By Mark Gleeson
PARIS (Reuters) – New Zealand try-scoring machine Will Jordan said he would happily sacrifice the chance to set a new Rugby World Cup record if it meant victory in next Saturday’s final at the Stade de France.
Jordan went over for a hat-trick of tries on Friday, as New Zealand easily beat Argentina 44-6 in their semi-final in Paris, to equal the tournament record of eight which was set by Jonah Lomu in 1999 and subsequently matched by Bryan Habana in 2007 and Julian Savea in 2015.
“The World Cup win is what we all came over here to do, so I’ll be perfectly happy to take a zero on the scoresheet if that means that we get the job done,” he told a press conference on Saturday as the Kiwis waited discover the identity of their opponents in the Oct. 28 decider.
“It’s a cliche but it’s obviously a team game and the group are really focused at the moment around what we want to do, so hopefully I can play my part in that.”
It could well have been four tries, and a new record for Jordan, had team mate Richie Mo’unga passed to the wide open winger after breaking the Argentine line near the end of the game.
But the flyhalf kept the ball in hand as he went for the line himself and got tackled, losing the opportunity.
It did not seem to bother Jordan. “Richie’s put me over for many tries over the course of my career. It was good to see the way he steered us around the park as a leader last night,” he said.
Equalling the tournament record at his first World Cup has resonated, however, with the 25-year-old from Christchurch.
“It’s pretty humbling to be honest. Those guys are all huge legends of the game, particularly in the position I play they have really trailblazed the way to play the game as a winger, so that’s pretty cool.”
Jordan has an incredible 31 tries in 30 test appearances but insists he is not that interested in the statistics.
“I’m not one to keep track of the numbers,” he said. “I’ve always liked the support play and trying to be in the frame and read the game scenarios. Being able to do that is what I kind of hold my hat to. So it’s not so much about scoring tries, because you get a few like last night, where I just sort of catch it and dive over.
“It’s more about involvement in the game for me and trying to pop up and give us an extra number on attack. It’s always cool to be able to score tries and dive over, but it’s not the main marker for me around how I’m doing,” he added.
(Editing by Toby Davis)
