Pumas outsmart Ireland to reach quarter finals
Argentina reached new heights when they beat Ireland 30-15 on Sunday to reach the World Cup quarter-finals for the second time, this time doing so as pool winners.
With Gonzalo Longo a brilliant leader of the pack and captain Agustin Pichot showing his usual sharp generalship to marshal the backs, Argentina won the tactical battle.
Flyhalf Juan Martin Hernandez dropped three brilliant goals and carried out coach Marcelo Loffreda's tactics of putting Ireland on the back foot with high balls deep into their territory.
Ireland, who shared the try count at two-all, were under pressure to win with four tries and by seven points to survive in the tournament, but could not muster enough of their once brilliant form.
The Pumas' victory at the Parc des Princes consigned France, whom Argentina upset in the tournament's opening match, to second place in the pool and a last-eight meeting with title favourites New Zealand in Cardiff next weekend.
Argentina, having won their four games, will be regarded by the majority of observers as favourites to beat Scotland in their quarter-final at the Stade de France.
Pichot, however, said: "I don't like statistics or rankings. Scotland have proved they are in the eight best teams in the world when they were written off.
"We were also written off when we arrived and now we are here, but we can't afford to go into a game thinking we are better (than our opponents)," he told a news conference.
When Argentina upset Ireland 28-24 in 1999 to reach the last eight for the first time it was in a playoff they qualified for as a best third-placed team of the pool stage.
Thrilling match
The Irish played their part in an exciting match but their backs were often caught dithering as to how to handle the Pumas' kicks, whether to initiate running attacks or kick back.
Centre Felipe Contepomi kicked 11 points from three penalties and a conversion to become the tournament's top scorer with 53 points.
Wing Lucas Borges put the first points on the board with his third try of the tournament. From a ruck on the right, Pichot chose the blind side and passed to Borges who barged his way past two men to touch down.
The try was followed by the first of Hernandez's drop goals but Ireland then became the first team in the tournament to score a try against Argentina with captain Brian O'Driscoll darting through a gap in the centre of the defence.
Hernandez restored Argentina's lead with another brilliant drop goal before the Pumas took an 18-10 advantage into halftime with a superb try initiated by the flyhalf's up-and-under.
From a ruck, Pichot chose the blind side again and Borges, having cut across from the right, passed to fellow wing Horacio Agulla, who touched down in the corner.
Ireland scored another try early in the second half and belief grew in the large Irish presence in the near capacity crowd that their team could get the four they needed.
From a lineout on the left, the ball was fed quickly down the line and the Argentine cover was caught a man short, fullback Geordan Murphy going over to bring Ireland to within six points.
Argentina's tactical discipline, though, allowed the Pumas to wrest back control of the match with Contepomi's penalties and Hernandez's third drop goal rounding off the victory.
Habana scores twice in South African win
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South Africa winger Bryan Habana, scored twice to lead the Springboks to a 64-15 win over a brave United States in the final pool game of the World Cup on Sunday.
Habana followed up his record-equalling four-try haul against Samoa in his team's first Pool A game with two more touchdowns as the Springboks finished off their preparations for next week's quarter-final against Fiji in devastating style.
South Africa, who won the World Cup at home in 1995 and are looming as one of the teams to beat this time after ending up on the opposite side of the draw as New Zealand, Australia, England and France, were not at their very best but still managed to notch nine tries in a loose but highly entertaining game.
Outside centre Jaque Fourie crossed twice in the second half while loose forward Schalk Burger, replacement prop CJ van der Linde, inside centre Francois Steyn, scrumhalf Fourie du Preez and flanker Juan Smith all bagged one each.
The Americans were outclassed from the start and finished the tournament without a win at the bottom of the Pool A standings but salvaged some pride by scoring two tries, including a length-of-the-field effort from Takudzwa Ngwenya that ranked among the best of the competition.
South Africa's dominance was evident early when they opened the scoring after just nine minutes when Burger scooped up a low pass from flyhalf Butch James to dive over in his first game back from a two-match suspension for a dangerous tackle on Samoan scrumhalf Junior Polu.
