PARIS (AP) — Rugby World Cup knockout games have no respect for reputations. Ireland and France, each highly ranked, highly rated and in seemingly top form, were surprisingly knocked out in the quarterfinals.
Ireland was the top-ranked team in the world, rugby's undisputed best and on a national-record winning run of 17 games before New Zealand sent it packing.
Host France was No. 2, unbeaten at home for more than a year and had nearly 80,000 home fans in support at its Stade de France cauldron. The French are also out after defending champion South Africa pulled off a late surge in their last-eight matchup.
Argentina beat Wales, while England was the only team to stay true to pre-match predictions by outlasting Fiji — even if Fiji produced quite the scare before ultimately bowing out.
The line between joy and despair was four points in the Ireland-New Zeaand game. It was a single point between France and South Africa.
The 38-year-old Ireland captain Jonathan Sexton still leaves international rugby with a series of records but not the ultimate prize, and was part of another Irish team to fail at the quarterfinal stage at the Rugby World Cup.
Ireland has never reached the semifinals, having lost eight quarterfinals at rugby's biggest tournament. This 28-24 loss to the All Blacks stung more than any.
France had this World Cup's leading tryscorer in flamboyant wing Damian Penaud, the leading points-scorer in kicker Thomas Ramos and the world's best player in captain Antoine Dupont.
They will have no more say at their home World Cup after producing a brilliant attacking display only for South Africa to cling on and find an extra gear at the end to steal it 29-28.
Wales flyhalf Dan Biggar also heads into retirement with a bitterly-disappointing loss. Argentina's celebrations were big after their come-from-behind 29-17 victory in Marseille.
Fiji, rugby's favorite underdog, won even more fans with a late comeback only to fall short against an England lineup that was written off before the tournament but is the only unbeaten team left.
The semifinals, then, are set: three-time winner New Zealand plays Argentina on Friday. England faces defending champion South Africa on Saturday, a rematch of the 2019 final with English hearts set on revenge.
From a global point of view, the first weekend of knockout games also reinforced a Rugby World Cup stereotype. Three out of the four to make it through to the semifinals are from the southern hemisphere, which has produced eight of the nine World Cup winners.
This tournament was meant to see the rise of the north. New Zealand, South Africa and Argentina swept that presumption away.
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AP Rugby World Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
