| No. | Name | |
|---|---|---|
15Joaquin Tuculet, FB | ||
14Santiago Cordero, W | ||
13Matias Moroni Pavlovsky, C | ||
12Jeronimo de la Fuente, C | ||
11Juan Imhoff, W | ||
10Nicolas Sanchez, FH 4 4 | ||
9Martin Landajo, SH | ||
1Marcos Ayerza, P | ||
2Agustin Creevy, H | ||
3Ramiro Herrera, P | ||
4Guido Petti, L | ||
5Tomas Lavanini, L | ||
6Pablo Matera, FL | ||
7Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe, FL | ||
8Leonardo Senatore, N8 | ||
| Replacements | ||
16Julian Montoya, R | ||
17Lucas Noguera, R | ||
18Juan Pablo Orlandi, R | ||
19Matias Alemanno, R | ||
20Facundo Isa, R | ||
21Tomas Cubelli, R | ||
22Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias, R | ||
23Horacio Agulla, R | ||
ARG
TONGA*Players currently on the pitch are shown in bold
Match Commentary
ESPN's Martyn Thomas had this to say:
"was only really in the last 10 minutes that Diego Maradona, Argentina's chief cheerleader for the day, could allow himself to celebrate and hug random strangers. Up until then it had been more of a slog for the Pumas in the Leicester sunshine than they or their supporters had imagined. This was not the perfect performance from Argentina but they got the bonus point and, ahead of their final clash with Namibia, have secured their passage to the last eight. With Maradona in attendance it was fitting too that the man wearing the No.10 shirt for the South Americans picked up Man of the Match honours. Sanchez was exemplary, finishing the game with 25 points and proving that he is integral to this Pumas side. "
Oh wait, Tonga crumble before our eyes and are split open again by the Pumas. The men in blue and white bring the curtain down on an entertaining game with another try, courtesy of man of the match Sanchez. He then duly converts. Superb performance from him.
They have it! The TMO is needed but Montoya's try stands. They needed to go upstairs to check he wasn't in touch or that he had dropped the ball on the right flank - admittedly it was very close - but they're awarded the try. Argentina clear victors here and Morath's misses looking even more costly now as they trail by 22.
Sanchez scores for the Pumas. Tonga's really bad offload hits the deck and they're punished for it. Just as Tonga look like escaping their 22 after there hard work in the scrum they're undone by an easily preventable mistake. Easy try in the end as the Pumas fly-half runs through with particular ease as no defending Tongan hands manage to successfully grab hold of the rapid No.10.
Off to the TMO!
Tonga throws the bodies at the incoming Isa but it's Veainu who saves his team from a try just under his own posts after worming his way in between the ball and ground. The ref's awarded a five metre scrum and we await the feed.
And he does just that. 3-3 for the second half.
ESPN's Martyn Thomas had this to say:
"Argentina's fans turned up at the Leicester City Stadium expecting to ease past Tonga. Unfortunately it appeared the starting XV did too at times during a first half in which the Pumas did just enough to build a seven-point lead. Following an emotional prelude to the game in which the Argentina faithful belted out their national anthem and included two Tongan Sipi Taus - one from the players on the pitch and another from the watching Defence Force team in the stands - the Pacific Islanders started extremely quickly. Their passion almost boiled over, but sensible refereeing from Jaco Peyper helped settle their nerves before they scored an early try. Argentina woke up in the 18th minute and four minutes later they had scored two tries, 17 points and had taken a stranglehold on the game. A penalty was added but Tonga stormed back with Soane Tonga'uiha finishing off an outstanding move to make it 20-13 at the break."
We're off to the TMO but that was a great move...
Piutau works well down the right before he offloads to Veainu alongside. The Tongan No.14 displays some tremendous footwork to navigate past a couple of Argentinian tacklers before the final one catches him right near the try line. However, the New Zealand-born winger just about offloads to his left before being smashed into touch and Tonga'uiha runs home the try for his country. Great stuff.
What a try that is - potentially the try of the tournament so far!
Cordero picks the ball up deep in his 22 on the right and runs to the half way. His quick foot work allows him to leave the Islanders in his dust navigating through the pitch with ease. He eventually offloads to his left before picking it up again and continuing his sprint towards the try line. Great individual effort.
Some solid work from Fernandez Lobbe down the left flank before Tuculet's brute strength holds off the trailing Tongan tackles. He had to stretch for it though. If the line was the another metre out he probably wouldn't have made it.
They have it! TONGA TRY
They retrieve the ball well from the ruck and Kurt Morath drives home the first try on the right flank. He only had to slide 2 metres, Argentina - in particular tackler Lavanini - couldn't withhold.
Follow our reporter at the ground, Martyn Thomas (@MCThomasSport), who'll be providing us with his first hand insights straight from Leicester via Twitter.
Last minute team news: Argentina have been forced into a a late change as Isa comes in for Leguizamon
Argentina: Tuculet, Cordero, Moroni, De La Fuente, Imhoff, Sanchez, Landajo; Ayerza, Creevy (captain), Herrera, Petti, Lavanini, Matera, Fernandez Lobbe, Senatore
Replacements: Julian Montoya, Lucas Noguera, Juan Pablo Orlandi, Matias Alemanno, Isa, Tomas Cubelli, Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias, Horacio Agulla
Tonga: Lilo, Veainu, Piutau, Piukala, Vainikolo, Morath, Takulua; Tonga'uiha, Taione, Aulika, Lokotui, Tuineau, Kalamafoni, Latu (captain), Ma'afu
Replacements: Aleki Lutui, Sona Taumalolo, Sila Puafisi, Sitiveni Mafi, Opeti Fonua, Samisoni Fisilau, Latiume Fosita, David Halaifonua
You can read ESPN's preview HERE.
Also see...
- What happened in Argentina's last match against Georgia
- Revist: When Georgia named an unchanged XV for the first time in their RWC history
- Preview the day's second game between Ireland and Italy