Argentina's attention turns to Kiwi clash

No sooner had the relief of qualifying for the knockout stage sunk in than Argentina captain Felipe Contepomi’s thoughts were turning to a quarter-final showdown with the All Blacks.

The Pumas were made to battle for the 25-7 victory that assured them of a place in the last eight, with the doughty Georgians leading at the break in this final Pool B match.

Contepomi said: "We didn't find the way, we couldn't score when we had to and fair enough to Georgia, they did a really good game, they put us to the limit."

With a semi-final place at stake, Argentina face New Zealand at Eden Park at 20:30 on Sunday and the Argentina captain said: "We have to rest now and start to analyse the All Blacks and try to see their weakest points, if they have any.

“But I think that it will be hopefully a good game and we can be competitive on the day."

Captain Giorgi Chkhaidze was proud of his team giving Argentina an almighty scare, with the Pumas only really sealing the game in the last quarter with tries from Contepomi and Agustín Gosio.

Fantastic work

"The guys have done fantastic work I think,” he said. “Argentina are a very, very good team, very hard to play against. For the second half I think, especially for the last minutes, we have a lack of experience."

The Georgians have received plenty of support in this tournament and Chkhaidze said: “We are so grateful for these people who are really our 16th player and keep us moving forward."

With Argentina needing only a bonus point to guarantee their place in the quarter-finals, the opening exchanges were predictably tight, and the first points did not come until the 32nd minute - the longest any match of Rugby World Cup 2011 has gone without a score.

The match came alive when left wing Juan José Imhoff crossed to put Argentina 5-0 ahead.
Lasha Khmaladze hit back in the 39th minute, full back Malkhaz Urjukashvili converting, to send Georgia into the interval ahead.

Making amends

After turning round 7-5 down, Contepomi restored Argentina’s lead with a penalty in the 52nd minute, making amends for two missed penalties and a conversion in the first half.

Another penalty made it 11-7 going into the final quarter, before Argentina put the match out of reach.

A bullocking run by long-striding flanker Julio Farias Cabello set up the field position for the Argentine backs to sweep wide, Contepomi finishing off with a try, which he converted.

Gosio provided the icing on the cake with a 79th-minute try, converted by Bosch, after a neat kick ahead by Imhoff.