Former Ireland international Jean Kleyn acknowledges being on the verge of becoming a world champion with his native South Africa was “outside the realm of thinking” just months ago.

Munster lock Kleyn represented Ireland under Joe Schmidt at the 2019 World Cup in Japan after qualifying on residency grounds.

But, having been repeatedly overlooked by Schmidt’s successor Andy Farrell, the 30-year-old was in June cleared to switch allegiance back to the Springboks before being included in Jacques Nienaber’s squad for France.

Reigning champions South Africa are on course to retain their crown going into Saturday’s final against fellow three-time winners New Zealand in Paris.

“I think I’ve caught myself thinking about it probably too often,” Kleyn said of his curious Test career.

“It’s a strange one because if you’d asked me six months ago if I at all thought I had any chance of being here at the World Cup final playing for the Springboks, I would have told you you are absolutely insane.

“I’ll probably wake up when it’s all said and done and think, ‘was that a dream or did it actually happen?’. It was outside the realm of thinking.

“It’s been a fantastic journey for me. It’s been an absolute pleasure being part of it.”

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Kleyn, who joined Munster from the Stormers in 2016, played five times under Schmidt in 2019, with his final cap coming in Ireland’s 47-5 pool-stage win over Samoa in Fukuoka.

His lengthy spell in the international wilderness allowed him to revert to the Springboks, a decision he feared may be met with a backlash.

But the response in his adopted nation has been overwhelmingly positive and grown since Ireland’s quarter-final exit at the hands of the All Blacks.

“I’ve been absolutely inundated with messages from Munster supporters – obviously only after Ireland fell out,” said Kleyn.

“Then they really came after us and said, ‘listen, you’re our second team now, guys’.

“The support was really heartfelt from a lot of Munster fans and it made it a lot easier for me because I thought it would be quite a negative reaction when I declared for the Springboks.

“From my history with Irish media, I figured there would be a few negative articles but it was resoundingly positive, so I was really happy about that.”

Kleyn may have to settle for a watching brief at Stade de France this weekend as he has been restricted to just one start during the tournament – South Africa’s 76–0 success over Romania.

His only other appearance was off the bench in his country’s 13-8 Pool B loss to Ireland.

While the Springboks lost that epic battle, they could still win the war.

“Obviously it was a pity for us the result didn’t go our way but here we are in the end still,” said Kleyn.

“No-one really looks back and says ‘you’ve lost a pool game’. They’re going to look if you win the World Cup.

“We were disappointed with the result back then but happy with where we are now. It was a fantastic game to be a part of. I enjoyed every minute.”

England will sign off an encouraging Rugby World Cup with Friday’s bronze final against Argentina at the Stade de France having lost 16-15 to South Africa in the last four.

Here, the PA news agency examines five things we learned from their progress through the tournament.

England in the right hands

The rancour of the latter stages of the Eddie Jones era saw the bond between England and their fans fray, but the act of defiance produced on a sodden Paris night has the capacity to reconnect team and supporters. Although it ended in heartbreak, there was much to admire as the Springboks were out-Bokked by a wet-weather masterclass devised by Steve Borthwick. Expectations heading into the World Cup were at an all-time low, yet Borthwick drove them to the brink of a World Cup final and the head coach described as a rugby “genius” by wing Jonny May has proved he is the right man to lead England forward.

End of an era

Supporters might have to show patience as tricky waters lie ahead in the form of the inevitable rebuild for Australia 2027. Stalwarts such as Courtney Lawes, Jonny May, Dan Cole and Joe Marler are likely to have played their last Tests and while there is an impressive core of players who are in the early phase of their career – Ben Earl, Freddie Steward, Marcus Smith and Alex Mitchell among them – it could be some time before Borthwick’s vision for England really takes shape.

Break the World Cup cycle

Under Jones everything was sacrificed at the alter of the World Cup, repeated poor Six Nations performances explained away by their place in the bigger picture. But the gut-wrenching defeat to South Africa, which was won by a 79th-minute Handre Pollard penalty, was an indicator of just how hard the tournament is to win. The Webb Ellis Trophy remains the ultimate prize, but it is just part of the sport’s landscape and should not be prioritised at the expense of other competitions.

