10.16pm: GAME OVER. All Blacks win 33-10. They were scratchy for large periods, and took a long time to get going. Pumas deserve credit for showing some backbone. Injury worry over Colin Slade. But top performance by Piri Weepu. So it's France-Wales in the first semifinal next Saturday, and New Zealand-Australia in the second semifinal the following day. Night all.
10.13pm: TRY. Starts from a strong SBW run. Then good work by Jane and Cowan, and it's a rare try for Braaad Thoorrrn (said with a gravelly voice) in his 678th first-class game. Cruden lands the conversion, which is a nice way for the young fella to finish. Amazing to think he may be our 10 for next week's semifinal. All Blacks lead 33-10 with a minute to play.
10.07pm: PENALTY. By the man who's just been announced player of the match, Mr Piri Weepu. Great performance by the little bearded one. He is immediately replaced by Jimmy Cowan. McCaw off for Danny De Vito's Polynesian brother, Vic De Vito. Geddit?
10.05pm: Richie McCaw still on the field. Maybe that foot ain't so bad after all. Or maybe he's just the hardest man in New Zealand.
10.01pm: TRY. The All Blacks finally cross the line. Lovely pass by Kaino. Puma player goes for the intercept but misses, and Read is on hand to score. That will secure the win. Weepu just misses the conversion. All Blacks up 23-10 with 12 to play.
10pm: Remember it's bigmeiks@gmail.com if you want to comment/criticise etc. Hore and Williams on for All Blacks.
9.57pm: Oof, All Black scrum just BUTCHERED the Pumas. But the All Blacks then commit a penalty. This is frustrating to watch. Argies still a man down, remember.
9.55pm: Ian Smith raving about Aaron Cruden 10sec after Cruden loses the ball forward. Hmmmm.
9.51pm: PENALTY. It's Piri Weepu 18, Argentina 10. And you just wonder if the All Blacks will come home strong from here.
9.48pm: TRY. Ah, no. TMO rules it out. More committed attack from the All Blacks. Pick and go, pick and go, and then captain Richie McCaw launches at the post. Looked like he had grounded the ball at the base but it was on top of an Argie foot. Before he went to the TMO, the referee yellow-carded the Pumas halfback for something.
9.45pm: All Blacks hard on attack following nice work by Nonu and Cruden. But comes to nothing.
9.40pm: Sorry to say this but the All Blacks are really playing poorly. Their communication is average, they are dropping the ball, they just aren't in the right space. The 2007 Pumas would win this game. Weepu and SBW the difference so far.
9.39pm: PENALTY. The All Blacks reply immediately through Piri Weepu. 15-10. All Blacks still to score a try.
9.36pm: PENALTY. Stunning long-range effort from Bosch, not Contepomi. All Blacks lead cut to 12-10.
9.34pm: This is pretty weird. The two quarters featuring Northern Hemisphere teams featured some great running rugby. The ones with the Southern Hemisphere teams have been gritty and defence-oriented.
9.33pm: Welcome back to a rather important 40 minutes in the history of All Black rugby. The quake in Christchurch was apparently a 5.5. Hope everyone is OK.
9.18pm: HALFTIME: The All Blacks lead 12-7. But that was a pretty poor 40 minutes. All Blacks don't appear to be running at 100%. Slade off injured, so a huge half ahead for Aaron Cruden. Pumas defence has been pretty good. See you soon.
9.14pm: PENALTY. The All Blacks are staying in the match thanks to Weepu's boot. Now 12-7 with a couple of minutes to go in the first half.
9.11pm: PENALTY. The All Blacks regain the lead with a Weepu penalty. In Piri we trust.
9.09pm: SLADE IS OFF. Yes, the injury curse strikes again. What the hell is going on here? Slade off with....an ankle injury? And Aaron Cruden, the Manawatu Midget, is on. From unwanted to potentially the first five asked by the All Blacks to lead them to World Cup glory. Wow. Just.....wow.
9.06pm: TRY. And . . . it's to Argentina! Great counter by the Pumas, a couple of sweet offloads, the All Blacks rattled, and some bloke who's name I missed scores in the corner. Great conversion by Contepomi. Argentina LEADS 7-6 with 8min remaining in first half. And four million people are PANICKING.
