Ireland 20-43 Argentina
by David Nicholson
at the Millennium Stadium

ARGENTINA raced out of the blocks to score two tries in the first 10 minutes yesterday and put themselves through to the semi-finals of the World Cup with a comfortable 23-point victory.

An expectant and tumultuous Irish crowd at the Millennium Stadium expecting their sides first visit to the semi-finals were shocked but sang to the end as their men were put to the sword.

The Pumas’ first try after just five minutes came from a lovely run along the touchline by Matias Moroni.

The second try was worthy of Ireland as a kick and chase was scored by Juan Imhoff, who touched the ball down as it bounced through.

The Pumas are battle-hardened in the Rugby Championship where they regularly play the big three, including a recent win in South Africa, and that showed as they bossed the breakdown.

Ireland were conceding penalties as their players were isolated taking the ball into the tackle and were pinged by referee Jerome Garces.

Ireland had a glimmer of hope midway through the first half as Ramiro Herrera was sin-binned for a shoulder barge and clawed back three points but than conceded a penalty back through ill-discipline.

A fine try by Luke Fitzgerald brought the score back to something the Irish could fight for in the second half.

They battled on and 10 minutes into the second half had clawed back a 17-point deficit to get within three points.

But that was as close as they would get as coach Joe Schmidt’s men never managed to dominate and Argentina looked sharp whenever they attacked, ultimately scoring four tries.

Argentina fly-half Nicolas Sanchez was a deserved man-of-the-match — kicking 23 of his side’s points and driving his team forward.

Schmidt conceded that his side had made its worst possible start by going behind 14 points after just 10 minutes.

“Argentina were superb, especially the way they hustled us when we had the ball gave us little time,” he said.

Argentinian coach Daniel Hourcade praised his players and said that his team’s four years in the Rugby Championship had meant they had had to raise their standards.

“We have seen in the last three matches southern hemisphere teams dominating the north and our future is looking good,” he said.