Red Rose great

It did not need a strong World Cup to confirm Lawes as an all-time England great, but over the last two months, he provided emphatic confirmation nonetheless. The second row-turned blindside flanker retires from Test rugby after the tournament, a 34-year-old veteran of 105 caps, who saved his best performances for the biggest games. As a back-row warrior with sharp rugby instincts, he leaves giant boots to fill.

Martin the enforcer

While the English game says farewell to one ultra-physical back-five forward, Saturday hinted at the birth of another. George Martin was making only his fourth start, yet the 22-year-old rookie was the dominant second row on a pitch also roamed by Eben Etzebeth and Maro Itoje, making thunderous tackles and offering close-quarter muscle, particularly in mauls. The type of brutish presence every pack needs, he should become a fixture in England’s 23 for years to come.

Jonny May is backing Steve Borthwick to crack the code of rugby after describing England’s head coach as a “genius” in the mold of Alan Turing and Mr Spock.

England went out on their shields in Saturday’s World Cup semi-final defeat by South Africa, losing 16-15 to a late Handre Pollard penalty, having dominated the reigning champions until the final quarter.

A heroic performance was the culmination of Borthwick’s opening 10 months in charge, having been parachuted in with the short-term objective of making the team competitive at France 2023.

He succeeded by devising a statistics-based approach that almost dethroned the world champions, leaving May to conclude England are in the best possible hands.

“We’re starting to see what a genius Steve is in terms of how he’s starting to get this team going,” May said.

“You won’t find a harder working man than Steve and his approach to the game is a little bit like Alan Turing.

“If anybody is going to crack the code to rugby it will be Steve – he’s getting ever closer each week and good luck to him.

“He’s got an analytical brain and an evidence-based, scientific, Spock-like approach to the game.

“I’ve learned a lot from him. I’ve been very grateful for all the coaches I’ve had throughout my career and I’ve absorbed everything I possibly can, always trying to learn and be curious.

“But Steve, with his ways, he’s on to something. He’s a young coach and has this unique and different way that he goes about the game.

“Cracking it is not something I’m interested in doing as the game gets more complicated each week, but he’s obsessed with it so hats off to him.”

While England can look ahead with optimism, May strongly suspects that their future does not include him.

The nation’s second-highest try scorer of all-time behind Rory Underwood will almost certainly have played his last Test at this World Cup, Friday’s bronze match against Argentina his final opportunity to pull on a Red Rose jersey.

The 33-year-old wing was only called up to Borthwick’s squad because of an injury to Anthony Watson, yet he has been a regular starter and was outstanding against South Africa, even winning a jackal penalty.

“Never say never, but very much in my head now I’m thinking, more than likely that I’ll be done after this,” May said.

“For me no regrets, what a journey, I wasn’t even going to be on the plane at one point.

“But I stuck in there and that’s the attitude across the team – we stick in there, we’ve had pretty much everything thrown at us, but we’re starting to find ourselves.

“I’m grateful to have been a part of it and although it probably won’t continue after this World Cup, I feel like I’m connected to this team. It’s making my hairs stand up now a little bit.

“To be connected like that, to be close to the boys and have those relationships, to go through these times with these friends of mine, is incredibly important to me.

“It’s been everything to me, playing for England, just absolutely everything.”

World Rugby has opened an investigation into the alleged racist slur directed at England flanker Tom Curry by South Africa hooker Mbongeni Mbonambi in Saturday’s World Cup semi-final.

Curry claimed to referee Ben O’Keeffe in the second quarter of the Stade de France clash that he had been called a “white c***” by Mbonambi.

“World Rugby takes all allegations of discriminatory behaviour extremely seriously,” a statement read.

“We can confirm that we are formally reviewing the allegation made by England’s Tom Curry in relation to the use of discriminatory language during the England versus South Africa Rugby World Cup 2023 semi-final on Saturday.

“World Rugby will not be making further comment until the conclusion of the process.”

Test centurion Courtney Lawes will retire from England duty following the Rugby World Cup.

