Winning Rugby World Cup more important than try scoring record, says All Blacks ace Will Jordan

PARIS – 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 Saturday’s final against South Africa at the Stade de France.

The 25-year-old went over for a hat-trick of tries last Friday, as the All Blacks easily beat Argentina 44-6 in their semi-final in Paris. It equalled 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 said over the weekend.

“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 teammate Richie Mo’unga passed to the wide open winger after breaking the Argentinian line near the end of the game.

But the fly-half 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,” he said.

Equalling the tournament record at his first World Cup has resonated, however, with the player 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,” he added.

Jordan has an incredible 31 tries in 30 test appearances and even though he is that close to the World Cup record, he 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 (against Argentina), 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.” REUTERS