Sanchez kicked another three after winning a penalty from the scrum, a source of much joy for the Argies, but it was about to get worse for them as Tomas Lavanini chopped down Israel Folau but Wayne Barnes adjudged it illegal and worthy of a yellow card.
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Finally, in the eighth Rugby World Cup, New Zealand and Australia will meet in the final.
The game remained in the balance up until the 72nd minute when a stunning break fron Drew Mitchell sent Ashley-Cooper over to seal the win and set-up a date with the All Blacks next Saturday.
“We were not so great tonight but I want to thank all the people”, he added. “There were times when it looked as if they had cut us but we covered back really well”. The Pumas hammered into the Wallabies throughout the second half but could not give the try-making pass and it was Mitchell who showed them what it takes to create tries at this level with a brilliant run plus a bouncing pass to Ashley-Cooper who scored and Foley converted. Those things couldn’t happen if there wasn’t a reliable body on the end of it all.
However, their resolve waned, and a cruelly patient Australia made the extra man count, a handsome Giteau pass putting Ashley-Cooper in for his second.
“We’re just going day by day, genuinely”.
“If we had scored a try at any point I think we could have won the game, but Australia played very well and congratulations to them for their win”.
“The idea was to start as we did against Ireland and play the whole match (like that), but, well, they started better than us and made a bit of a difference (on the scoreboard)”, said Cordero.
“I think we’ve only beaten them once out of the last 10 (matches) so I think they’ll be feeling pretty good that they’ve got our measure”.
Cry for me, Argentina. But I feel very proud of these players.
“For us, the third-place play-off means a lot”. I n every game, we’re trying to reach the top. The Pumas were an outside chance to make the finals and they beat the Irish team in magnificent fashion in the quarter-finals.
The Wallabies established a solid 13-point advantage in the opening half following three emphatic tries with two courtesy of the sensational Adam Ashley-Cooper.
The Wallabies were superior at the breakdown where David Pocock was huge and too clinical in the backline for the gung-ho injury-hit Pumas who paid the price for costly early mistakes.
“They gave it all, they left empty”, Hourcade said. And the clock was ticking down to this fall’s Rugby World Cup. The Australians crossed for tries in the second, 10th, and 32nd minutes until the game plans and momentum changed. “This is a new game, a different game, we get to play them away from both of our homes and on a massive stage”, he said.
Argentina’s Isa and Montoya react after losing.
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What then followed was one of the more extraordinary passages of rugby seen at this World Cup as counter attack followed counter attack – Joaquin Tuculet on fire for the Pumas as the ball refused to go off the field.
