Wallabies too good for Pumas
This follows after the Wallabies outplayed a willing Argentina 29-15 in their semifinal at Twickenham on Sunday.
The four tries to none victory Australia and New Zealand, the only two unbeaten teams at this tournament, will get a chance to become the first team to win the Webb Ellis Cup for a third time.
As for the Pumas, they will have to pick themselves up to face an equally disconsolate South Africa in the meaningless third-place play-off at the Olympic Stadium this coming Friday.
Adam Ashley-Cooper scored a hat-trick of tries as Australia ended Argentina's hopes of a first World Cup Final appearance.
Australia led 19-9 at half-time after Rob Simmons' early try was followed by two from Ashley-Cooper.
The valiant Pumas, who came from 0-14 down to beat Australia 21-17 last year for their first win in the Southern Hemisphere Rugby Championship, narrowed the gap.
But Ashley-Cooper's third try, 10 minutes from time, sealed a win for Australia, the reigning Rugby Championship title holders who have undergone a revival since coach Michael Cheika took charge last year.
Flyhalf Nicolas Sanchez kicked all of the Pumas' points with five penalties, in front of an 80,025 crowd that included Argentina soccer great Diego Maradonna.
Argentina recalled centre Marcelo Bosch, back from suspension, in their only change to the side that overwhelmed Ireland 43-20 in the quarter-finals.
Australia made three changes with the fit-again fullback Israel Folau and No.8 David Pocock returning in place of Kurtley Beale and Ben McCalman respectively.
Pocock, badly missed at the breakdown by Australia in their nailbiting 35-34 quarterfinal win over Scotland forced several turnovers on Sunday.
A dry day made conditions ideal for running rugby and it took Australia just 68 seconds to score the game's first try when lock forward Simmons intercepted Sanchez's inside pass.
Bernard Foley added the easy conversion and Australia led 7-0.
Flyhalf Foley was then involved at the other end when, after Argentina exploited a huge gap in Australia's cover, he made a try-saving tackle on Bosch.
But an offence in the build-up led to an easy penalty for Sanchez.
Thoughts of an immediate Argentina revival were dashed when Australia scored their second try in the ninth minute.
A knocked-on tap and go from Pumas scrumhalf Martin Landajo led to an Australia scrum, much improved under he guidance of former Argentina hooker Mario Ledesma, before Foley's miss-pass freed left wing Ashley-Cooper for a try in the corner.
Foley kicked a tricky conversion and Argentina, who scored two early tries against Ireland, now found themselves on the receiving end with Australia in charge at 14-3.
The Pumas suffered another setback when in-form wing Juan Imhoff went off injured in the 18th minute.
Argentina forced a 23rd-minute scrum penalty and Sanchez, becoming the tournament's leading points scorer as he passed the 79-point tally of Scotland's Greig Laidlaw and South Africa's Handré Pollard, cut Australia's lead to 14-6.
Argentina, however, found themselves a man down in the 26th minute when lock Tomas Lavanini was sent to the sin-bin by English referee Wayne Barnes for a 'no-arms' tackle on Folau. The sheer speed as much as anything else prevented a fair challenge.
Things got worse for Argentina when influential skipper and hooker Agustin Creevy went off on the half hour mark.
Australia were now encamped in Argentina's 22 and the pressure told when another miss-pass, this time from centre Matt Giteau, sent in Ashley-Cooper for his second try.
Foley did not convert, but Australia were 19-6 up before Sanchez's third penalty cut their lead to 10 points.
That was how the match stayed until the break but it could have been so different had the Pumas scored a try in the closing moments of the half.
Argentina wing Santiago Cordero broke clear and offloaded to Juan Martin Hernández but, in sight of the line, the centre's pass went behind full-back Joaquin Tuculet and the chance was lost.
In the second half, Sanchez kicked two penalties either side of a Foley effort to leave Australia 22-15 in front.
Argentina pressed hard in the final quarter before a cross-field run by Drew Mitchell opened up their defence and led to a try for fellow wing Ashley-Cooper.
Man of the match: You can look at players like Santiago Cordero, Marcelo Bosch, Nicolas Sanchez and Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe, especially after the latter took over the captaincy. For Australia Scott Fardy made some really crucial tackles and carried the ball well. Matt Giteau was the creative spark in the backline and Adam Ashley-Cooper scored a hat-trick. But nobody was better than Australian flank David Pocock – with his immense work at the breakdown and even more impressive defensive play.
Moment of the match: There were four great tries, some really creative work. However, the crucial moments in the match were the yellow card of Tomas Lavanini and the departure of inspirational Argentina captain Augustin Creevy soon afterwards.
Villain of the match: It is sad when match officials have such a massive presence in a game. Wayne Barnes looked like he was making the laws as he went along – speaking of the distance a player ran before executing a tackle. He certainly has a history of poor decisions in crucial World Cup games and that wasn't his only bad call of the day. He certainly wasn't consistent in his rulings either – with Tomas Lavanini sin-binned for a low 'no arms' tackle, but Kurtley Beale was excused for exactly the same action.
The scorers:
For Argentina:
Pens: Sanchez 5
For Australia:
Tries: Simmons, Ashley-Cooper 3
Cons: Foley 3
Pen: Foley
Yellow card: Tomas Lavanini (Argentina, 25 – foul play, no arms tackle)
Teams:
Argentina: 15 Joaquin Tuculet, 14 Santiago Cordero, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Juan Martin Hernández, 11 Juan Imhoff, 10 Nicolas Sanchez, 9 Martin Landajo, 8 Leonardo Senatore, 7 Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Ramiro Herrera, 2 Agustin Creevy (captain), 1 Marcos Ayerza.
Replacements: 16 Julian Montoya, 17 Lucas Noguera, 18 Juan Figallo, 19 Matias Alemanno, 20 Facundo Isa, 21 Tomas Cubelli, 22 Jeronimo De La Fuente, 23 Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino.
Australia: 15 Israel Folau, 14 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Matt Giteau, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Will Genia, 8 David Pocock, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Scott Fardy, 5 Rob Simmons, 4 Kane Douglas, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Stephen Moore (captain), 1 James Slipper.
Replacements: 16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Toby Smith, 18 Greg Holmes, 19 Dean Mumm, 20 Ben McCalman, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Matt Toomua, 23 Kurtley Beale.
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant referees: Jaco Peyper (South Africa), George Clancy (Ireland)
TMO: Ben Skeen (New Zealand)
Agence France-Presse & @rugby365com
