he is allowed to attack, pledging to find a way of letting him operate centrally at Euro 2024.
Foden was included in England's 33-man preliminary squad on Tuesday, and he is expected to be among the first names on the teamsheet after enjoying a fine campaign.
Foden was named Premier League Player of the Season as he helped Manchester City win an unprecedented fourth straight title, scoring 19 goals and adding seven assists.
Only three players in the league bettered Foden's goal tally, while he also ranked seventh in the division for chances created (73) and fourth for possession won in the final third (35 times).
Foden scored two excellent goals as City clinched the title with a 3-1 final-day win over West Ham, drifting infield from the right to find space between the lines and in the penalty area.
While the presence of Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham and Arsenal's Bukayo Saka has led many to conclude Foden will be stationed on the left in Germany, Southgate is aware of the need to grant him positional freedom.
"Phil has played off the right, off the left, the key is where he ends up, not his starting position," Southgate said at a press conference on Tuesday.
"He plays on the left with City, sometimes he stays wide, but he's allowed to drift, and it has always been the same with us. He's allowed to drift.
"Then there's where a player has to defend. Jude has played as a 10 all season, and sometimes he has defended on the left for Real Madrid.
"It's about where these players arrive and where you allow them to drift, that's the key. I think if you spoke to all of our players, we never pin them to a touchline, that's not how we work so there is that freedom."
Foden produced a series of talismanic displays for City in the run-in, scoring match-winning hat-tricks against Brentford and Aston Villa and masterminding a vital comeback against Manchester United with two goals in March.
The 23-year-old stepped up while players like Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland were sidelined through injury, and Southgate has been impressed by his ability to shoulder that responsibility.
"It's obvious the brilliant season Phil has had, how he stepped up in big games not only when big players have been out but when he's been playing alongside them as well," Southgate added.
"You want him in central areas as you do one or two others, so we have to find the best way of making that happen."
Buttler: England looking to repair dented pride at T20 World Cup
England's white-ball captain Jos Buttler says the team had their pride dented by last year's 50-over World Cup failure, as they look to set things right at the T20 tournament.
England endured a dismal defence of their ODI title in India last year, failing to make it out of the group stage as they lost six of their nine matches.
They are desperate for a better showing as they look to retain their 20-over crown at the T20 World Cup in the United States and West Indies, with their opener coming against Scotland on June 4.
Before then, Buttler's team face Pakistan in a four-match home T20I series, and he has witnessed a determination to respond within the camp.
"That pride was obviously dented and it was a really disappointing competition," Buttler recalled.
"But life moves on, it's a chapter in the book and there's lessons you learn but we're presented with a new opportunity, a different format.
"We go to the West Indies and want to give a better account of ourselves."
Headingley is the venue for England's first match against Pakistan on Wednesday, when Jofra Archer could make his first international appearance for over a year.
The fast bowler has missed the better part of two years with elbow and back issues, but Buttler says he has impressed in training this week.
"He's bowling quick," Buttler said of Archer. "It was good fun facing him in the nets yesterday, a really good challenge. It's great to see him back."
Shaw a 'long shot' for Euro 2024, says Southgate
Despite including him in his preliminary squad, Gareth Southgate says it is a "long shot" that Luke Shaw will be fit for Euro 2024.
Shaw has been sidelined since February with a muscle injury but is the only recognised left-back in Southgate’s 33-man squad as Ben Chilwell also misses out due to injury.
Joe Gomez is an option for the position after filling in for Liverpool at times this season, while Kieran Trippier has also played at left-back for England in the past.
However, Shaw has been the first-choice left-back for the last two major tournaments, and Southgate admits that he will give him every chance to be fit.
"[Luke Shaw's] up against it," said Southgate. "He's missed a lot of football.
"The fact that he has been our first choice in that position, we've probably given him a lot longer than we would have done.
"I’ve talked with him and the medical team, we’ve been liaising with Manchester United, I'm not sure what's realistic at this time. I have to say, he's a long shot."
Southgate may have other injury problems on his hands. Harry Kane missed the end of Bayern Munich’s season due to a back injury, while Harry Maguire has not played since April.
"The job here is to adapt to the hand of cards you're dealt with," Southgate added.
"The injuries are a very complex thing. Sometimes players have had to play more than they might have done. Some players have come back earlier than they might have done.
"There's definitely been a lot of matches in the calendar. But it's too easy to say it's just the [fault of a] winter World Cup. It's lots of different reasons."
Southgate will cut his squad down to 26 players after England face Iceland in their final pre-tournament friendly at Wembley Stadium on June 7.
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