9.03pm: MISS. Felipe Contepomi misses a penalty attempt for Argentina. Still 6-0 to All Blacks with 28 minutes gone. Slade still on, by the way. Just put in an average kick. "Being himself'' etc.
9pm: PENALTY. Weepu gives the All Blacks a 6-0 lead. But hardly time for cartwheels. All Blacks very scratchy.
8.59pm: Pumas under huge pressure. All Blacks get 5m scrum and win penalty.
8.57pm: Worst of the four quarterfinals so far. No contest.
8.54pm: Lot of talk about Colin Slade looking like he's picked up an injury. No, not his jaw.
8.52pm: TRY. NO, IT'S NOT. All Blacks hold on to the ball for 15 phases. They go left, then right, then left again. Kieran Read over in the corner but his toe has grazed the line, says the TMO correctly.
8.50pm: A couple of All Black moves have broken down thanks to front-rowers getting in the way. Stick to the scrum, lads.
8.48pm: Did you realise Argentina's logo is actually a jaguar, not a puma? A South African journalist got it wrong 50 years ago and the incorrect nickname stuck. True story.
8.44pm: PENALTY. All Blacks take a 3-0 lead thanks to Piri Weepu - yes, he's taking the kicks, not Colin Slade. Lovely kick from the halfback.
8.43pm: Pumas just missed a drop goal. The referee needed the TMO to confirm it had gone under the bar. Then a nice break from Jane, who must have all the booze out of his system. Still 0-0 after 10min.
8.42pm: Also, did you realise that if the All Blacks win tonight, the semifinalists will be the same four teams from 1987? All Blacks v France at Eden Park, anyone?
8.40pm: Oh noooo. Colin Slade drops a ball under zero pressure. Er, is he "being himself"? Also, people in Oamaru have just felt an earthquake. Any reports from Christchurch?
8.39pm: Did you realise the three quarterfinals so far have been won by teams who were beaten in pool play? Just saying.
8.35pm: All Blacks pinged for illegal screwing . . . hey, hey, of a scrum. Pumas kick misses touch. Just back on the Slade issue, it's been hilarious that the sole constructive piece of advice given to the young man has been to "be himself". Graham Henry and Steve Hansen told him to "be himself". Grant Fox wrote in his column in a Sunday paper that Slade needed to "be himself". And just before the game, guest Sky commentator Matt Giteau said the key for Slade was to "be himself". The best thing about that was the sight of Ian Jones nodding sagely beside Giteau. Be yourself, Colin!
8.34pm: Colin Slade has touched the ball and not made a mistake. He's going to be OK! Also, Cory Jane does NOT look hungover. Nice little run from a Sonny Bill offload.
8.32pm: Final questions: 1. Will McCaw last a whole game? 2. Can SBW shine on the wing? 3. Will Slade play like Colin Meads or Dunedin City councillor Colin Weatherall?
8.31pm: New haka. Interesting. Piri Weepu MAGNIFICENT. Better than Buck, dare I say it. If he plays with the same spirit, our Colin will be fine.
8.29pm: Wow, the Argies do enjoy a good anthem. Before I forget, don't forget to email bigmeiks@gmail.com to offer your own insightful comments.
8.27pm: For those of you who missed it, more All Blacks have been out boozing. Not smart.
8.25pm: Mils Muliaina leads the All Blacks out for his 100th cap. Marvellous effort, that. You wouldn't say Mils is one of our greatest fullbacks - think Cullen, Nepia, Scott etc - but he's a damn fine player.
8.20pm: Quick wrap up of the first three semifinals. The young Welsh were quite magnificent in thumping Ireland - Warren Gatland for next All Black coach, anyone? The enigmatic French blasted England off the park in the first 35 minutes. And Australia has just narrowly beaten South Africa, somehow. Cue a nation of four million getting VERY nervous assuming the final semi goes to plan.
8.16pm: Good everyone everyone. It's your friendly sports editor, Hayden Meikle, here. We are just 15min away from the fourth and final World Cup quarterfinal. It's the All Blacks v the Pumas, with the winner to play Australia in one semifinal.