The 34-year-old’s bid to finish his international career on a high was cruelly ended by Saturday’s heartbreaking 16-15 semi-final loss to South Africa in Paris.

Vice-captain Lawes is a veteran of four World Cups, two British and Irish Lions tours and one of only five Englishmen to be capped 100 times.

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Steve Borthwick’s side will return home from France following Friday evening’s bronze-medal match against pool-stage opponents Argentina.

Lawes, who has made 105 international appearances across 15 years, said: “I haven’t told Steve yet! But I will let him know.

“I’ve said to the boys, anyone that’s asked. I think it’s time. I’ve done four World Cups, so I’m pretty happy with that.

“It’s a bit of an end of an era, but it’s been a real honour for me to represent England for so long. It flies by.

“I’m proud of the journey I’ve been on. It’s not always been the ups. Plenty of downs in there, but I’ve pushed through.

“I’m not an emotional person really, but it’s just been a huge honour for me.

“To be able to finish with this group, it’s something I’ll treasure forever.”

England travelled to the World Cup in poor form and with many pundits dismissive of their prospects.

But they came agonisingly close to reaching a second successive final after leading the reigning champions for all but five minutes of an enthralling last-four encounter which was settled by Handre Pollard’s late penalty.

“It’s one of those where we thought we had it, but let it slip away at the same time,” said Lawes.

“But we’ve proved a lot of people wrong. You give it all you’ve got. It’s sport, isn’t it?

“That’s what it means at the highest level. You get a couple of things wrong and get punished.

“But a lot of people thought we’d have struggled, and in the end we were unlucky to lose.”

Lawes made his England debut against Australia in 2009 when head coach Borthwick was team captain.

The flanker was a beaten finalist against the Springboks in 2019 and also played in the 2011 and 2015 tournaments, in addition to representing the Lions in 2017 and 2021.

He believes England have a bright future under Borthwick and is determined to sign off by helping the team finish third.

“We showed to everyone what it means to play for this team,” said Lawes. “Play for your country and the boys alongside you.

“I think people can see now what a good coach he is – and where this team can really go.

“We want to finish on a high. It’s important for us to finish properly and send us all off on a good win.”

Father-of-four Lawes joined World Cup-winning prop Jason Leonard and international team-mates Ben Youngs, Owen Farrell and Dan Cole on a select list of England centurions in August by captaining his country in a shock warm-up defeat to Fiji at Twickenham.

He waved to fans at Stade de France following England’s dramatic elimination and intends to spend more time with his children while continuing to playing for Northampton.

“The kids are at that age where they need their dad around,” he said.

“It will be good to be with them more, to provide some well-needed structure to the mob.

“As hard as it is being away from your family, you almost have another family.

“You really feel like that, especially when you’re away in camps like World Cup camps. It’s five months, staying with your brothers.

“I’ll definitely miss the boys, the banter and all the stuff we get up to when we’re not training. I’ll miss the hard work as well.

“And I’ll definitely miss pulling the jersey on and giving it everything.”

Danny Care hopes a heartbreaking defeat by South Africa in Saturday’s World Cup semi-final has won over any England fans who had grown disillusioned with the team.

England went out on their shields after the Springboks needed a last-gasp penalty from Handre Pollard to snatch victory having trailed for 75 minute of a thunderous showdown at the Stade de France.

As Owen Farrell orchestrated a wet weather masterclass that rattled the world champions, the discontent generated by poor recent Six Nations campaigns, the Eddie Jones era limping on for too long and August’s alarming collapse in form faded away.

And although the distant outsiders were unable to complete their unlikely mission of securing a place in next Saturday’s final against New Zealand, head coach Steve Borthwick should begin rebuilding his side amid a groundswell of support.

Booing is a sound heard frequently at England games in recent times, particularly at Twickenham, but Care views the progress made in France under Borthwick’s guidance as a cause to rally around.

“There was a lot of stuff said about us before and hopefully we’ve changed some perceptions, maybe got people believing in us again,” the Harlequins scrum-half said.

“Before the tournament, we understand that because of our performances people were doubting us a little bit. But then things clicked into gear a bit when we got over to France.

