Will Jordan makes Rugby World Cup history with semi-final hat-trick
Will Jordan scored a hat-trick in New Zealand’s 44-6 win
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New Zealand winger Will Jordan made Rugby World Cup history with a hat-trick of tries against Argentina in the semi-finals.
It moved the electric back to eight tries overall for the tournament, putting him level with legends of the sport in Jonah Lomu, Bryan Habana and Julian Savea.
Jordan will break the record for the most tries scored in a single tournament should he cross over in next Saturday’s final, which will be against either England or South Africa.
With his hat-trick against Argentina, the 25-year-old also improved his All Blacks scoring record to a remarkable 31 tries in 30 matches.
Jordan’s historic try was a magnificent score as he chipped the ball over the final Argentina back before touching down in Paris.
And although it put the finishing touches on New Zealand’s 44-6 victory over the Pumas, Jordan then had the chance to score his fourth of the game – and ninth of the tournament – in the dying moments.
Richie Mo’unga had the chance to pass wide to Jordan for a simple score but chose not to, and Argentina’s tired defence were able to recover.
The All Blacks head coach Ian Foster joked that it would keep Jordan “hungry” for the Rugby World Cup final on 28 October.
Rugby legend Lomu became the first player to score eight tries at a single World Cup – doing so in 1999, but as the All Blacks finished fourth.
Habana levelled Lomu with eight tries at the 2007 World Cup, won by the Springboks, before Savea joined them in 2015 as the All Blacks won the World Cup for a third time.
Jordan, who is playing at his first World Cup, will take the record for himself with just one more try next weekend.
The winger is also virtually certain to finish the tournament as the top try scorer. France’s Damian Penaud is next on six tries, but the hosts went out in the quarter-finals.
That leaves Jordan’s New Zealand teammates Leicester Fainga’anuku and Damian McKenzie, who have five each, while the only other player in touching distance in the other semi-final is England’s Henry Arundell, who scored all five of his in a single match against Chile.
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