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Rugby World Cup semi-finals: can England stop New Zealand, and will Wales make their first final?
- The top four sides in the world face off in an epic penultimate weekend
- The All Blacks seek their third straight final but a strong England side stand in their way
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Why you can trust SCMP
The Rugby World Cup enters its penultimate weekend. There were scares in the last eight, but ultimately the final four are as predicted. Now, the top four ranked sides in the world battle it out for a place in the final and the match-ups look so even, it’s anyone’s game.
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England vs New Zealand
This looks like a final before the final. Both teams are in red-hot form. England cruised through their pool. Fans worried they might be under-cooked with so little opposition, especially after the typhoon cancelled their one crunch game. England emphatically answered the worries with a near-record defeat of the Australians in the quarter-final.
New Zealand crushed Ireland in their quarter-final 46-14.
Ireland came into the tournament ranked number one in the world, but failed to deliver. With their first-ever wins over the All Blacks coming in the last three years, the men in green had hope, but the All Blacks were clinical and the game was out of sight long before the end.
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