Utility back Steyn, who escaped a ban after being cited for biting against Tonga, scored South Africa's second five-pointer in the 27th minute when he weaved his way past three defenders after the Americans were reduced to 14 men when flanker Todd Clever was sin-binned for a professional foul.
Habana crossed for his first try just before the break when he finished off a sweeping backline move in the left corner before the U.S. chanced their arm to score at the other end of the field and bring the Mosson stadium crowd to their feet.
With the Springboks piling on the pressure, the combative Clever intercepted the ball from inside the American quarter then offloaded to Alec Parker, who found Mike Hercus, who threw a long cut-out pass to Zimbabwean-born Ngwenya who sidestepped Habana and sprinted away to score under the posts and cut the margin to 24-10 at halftime.
Habana made amends for his defensive lapse when he scored his second a minute after the re-start to secure his team's bonus point but left the field shortly after following a nasty head clash with Ngwenya that robbed him of the chance for a hat-trick as the floodgates burst open and the Springboks piled on 40 points in the second term.
Loosehead prop Brendon Botha was also substituted in the first half after injuring his leg but the Springboks did not take any more chances once the game was wrapped up, emptying the bench to save their best players for Fiji.
Fullback Chris Wyles scored a second consolation try for his team in the second half but the Americans were unable to contain the Springboks in the final quarter as they piled on 28 unanswered points to crack the half-century for the second time in the tournament and send an ominous warning to their title rivals.
France crush Georgia to reach last eight
Two tries by record-breaking wing Christophe Dominici helped France crush Georgia 64-7 in their final Pool D match on Sunday to advance to the World Cup quarter-finals where they will face New Zealand.
The hosts finished runners-up in the pool to Argentina, who defeated Ireland later in the day.
Needing four tries to secure a bonus point that would have given them a slim hope of finishing top of the group before the outcome of the Argentina-Ireland match was known, France ran in nine in Marseille.
Dominici became his country's record try scorer in World Cup history after taking his tally to eight, while young flyhalf Lionel Beauxis also made a telling contribution, scoring a try and kicking 19 points.
"Our duty was to win with a bonus point, it's done," said France coach Bernard Laporte, whose team put themselves in a tricky situation by losing to Argentina in the tournament opener on Sept. 7.
"The players wanted to set the record straight after losing their first match and they've done it by winning the next three. I'm proud of them," Laporte told reporters before rushing to go and watch the match between Ireland and Argentina on television with his players.
France will take on the All Blacks in Cardiff next Saturday, while Argentina meet Scotland in Paris on the Sunday.
Georgia, who had to be content with a late consolation try from replacement flanker Zviad Maisurardze, looked helpless at times but will go home proud after scoring their first World Cup win by beating Namibia 30-0 in their previous game.
Brilliant move
A determined France moved ahead after three minutes with a Beauxis penalty.
Then came a brilliant move sparked by centre Yannick Jauzion, who slalomed through the Georgian defence before setting up Clement Poitrenaud for the first try, which Beauxis converted.
Losing scrumhalf Pierre Mignoni through injury and replacing him by Jean-Baptiste Elissalde did not slow down France's forward march.
Two more Beauxis penalties, including one from over 50 metres, followed when Georgia were temporarily reduced to 10 men with a yellow card for prop Mamuka Magrakvelidze.
France chose that moment to score their second try through flanker Yannick Nyanga, who surged from a rolling maul after a lineout.
A classic move from the French backs gave the home side a third try by the outstanding Beauxis, whose conversion put France 30-0 at halftime.
France stayed in total control after the break, Dominici scoring his two tries after astute kicks from Beauxis and Elissalde.
Hooker Sebastien Bruno and lock Lionel Nallet contributed from mauls and Remy Martin also touched down before Georgia were again reduced to 14 for the closing stages, this time after a dangerous tackle by centre Revaz Gicauri.
Number eight Julien Bonnaire completed the demolition after another fluent combination thrilled the Marseille crowd.
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