“We’ve shown stuff that fans can hopefully get behind and be proud of. The support we’ve had over here and back home has been amazing. This team will go on to bigger and better things, I’m sure of it.”

England led by nine points until RG Snyman went over in the 70th minute, but the tide had already begun turning as South Africa’s ‘Bomb Squad’ forced four scrum penalties.

“It was tough in that changing room. Unfortunately great effort doesn’t get you over the line sometimes,” said the 36-year-old Care, who revealed he will remain available for Test selection after the World Cup.

“I was sat in the bath with Maro Itoje and we were saying how sport can be cruel. It’s why we love it so much, it’s on a knife edge so often. There’s one happy changing room, one sad one.

“For me personally, when time is running out on your international career it’s tough to take, but I’m incredibly proud to be part of this team.”

England have one final assignment before departing France in the shape of Friday’s bronze final, customarily an unloved fixture in the World Cup schedule. But Care insists third place is a prize worth winning.

“We’d love to have been in the big dance but we’re not. The next best thing you can do is to finish third and try to make more people back home proud of this England team,” Care said.

“We’ll dust ourselves off pretty quick. Losing to South Africa is going to be harsh and tough to take for a couple of days but that’s sport – you’ve got to bounce back.”

South Africa have begun investigating an alleged racist slur directed at England flanker Tom Curry by their hooker Mbongeni Mbonambi.

England have until Monday morning to lodge a complaint with the citing officer after Curry claimed he had been the victim of a discriminatory remark in Saturday’s 16-15 World Cup semi-final defeat by the Springboks.

Curry drew the incident to the attention of referee Ben O’Keeffe in the second quarter of the match at the Stade de France.

Although the alleged slur is not audible on the ref mic, Curry’s subsequent conversation with O’Keeffe is.

“Sir, if their hooker calls me a white c*** what do I do?” the Sale flanker said.

O’Keeffe replied: “Nothing, please. I’ll be on it.”

South Africa on Sunday responded by confirming they are looking into the incident.

“We are aware of the allegation, which we take very seriously, and are reviewing the available evidence. We will engage with Bongi if anything is found to substantiate the claim,” an SA Rugby statement read.

When asked after the match if Mbonambi had said something he should not have done, Curry replied “yeah”, although he declined to reveal the content of the remark.

Mbonambi, who took over as captain once Siya Kolisi had been replaced, refused to shake Curry’s hand at the end of a dramatic clash in Paris that was won by Handre Pollard’s penalty after 78 minutes.

World Rugby confirmed there is a 36-hour window from when the game ends for England to lodge a complaint to the citing officer, giving them until 10am BST on Monday to act.

The sport’s global governing body can also choose to pursue the matter, with any case likely to be brought under the ‘bringing the game into disrepute’ banner.

Also, if the citing officer finds any evidence of the alleged racist remark, disciplinary proceedings can be triggered against Mbonambi, with an offence such as this likely to contravene law 9.12 – a player must not verbally abuse anyone.

England led for all but five minutes of the semi-final and were nine points ahead until RG Snyman went over in the 70th minute at a time when the Springboks’ scrum was taking control through the introduction of the ‘Bomb Squad’.

Jonny May said England’s heroic effort against the world champions was fuelled by the belief that they had been dismissed as a serious threat by South Africa.

“I’ll be honest, I don’t think necessarily the South Africans respect us,” May said.

“Some of the things their coach has openly said about us in their documentaries and stuff probably just adds fuel to the fire.

“We touched on their documentary and we’ve got staff who were with them and they gave us insight of how they feel about us.”

England have until Monday morning to lodge a complaint after Tom Curry alleged he was the victim of a racist slur in Saturday’s 16-15 World Cup semi-final defeat by South Africa.

Curry drew the incident involving hooker Mbongeni Mbonambi to the attention of referee Ben O’Keeffe around the half-hour mark of the match at the Stade de France.

Although the alleged slur is not audible on the ref link, Curry’s subsequent conversation with O’Keeffe is.

“Sir, if their hooker calls me a white c***, what do I do?” the Sale flanker said.

O’Keeffe replied: “Nothing, please. I’ll be on it.”

