Argentina beats Ireland 43-20, reaches RWC semifinals

That gave us back our right to be ambitious about the second half.

We’ve all been blown away by the spine-tingling renditions of Ireland’s Call that have been belted out by Irish fans and players at the Rugby World Cup as the incredible travelling Green Army make the tournament their own.

“We got it back to three points and they took their opportunities again to kick on, and we just couldn’t take our opportunities”. “They are a front-foot momentum team so defence will be key but also getting our hands on the ball and expressing ourselves as we like to”.

Ulster’s Chris Henry starts at openside flanker in place of O’Brien, who must sit out the quarter-final because of a one-match ban for punching Pascal Pape.

Argentina pushed into an early 17-point lead and produced a late flourish to beat Ireland 43-20 in the Rugby World Cup quarterfinals on Sunday, reaching the last four for only the second time.

Bosch would have been a certain starter to face the Irish, not least for his long-range goal-kicking, but Argentina remain perfectly capable of picking up a win without him, with Matías Moroni starting at outside-centre.

However, following missed Irish chances to tie the game at 23-23, Argentina took full advantage to effectively knock their opponents out of a World Cup for a third time.

Tucqulet claimed a high up-and-under and was cleared out by impressive No 8 Leonardo Senatore.

The other tries came from center Matias Moroni and fullback Joaquin Tuculet, providing more evidence that Argentina is no longer just reliant on its traditional strength in the forwards.

When asked if selecting Sexton carried any risk, Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt insisted: “Not really”.

Respite was offered when tighthead prop Ramiro Herrera was yellow carded for a no-arms tackle on Keith Earls, Madigan booting Ireland’s first points with a simple penalty as Argentina drifted offside.

Cordero was playing sevens rugby for Argentina just six months ago, but announced himself on the world stage with two tries in a Man of the Match performance in the 54-9 dismantling of Georgia.

“We expected them to start like that”, Schmidt said.

Sanchez struck the post with another long-range attempt and Ireland made the most of their good fortune to counter from deep and Robbie Henshaw freed replacement wing Luke Fitzgerald into space.

Sanchez and Madigan booted penalties and Ireland was only 23-20 behind with 20 minutes left.

Tuculet and Imhoff sealed Ireland’s fate when they crashed over for two devastating tries in the last 12 minutes, Sanchez twice more converting and having the last laugh with a final penalty to deny Ireland a first-ever place in the semi-finals after a gripping game.