Pumas pummel Irish to secure semi berth
ARGENTINA stunned an injurydepleted Ireland with an early onslaught and finished at a canter to secure an emphatic 43-20 victory yesterday that sent them into the Rugby World Cup semifinals for the second time.
Even the Six Nations champions of the past two seasons could not halt the unstoppable march of the southern hemisphere as the impressive Pumas joined New Zealand and SA in the last eight.
A blistering two-try opening and closing salvos, allied with the assured place-kicking of flyhalf Nicolas Sanchez, earned Argentina a Twickenham meeting with Australia on Sunday.
“I am very happy; we have met our second objective, which was to play seven games at the World Cup,” Pumas coach Daniel Hourcade said. “We played very good rugby. We played the rugby we wanted to, not for 80 minutes but in particular at the beginning and at the end.” Early tries from centre Matias Moroni and winger Juan Imhoff silenced the passionate Irish following in the 72,316 Millennium Stadium crowd and when Sanchez kicked the first of his five penalties, the Pumas were 17-0 up after 14 minutes.
Ireland fought back with tries from replacement winger Luke Fitzgerald in the 24th minute and flanker Jordi Murphy shortly after the break to cut the deficit to 20-17, but three points was as close as the Irish would get.
Sanchez kept the scoreboard ticking over and clinical finishing from fullback Joaquin Tuculet and Imhoff for tries in the last 11 minutes ensured Argentina would match their achievement of reaching the semis in 2007.
“The result just reflected the tour de force demonstrated by the southern hemisphere teams this weekend,” Ireland coach Joe Schmidt said. “When you try a bit too hard, you get loose, and they have tremendous speed merchants to take advantage.”
Ireland deserved credit for their comeback because for the first quarter-of-an-hour, it looked as if Argentina would romp into the semifinals on the back of a stunning display of total rugby.
Hammering into contact and transferring the ball at pace through the hands of backs and forwards alike, it took only four minutes for Moroni to score in the corner after a sweeping move.
Ultimately, though, the absence of captain Paul O’Connell and playmaker Johnny Sexton, as well as two regular starting flankers, were losses Ireland could ill afford and their quest for a first World Cup semifinal will continue for at least another four years.