They sang it with the gusto of true believers and they pogoed up and down in their thousands. “Y ya lo ve /y ya lo ve/El que no salta / es un ingles!” – “Now you see, now you see! He who doesn’t jump is an Englishman!” But while it was one thing for Argentinian football’s favourite terrace chant to ring boisterously around Wembley, it was quite another to hear a meaty chunk of neutrals in the 89,019 crowd roaring on the Pumas, particularly in the first half when New Zealand appeared dazed and flustered.
After only three days this World Cup has already rattled our expectations, and here was another surprising moment as Wembley supported Argentina as if they were the home team. But eventually normality was restored as New Zealand, inspired by Conrad Smith and the substitute Sonny Bill Williams, broke Argentina lines and their resistance.
We should have known from the off that a rugby union match at the new Wembley was going to be different. For never has an Argentinian national anthem been more impeccably observed at the home of football. Some sung, others nodded at every jaunty nuance, but no one whistled or heckled. Then, after the final chord, came a loud and punchy cry of “Argentina! Argentina!”
But this was a rugby contest not the X-Factor and very quickly New Zealand eased through their gears, like a particularly well-lubricated engine. After 20 minutes they were three penalty scores ahead through the boot of Dan Carter, while Argentina were temporarily down to 14 men with Pablo Matera in the sin-bin. It was starting to look ominous. But Wembley was in no mood for an All Black procession.
The first encouraging cheers came when, after their first period of pressure, the referee Wayne Barnes awarded Argentina a penalty. Then, suddenly, an explosion of noise. As Argentina’s forwards swarmed close to the All Blacks line, Carter allowed too big a gap to develop between him and his No8 Kieran Reid, allowing Guido Petti Pagadizábal to bulldoze over for a try.
Those delirious cheers only magnified when Richie McCaw was sent to the sin-bin for a sneaky trip on Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe. The Argentinian flanker was trying to take a quick tap penalty when McCaw flicked his boot at him, forcing a fumble. It had echoes of David Beckham and Diego Simeone at the 1998 football World Cup. This time the punishment was yellow not red.
Shortly afterwards when the big screen showed McCaw sat taking his punishment, the boos and shrieking could have come by satellite via Buenos Aires. And when Conrad Smith also received a yellow card the noise bomb grew even further. Suddenly New Zealand were down to 13 men – and down 16-12 on the scoreboard.
During this giddy period, every flick pass attempted by the centre Juan Martín Hernández was met by cheers, and every attack by loud cries of “Argentina! Argentina!” or “Vamos!” Briefly thoughts drifted back to Saturday at the Brighton Community Ground. Argentina couldn’t, could they?
Of course not. This New Zealand XV may have taken their time to discover their flow but four years under Steve Hansen have made them supremely battle-hardened. Not only have they lost just three of their 47 matches since the last World Cup, they are also hugely experienced – with this team having a combined tally of 1,013 caps, a world record. There is one other factor in the All Blacks’ favour: their bench is deep and immensely strong. Williams came on just as Argentina were tiring and when the holes in their backline came, the points followed. First Aaron Smith wriggled through, then Sam Cane made the game safe.
There may have been more All Black supporters in Wembley but for most of the first hour it appeared that every single one of them had their vocal chords ripped out. When their team was in the ascendancy the cries of “All Blacks! All Blacks!” finally began to emerge.
For the last quarter-hour Argentina’s players had not much left to give, although they resisted swarms of late pressure to keep the score at 26-16. Afterwards, when McCaw appeared on the big screen Argentina’s supporters booed him for a final time. Their team had not achieved the impossible but for their fans honour had certainly been satisfied.
