New Zealand are more than happy to once again be the centre of attention after knocking the number one ranked Ireland out of the Rugby World Cup, according to coach Ian Foster.
The All Blacks prevailed over the Irish 28-24 in front of almost 80,000 spectators in Paris on Saturday night, despite playing for spells with 14 men after both Aaron Smith and Codie Taylor spent time in the sin bin.
With the Irish sitting atop the world rankings, they had been heavily hyped going into the tournament and were tipped to at least go beyond the last eight for the first time in their history.
Given Ireland's lofty ranking, a long winning streak, and the fact that legendary fly-half Johnny Sexton was set to retire after the tournament, the All Blacks were afforded the rare luxury of a low key build-up with their opponents dominating the pre-match debate.
But after sending Ireland home for a second World Cup in a row to set up a semi-final with Argentina, the Kiwis were suddenly the name on everyone's lips.
"I don't think we'll be under the radar next week," said coach Foster. "We know Argentina well. It'll be a good Southern Hemisphere game.
"All the talk was about Ireland," he added. "They had 17 wins in a row. They’ve built a team for this sort of iconic moment, so they had massive expectations.
"Sometimes the sweetest victories are when your opposition plays very well and tests you to the limit. At the end of the day, we played a lot of that game with 14 players. And we looked in control of it and it felt good. We knew where we had to dig into ourselves to get the result. I couldn't be more proud."
Scores from native Kiwis Bundee Aki and Jamison Gibson-Park and a penalty try kept Ireland in contention during a tense encounter.
However, three-time champions New Zealand underlined their credentials, with Leicester Fainga’anuku, Ardie Savea and Will Jordan each going over in a statement victory. Eight points from the boot of Jordie Barrett and five from Richie Mo’unga helped the All Blacks set up their last four clash with the Argentines in Paris on Friday.
Sexton, Ireland's all-time record points scorer, was denied a fairytale ending to his storied career.
“It’s gutting, isn’t it? It’s small margins and that’s sport. That’s life. It’s unfortunate, but this group will bounce back," said the 38-year-old. “They are an incredible bunch led by the man beside me (coach Andy Farrell). It’s the best group I have ever been a part of. Bar none. These guys will go on and achieve great things."
Argentina booked their spot in the last four with a 29-17 victory over Wales in Marseille earlier on Saturday. Los Pumas have a victory over the All Blacks as recently as August 2022, and coach Michael Cheika is undaunted by the task awaiting his side.
"What we need is clear, that we are going to be able to prepare, how we are going to prepare and how we are going to phase the obstacles - a good simple strategy so that we can be ready for battle and the physical war next weekend," said Cheika.
'The Ice Road'
Director: Jonathan Hensleigh
Stars: Liam Neeson, Amber Midthunder, Laurence Fishburne
2/5
The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
Price: From Dh250,000 (estimated)
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
THE SPECS – Honda CR-V Touring AWD
Engine: 2.4-litre 4-cylinder
Power: 184hp at 6,400rpm
Torque: 244Nm at 3,900rpm
Transmission: Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT)
0-100kmh in 9.4 seconds
Top speed: 202kmh
Fuel consumption: 6.8L/100km
Price: From Dh122,900
Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
THE SCORES
Ireland 125 all out
(20 overs; Stirling 72, Mustafa 4-18)
UAE 125 for 5
(17 overs, Mustafa 39, D’Silva 29, Usman 29)
UAE won by five wickets
