Are the All Blacks favorites to win it all? The 2023 Rugby World Cup is drawing to a close, as the semifinals will take place in the next two days. The first, Argentina VS New Zealand, is taking place at the Stade de France tonight at 21:00 CET. New Zealand had a relatively tough start to the tournament, losing to South Africa in their last warmup math, and then to France in the first game of the tournament 13-27. However, since then, they’ve bounced back and achieved some impressive results, both offensively and defensively, beating Italy 96-17 and Uruguay 73-0. They topped that run off with a close win against Ireland in the quarter finals, who were the number one ranked team in the world coming into the tournament.
On the other hand, Argentina lost their first match against fellow semifinalists England, but the managed victories in every other game. They will be a tough nut to crack for the All Blacks, although the Pumas have not been particularly brilliant in attack throughout the World Cup. In addition, Argentina’s track record against the All Blacks is not convincing at all, as they have only won two of their 36 overall meetings. However, a notable point is that those two Argentine victories came since the last World Cup, in 2020 and 2022, meaning they have recently come out on top against their adversaries, although they also lost to the All-Blacks last year 41-12.
The only real danger we can see for the All Blacks however is a return to their early form in the tournament, but their wins since then have been quite convincing. In addition, this is their 9th time they have made the semifinals in the 10 editions of the Rugby World Cup, although they have recorded a 50%-win rate at this stage, which is also understandable given the level of opposition they have faced. We believe the All-Blacks are heavily favoured in this clash, especially due to Argentina’s offensive struggles, although the Pumas have done well to get this far. Whether the All Blacks are favorites to win it all is yet to be seen, as the other semi finalists might have something to say about that.