When asked after the match if Mbonambi had said something he shouldn’t have done, Curry replied “yeah”, although he declined to reveal what was said.

Mbonambi refused to shake Curry’s hand at the end of a dramatic clash in Paris that was won by Handre Pollard’s penalty after 78 minutes.

The PA news agency has contacted World Rugby and the South Africa Rugby Union for comment.

Steve Borthwick vowed to use England’s heartbreaking World Cup semi-final exit at the hands of South Africa to sow a seed for future success.

Borthwick’s unfancied side led by nine points in the final quarter and were on the cusp of a famous win until Handre Pollard’s late penalty condemned them to an agonising 16-15 defeat.

Many of England’s players collapsed to their knees following a colossal, but ultimately unsuccessful, effort against the reigning champions on a sodden evening in Paris.

While head coach Borthwick was similarly crestfallen by the dramatic late twist at Stade de France, he was proud of the efforts of his team and upbeat about what lies ahead.

“We came here with a plan to win the game and we fell a little bit short, not far short but a little bit short, so we’re desperately disappointed,” he said.

“I think we all truly believed we could do it, we were going to do it, and we came very close to doing so.

“In adversity, in these tough times, there’s usually some seed of it there that will grow and be something brilliant in the future.

“Right now it’s too early for me to find that seed but we’ll make sure we find it.

“We’ll make sure that we take some of what we find tonight, some of what we’ve gone through tonight, we’ll make sure we grab that and we’ll make sure it makes us stronger in the future.”

Captain Owen Farrell produced an outstanding performance, kicking all of his side’s points, including a superb drop goal.

His efforts looked to be sufficient for victory but RG Snyman barged over for the only try of the match in the 70th minute to set up a grandstand finish.

Man-of-the-match Pollard, who booted the Springboks to victory over England in the 2019 final, nailed the tricky conversion and then landed a monster penalty two minutes from time to inflict more anguish on the opposition.

“The players should be incredibly proud of what they’ve done and continue to do as they represent England rugby,” continued Borthwick.

“I know I’ll have at home a couple of young boys who are going to be bitterly disappointed and I’m sure there are lots of people that are proud but also gutted back in England, I’m sure there are millions of people like that.

“I care about these players, I care about these supporters, and I care about English rugby.

“What I see is a group of guys who are doing as much as they possibly can to set an example, to build a team, to have supporters proud of them.

“They’re led by this man next to me (Farrell), who I think has been and continues to be a phenomenal player and an incredible leader of this team.”

New Zealand await South Africa in next weekend’s final.

Springboks head coach Jacques Nienaber praised his team’s fighting spirit.

“I pay a lot of credit to England,” he said. “They were outstanding on the night.

“They had a very good tactical plan and they put us under pressure. We will have to improve because it took us some time to get to grips with it.

“But the strength of this team is that even if we’re not playing well we find a way to get the result.

“It took 80 minutes to get a foothold in the game. The team refused to give up and fought until the end.”

Springboks captain Siya Kolisi was convinced fly-half Pollard, who came on for Manie Libbok with only half an hour gone, would land the decisive penalty from just inside England’s half.

“I had no doubt at all,” he said. “He’s done it for us before.

“England are a world-class team and completely different to a year ago. They had an amazing game plan which we took too long to adapt to.

“These things happen but we dug deep to get the victory. Other teams wouldn’t be able to get the win from this. I’m not going to say it was ugly, we did what was needed.”

England collapsed to an agonising 16-15 defeat against South Africa at the Stade de France as they allowed a place in Saturday’s World Cup final against New Zealand to slip from their grasp.

Steve Borthwick’s men led by nine points in the final quarter but their wet-weather masterclass began to fade as the ‘Bomb Squad’ made their presence felt for the Springboks, especially in the scrum.

It was on the back of their set-piece ascendancy and the generalship of replacement fly-half Handre Pollard that the tables turned in a sodden Paris.

RG Snyman barged over for the only try of the match in the 70th minute and Pollard nailed a tricky conversion, setting up heart-stopping finish to a Test that was enthralling throughout.

