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The battle for third and fouth place at the Rugby World Cup 2019 will be contended on Friday evening at the Tokyo Stadium.
Wales will face off against the All Blacks after both teams lost their semi-final matches to South Africa and England, respectively.
New Zealand was huge favorites to take home the World Cup trophy until they were soundly beaten by a dominant England last weekend.
Warren Gatland’s Welsh side were unfortunate not to get past South Africa in a hard-fought battle that ultimately saw them lose 19-16 to the eventual finalists.
This will be the last game for All Blacks head coach Steve Hansen. The New Zealand native lifted the World Cup at the 2015 edition of the tournament in England.
Hansen will want to conclude his reign as All Blacks Head Coach with a victory over the Welsh and is likely to field a strong squad.
Meanwhile Warren Gatland will also be eyeing a bronze medal, matching Wales’ all-time highest finish that came in 1987.
Both sides will be licking their wounds and resting players given the grueling matches they endured last weekend. Wales have the shorter turnaround of just five days.
Key talking points: New Zealand
- Steve Hansen is expected to rotate heavily but still maintain a strong starting line-up ahead of his last match as All-Blacks boss.
- The last time the All Blacks lost to Wales was all the way back in 1953. Steve Hansen will not want to sign off by ending such a significant run.
- Along with Hansen, Ben Smith, Matt Todd, Sonny Bill-Williams, Ryan Crotty and captain Kieran Read will be playing their last games for the All Blacks.
Key talking points: Wales
- Wales won all of their games at World Cup up until the semi-final. They have also played one more match than the All Blacks, who had a pool game called off on account of Typhoon Hagibis.
- The Welsh arguably had the more physical of the two semi-finals with George North unavailable due to hamstring problems and Liam Williams still ruled from a previous injury.
- Wales head coach Warren Gatland will also be stepping down after the tournament. The bronze final will be his last in charge and he will surely want to finish on a high note.
