Ireland survives Los Pumas second-half scare

MATCH REPORT: Ireland conceded 10 second-half points and went scoreless themselves in that stanza to hang on for a 22-19 win against a plucky Argentina outfit in Dublin.

It was a nervy start for Argentina who had their first clearance kick charged down as well as their second to give Ireland possession and go forward momentum within the opening minute, but  Argentina recovered well following a turnover on the blindside.

A comedy of errors by Ireland saw Ringrose’s pass going loose and picked up by Delguy which was tapped back by Lowe folllowing by Moroni picking it up and going over for the opening try in the third minute.

The try was ultimately disallowed as a head-on-head collision that occurred by Mornoni on Crowley inside Argentina’s 22 saw the centre getting yellow-carded.

Ireland went for the lineout and after three phases of play Crowley crossed the whitewash for Ireland’s first try in the fourth minute which he converted himself.

A knock-on in the tackle by Argentina saw the ball go loose which Ringrose picked up and broke the line before Gibson-Park gave the long pass to Beirne to set Hansen up for the try.

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Argentina earned a penalty for offside inside the Ireland 22 following an attacking scrum that stemmed from an Ireland knock-on and Albornoz slotted the visitors’ first points.

Ireland’s free-flowing and slick handling play almost got them another score following a great attacking sequence as Henshaw got the wide pass to Beirne who lost control of the ball in the act of scoring.

TMO Richard Kelly later alerted referee Paul Williams of a croc roll by Finlay Bealham in the 16th minute which saw the prop yellow-carded.

Argentina opted for the points which Albornoz slotted to get back within striking distance in the 17th minute.

Ireland got a penalty for a tip-tackle and opted for the lineout inside Argentina’s 22- metre-area, but it was sloppy yet Ireland managed to retain possession and Jack Crowley slotted a 21st minute drop-goal to get the three points back.

The three-point exchange continued when Alborboz slotted a 47-metre penalty for obstruction in the 26th minute to stay in touch.

A reclaimed restart by Ireland following the Alborboz penalty saw Argentina give a penalty away after defending for 13 phases which Ireland opted to go for the corner, but some heroic defence by Argentina saw them turn possession over to save the day.

The clearance from Bertranou wasn’t far out and that gave Ireland another attacking lineout as they played Lowe in a gap down the middle that set the score up for Joe McCarthy which Crowley converted in the 33rd minute.

Argentina started playing it extremely tight through the middle around the breakdown area which earned them a penalty for offside inside Ireland’s 22 and opted for the corner, but failed to score.

The visitors went for the corner again following another offside penalty and a warning to the hosts regarding their discipline.

A third penalty against Ireland saw the hosts get away with another warning as they managed to keep Los Pumas out and take a deserved 22-9 lead into the break.

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The second-half saw Argentina get more flow with ball-in-hand, although they didn’t make much yardage, they did earn a penalty to get themselves into Ireland’s 22, but again failed to capitalise on the opportunity as the ball was knocked-on in the lineout.

The visitor’s early approach paid off when fullback Mallia broke the line off an inside ball and ran it in for Argentina’s opening try in the 45th minute which Albornoz converted.

Argentina earned another penalty on halfway for playing the player without the ball and made their way back into Ireland’s 22.

They played a switch play off the maul and earned another penalty for offside against try scorer McCarthy who was called out and received a yellow card as Ireland were on a team warning.

Albornoz slotted the penalty to make it a three-point match.

Ireland’s discipline saw them concede another penalty for playing a player in the air against Crowley on halfway.

Argentina went for the lineout outside the 22 metre-area of Ireland and worked themselves into it as Albornoz went for a drop-goal but pushed it well wide to the left.

Ireland got a penalty for offside and went to the corner, with Argentina’s defence driving them back.

Argentina deployed the counter-ruck and cleared the ball away which sums up the first 10 minutes of the final quarter of the match where both sides couldn’t capitalise on their opportunities.

The match took a late turn when Francisco Gomez Kodela was yellow carded for a dangerous cleanout in the 75th minute when Argentina were attacking inside Ireland’s half.

Ireland went for the lineout and attacked ruthlessly inside Argentina’s 22 and once again Argentina survived it with their tough defensive efforts when a counter ruck led to Osborne playing the ball on the ground and concede the penalty.

Argentina had one last crack at a famous victory as Martin Gonzales made a half-break followed by Delguy as they worked it into Ireland’s 22.

Argentina kept it tight but a knock-on by the visitors saw a collective breath of Irish relief to see Ireland home for a hard-fought victory.

Player of the match: James Lowe was busy when he had opportunities with Caelan Doris leading by example, but the player of the match goes to Jack Crowley who set Ireland up with the opening score and his drop-goal which proved to be the difference in the end.

Moment of the match: Juan Cruz Mallia’s try brought Argentina right back into the match which made it an epic contest when it seemed as if Ireland will run away with the match at the point in time.

Villian of the match: With four yellow cards it’s not easy to just pick one, but it has to be Argentina prop Francisco Gomez Kodela who got himself yellow-carded when his team were on the front-foot with five minutes to go and worked themselves into a possible match-winning position.

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The scorers

For Ireland:
Tries: Crowley, Hansen, McCarthy
Cons: Crowley 2
DG: Crowley

For Argentina
Try: Mallia
Con: Albornoz
Pens: Albornoz 4

Yellow cards: Matias Moroni (Argentina – second minute: dangerous tackle), Finlay Bealham (Ireland – 16th minute: croc roll), Joe McCarthy (Ireland – 51st minute: offside – team warning), Francisco Gomez Kodela (Argentina – 75th minute: dangerous cleanout)

Teams:

Ireland: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Mack Hansen, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 James Lowe, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Caelan Doris (captain), 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Tadhg Beirne, 5 James Ryan, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Ronan Kelleher, 1 Andrew Porter.
Replacements: 16 Rob Herring, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Thomas Clarkson, 19 Ryan Baird, 20 Peter O’Mahony, 21 Craig Casey, 22 Sam Prendergast, 23 Jamie Osborne.

Argentina: 15 Juan Cruz Mallia, 14 Rodrigo Isgro, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Matias Moroni, 11 Bautista Delguy, 10 Tomas Albornoz, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Joaquin Oviedo, 7 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Pedro Rubiolo, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Joel Sclavi, 2 Julian Montoya (captain), 1 Thomas Gallo.
Replacements: 16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Ignacio Calles, 18 Francisco Gomez Kodela, 19 Franco Molina, 20 Santiago Grondona, 21 Gonzalo Garcia, 22 Santiago Carreras, 23 Justo Piccardo.

Referee: Paul Williams (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Craig Evans (Wales), Angus Mabey (New Zealand)
TMO: Richard Kelly (New Zealand)