The world champions were still two points behind but up stepped man-of-the-match Pollard to land the killer blow with two minutes left, nailing a penalty from just inside England’s half.

England’s players sank to their knees at the final whistle, their hearts broken having given their all in a rematch of the 2019 final despite being distant outsiders, and it was an especially cruel moment for Owen Farrell given his outstanding night.

Farrell was at the heart of many of his side’s best moments and although the captain drew the now customary boos when his name was read out on the PA system pre-match, he replied by drawing first blood with a penalty.

Breakdown and line-out success, as well as Ben Earl blasting off the base of the scrum, were further early wins until a promising drive downfield ended with Farrell kicking his second penalty.

Three times in a row England turned over South African line-out drives, winning a penalty on the third of them to relieve the pressure that was building on their line.

Every aspect of an arm wrestle of a contest was being won by England, but they were also their own worst enemies as they gave away three needless penalties, one of them for a moment of petulance from Farrell that allowed Manie Libbok to land three points.

His eyes bulging, Farrell was playing on the edge and had to be escorted away from referee Ben O’Keeffe, but he regained his composure to re-establish the six-point lead.

Libbok became the fall guy for South Africa’s woes when he was replaced in the 32nd minute by Pollard in the hope the 2019 World Cup winner would bring greater control.

Pollard’s first involvement was to boot a penalty and growing tension was evident as errors crept into both sides, but when Farrell found the target for the fourth time, England entered the break with a deserved 12-6 lead.

Rookie Leicester lock George Martin had been at the forefront of red rose resistance through his savage tackling and as the rain continued to fall there was no prospect of the game opening up.

Scrum-half Cobus Reinach and full-back Damian Willemse were the next to be pulled by South Africa, who now had Faf de Klerk and Willie le Roux on the field, and then Eben Etzebeth followed them into the dugout.

The changes were a reflection of England’s control and just as the Springboks appeared to be clawing their way into contention, Farrell rifled over a sensational drop-goal.

England’s captain was striking gold with every touch as a wicked crossfield grubber caused Kurt-Lee Arendse to fumble, but South Africa were beginning to harvest penalties at the scrum.

Suddenly the Springboks went up a gear, their pack pouring forwards from a line-out for Snyman to score.

It was now all South Africa, who had discovered a new lease of life, and when the moment for glory came, Pollard stepped up to deliver his monster penalty.

Captain Rob du Preez’s individual try allowed Sale Sharks to make it back-to-back wins in the Gallagher Premiership as they defeated Leicester Tigers 24-17 at Welford Road.

The Sharks controlled the majority of proceedings, only to be pegged back by Ollie Hassell-Collins’ excellent finish in what was an entertaining encounter between two of last season’s top-four teams.

Ultimately, however, Alex Sanderson’s side ensured a repeat of the outcome of their semi-final against the Tigers back in May, and made it two straight defeats for their hosts at the start of the new campaign.

Sale were forced into a late change at full-back, with Tom O’Flaherty coming in for Joe Carpenter and the visitors were further rocked by conceding the game’s opening try after eight minutes.

From a ruck, Tom Whiteley fed Jamie Shillcock, whose quick pass allowed Mike Brown, denied by an excellent Du Preez tackle not long before, to finish from a few metres out.

Shillcock failed to convert and the Sharks responded immediately when Gus Warr’s off-load found a galloping Ernst van Rhyn and the back rower timed his pass to send Tom Roebuck under the posts, making Du Preez’s conversion a formality.

The fly-half sent a penalty from 40 metres wide soon after and Sale then had a ‘try’ from O’Flaherty ruled out for a knock-on at the breakdown by Nick Schonert in the build-up.

But the visitors were able to make the most of a sustained spell of pressure when Van Rhyn was adjudged to have touched down after a TMO check, Du Preez adding the extras.

It was then the Tigers’ turn to hit back quickly when captain Hanro Liebenberg barged his way over from close range, with Shillcock’s conversion reducing the gap to 14-12 at half-time.

A simple penalty from Du Preez took Sale’s lead back out to five points early in the second half, a gap that remained after Hassell-Collins knocked on in-goal having got to Shillcock’s kick down the left wing first.

