29 Australia
15 Argentina
by Michael McCann
at Twickenham

AUSTRALIA defeated Argentina 29-15 in their Rugby World Cup quarter-final at Twickenham yesterday through a hat-trick of tries from Adam Ashley-Cooper.

The winger crossed twice in the first half as the Wallabies led 19-6, before securing victory with a late score after Argentina had fought back to 22-15 down.

Australia had made a perfect start with an interception try after just first 70 seconds, as lock Rob Simmons stole a flat pass from Nicolas Sanchez and Bernard Foley converted.

The Pumas almost responded in kind. Only a covering tackle stopped Marcelo Bosch scoring from a line break, ultimately claiming a penalty to leave them 7-3 down.

Poor Argentina play contributed to a second Australia try, as Santiago Cordero knocked on when bizarrely attempting a tap penalty within his own 22.

The Wallabies capitalised as a superb miss-pass from Foley sent Ashley-Cooper in to score on the right — Argentina again replied with a Sanchez penalty.

The Pumas then lost key players Juan Imhoff and captain Agustin Creevy to injury and had Tomas Lavanini yellow-carded by the television match official for a no-arms tackle.

A long pass from Matt Giteau allowed Ashley-Cooper to make it 19-6, but a third Sanchez penalty just before half-time signalled Argentinian resistance.

The Pumas fought back in a cagey second-half, as a Foley penalty was sandwiched between two from Sanchez to leave it 22-15, but with eight minutes left another Ashley-Cooper try all but ended the contest.

Drew Mitchell did superbly to breach the Australian line and unselfishly offloaded for the winger to score, becoming the first Australian ever to notch two Rugby World Cup hat-tricks.

The Wallabies face New Zealand in the final at Twickenham this Saturday, whilst Argentina will play South Africa in the third place play-off match at the Olympic Stadium on Friday.