However, Hassell-Collins was able to score just after the hour mark, shrugging off O’Flaherty’s tackle to level the match after he had been put into space by Joe Powell, Shillcock pushing his conversion wide.

Sale almost regained the lead four minutes later when Sam James gathered Sam Bedlow’s pass, only to be held up by a posse of Leicester forwards.

But there was no denying Du Preez in the 69th minute as he took Raffi Quirke’s pass before dummying and going clear to score a try he converted himself under the posts.

Arron Reed almost made the game safe when he knocked on after being tackled by Dan Kelly, but Sale held out for what was a deserved victory.

Will Jordan would happily sacrifice his place in the history books if it means New Zealand lift the World Cup for an unprecedented fourth time.

Jordan claimed a hat-trick of tries in Friday’s 44-6 semi-final rampage against Argentina in Paris, making him the deadliest finisher at France 2023 on eight touch downs.

It also placed him in the company of all time-greats Jonah Lomu, Bryan Habana and Julian Savea, who jointly hold the record for highest number of tries scored at a single World Cup.

The 25-year-old has Saturday’s final against either England or South Africa to rise above that exalted trio, but he insists chasing individual glory is a peripheral concern.

“The World Cup win is what we all came over here to do. I will be perfectly happy to take a zero on the scoresheet if it means we get the job done,” Jordan said.

“It’s a team game and the group is really focused at the moment around what we want to do. Hopefully I can play my part in that.

“It is pretty humbling to be included alongside those guys. They were all huge legends of the game and, particularly in the position I play, really trail-blazed the way to play the game as a winger. So that’s pretty cool.

“It definitely wasn’t anything I set out to do or anything like that, but it’s nice to be able to do that in amongst the team going so well.”

It was almost the perfect night for New Zealand at the Stade de France as they swatted aside Argentina as if it was an exhibition match, rested legs by emptying the entire bench and finished without any cards or suspensions.

The Pumas, meanwhile, will play in the bronze final on Friday with assistant coach Juan Fernandez Lobbe adamant that it is a game with meaning.

“The disappointment is very, very big. We came to want to play in the final and we couldn’t,” former Argentina forward Lobbe said.

“The team is very clear – and they made it clear after the semi-final – that finishing with a medal is important.

“I finished in third place in 2007 and fourth in 2015 and they are not the same. So it’s a very important game.

“It means going on Friday with total determination, with our way, our weapons. It would be a very good closing of the World Cup for us.”

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.”

England are ready for scheming from South Africa at the Stade de France on Saturday but believe the World Cup will be decided in other areas.

Springboks boss Rassie Erasmus is accomplished at what Warren Gatland describes as “dark arts”, such as using mind games to give his side an edge, especially through the use of social media to “control the agenda”.

The most recent example is the suggestion that the Springboks used HIAs in their quarter-final victory over France last Sunday to give forwards Duane Vermeulen, Pieter-Steph du Toit and Bongi Mbonambi a rest – a claim denied by Erasmus.

Attack coach Richard Wigglesworth insists England know they will be targeted in the last-four showdown in Paris and even believes that their media output is being monitored closely.

“I’m sure that, with the smarts of their coaching team, they will try to throw stuff at us, no doubt. Will that be the winning and losing of this game? Probably not,” Wigglesworth said.

“It will probably be the big bits of the game that decides that and then they’ll give those little nuances a chance.

“I wouldn’t like to guess what they are going to try and do because I know they will watch and hear everything we say. I wouldn’t like to try and give anyone a head start.”

South Africa are aiming to win their fourth World Cup and enter the second semi-final as overwhelming favourites, while few people are giving England a chance.

“If there is pressure on South Africa, then they’ve shown they can deal with it,” Wigglesworth said.

“They dealt with it at the last World Cup and dealt with it in numerous games. It’s not something that we’ve been clinging on to.

“I’m super-impressed with them as an outfit. They’ve evolved a little bit but without changing their DNA, which we know is incredibly physical with a good kicking game on the back of a rush defence.

“That’s stuff that we’re going to have to deal with, but we also need to make sure that we’re giving them some food for thought.”

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.”