Two tries: Jonathan Sexton
Related links
Teams
Also see
Ireland silenced their critics with an impressive 46-24 victory over Argentina at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Saturday.
Ireland led from start to finish in a dominant display, outscoring their visitors seven tries to two.
Few would have expected such a one-sided clash after Argentina's recent win over Wales but the home side produced their best performance since pushing the All Blacks close in June to run the Pumas ragged.
The result ends Ireland's five-Test losing streak and secures their place among the second seeds for the 2015 World Cup draw.
Ireland raced to 24-9 lead by half time thanks to tries from debutant Craig Gilroy, fly-half Jonathan Sexton, hooker Richardt Strauss and full-back Simon Zebo. Argentina's only reply came via three penalties from pivot Nicolas Sanchez.
Unlike a fortnight ago when the Springboks turned the tables on Declan Kidney's men, the second half saw Ireland secure victory with two tries from Tommy Bowe and another from Sexton as the green-clad pack ruled in the tight exchanges and the backs hit their straps.
Argentina scored two consolation tries - via Tomas Leonardi and Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe - in the final ten minutes but will be disappointed with their effort.
Gilroy got his international debut off to a perfect start by scoring a fabulous try after taking a flat pass from Sexton and beating handful of defenders, putting the hosts in front early on - and they never looked back.
Sexton grabbed his first try shortly afterwards with an equally good run to step his way to the whitewash. Strauss emerged from a line-out drive to crash over and give Ireland a 19-6 lead at the end of the first quarter. The result looked done and dusted.
Bowe and Sexton combined to send Zebo over the corner before the half-time whistle, handing the Ireland a 15-point headstart as the sides swapped ends.
Sanchez landed his fourth penalty of the afternoon to get the second half started but two tries in the space of four minutes from Bowe and Sexton ended any hopes of a comeback from the Pumas.
Bowe collected Sexton's chip ahead to gather and touch down before bagging his second after some fancy footwork from Gilroy and a final pass from Donnacha Ryan.
Argentina pushed hard for a try but to their credit, the Irish defence never backed off had held firm against multiple waves of heavy Argentine ball carriers.
The final Irish try arrived when Bowe pounced on Keith Earls' chip kick, but substitute Leonardi and skipper Fernandez Lobbe scored late tries from short range to give Argentina some respectability on the scoreboard.
Man of the match: A few candidates here and Jonathan Sexton deserves a mention for his two tries and getting the Irish backline going. But Ireland really won the game up front and Donnacha Ryan stood out, not only in the line-outs but for his tireless work cleaning out at the breakdown.
Moment of the match: The writing was on the wall early for the Pumas. Craig Gilroy's try was a great start to both the game and a promising Test career.
Villain of the match: Maximiliano Bustos was for a silly swing of a handbag - throwing the ball into the face of opposite number Cian Healy - so not worthy of the villain award.
The scorers:
For Ireland:
Tries: Gilroy, Sexton 2 , Strauss, Zebo, Bowe 2
Cons: Sexton 3, O'Gara
For Argentina:
Tries: Leonardi, Fernandez Lobbe
Con: Hernandez
Pens: Sanchez 4
Yellow card: Bustos
Ireland: 15 Simon Zebo, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Keith Earls, 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Craig Gilroy, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Chris Henry, 6 Peter O'Mahony, 5 Mike McCarthy, 4 Donnacha Ryan, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Richardt Strauss, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Michael Bent, 19 Donncha O'Callaghan, 20 Iain Henderson, 21 Eoin Reddan, 22 Ronan O'Gara, 23 Fergus McFadden.
Argentina: 15 Juan Martin Hernandez, 14 Gonzalo Camacho, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Santiago Fernandez, 11 Juan Imhoff, 10 Nicolas Sanchez, 9 Martin Landajo, 8 Leonardo Senatore, 7 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 6 Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe, 5 Julio Farias Cabello, 4 Manuel Carizza, 3 Maximiliano Bustos, 2 Eusebio Guinazu, 1 Marcos Ayerza.
Replacements: 16 Agustin Creevy, 17 Nahuel Lobo, 18 Francisco Gomez Kodela, 19 Tomas Vallejos, 20 Tomas Leonardi, 21 Nicolas Vergallo, 22 Gonzalo Tiesi, 23 Manuel Montero.
Venue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Romain Poite (France), Andrew Small (England)
Television match official: Geoff Warren (England)
Comments
makemehappy says...
Now that was embarassing!
Ireland's back line was all over the place for 30 mins which really showed that Argentina just didn't turn up today.
Posted 21:53 24th November 2012
Bambo says...
Good result but did tired Argentine legs and hearts flatter to deceive? They have played a long series of games and seemed to be done in at the end of the recent France game. Still, well done Ireland, so much better than expected.
Posted 21:34 24th November 2012
paulcedron says...
Congratulations Ireland.
It was a huge lesson for us Argentinians
Very impressed with the performances of Gilroy, Sexton and OMahoney.
Well done
Posted 20:59 24th November 2012
letsgoboks says...
Hats off to the Pumas....
Maybe this was one game too many... but they have seriously stood up this season and showed the world that they are going to be something great.
In 2 years time the mighty SH will consist of 4 strong teams dominating the NH and not just the 3.
Posted 20:04 24th November 2012
damo says...
Good win Ireland, lots of good performances all the usual suspects Healy,Ryan,Strauss,Henry in the pack, $exy has the x factor at 10, and the back 3.
Sack the manager and get someone in who picks Marshall at 9 from Ulster, Cave at 13 from Ulster and a n other at 12, I thought darcy played his best game for Ireland in 3 years and it was still poor for an international 12 with nothing but go forward ball!
Posted 19:58 24th November 2012
NHsaints says...
The Irish inconsistency has been passed onto argentina...how has this happened? But anyway if Ireland can produce performances like that then suddenly we're looking at a repeat split of the 2009 lions squad, lots of irish, a fair few english, a couple of welshmen and a few (if lucky) Scots...
Posted 19:54 24th November 2012
usrugbyfan says...
Despite being absolutely thrilled with the result, I feel the need to stay grounded as there were several alarming elements to Irelands play.
1. Scrumhalf. I thought the delivery of the ball was fairly slow throughout the game but once the game slowed down in the second half, a substitution really should have been made. It seems that Murray gets complacent, and then everything shuts down. The bench has to be used better! (for the record, I'm criticizing Murray as a Munster fan).
2. Kicking. While Sexton did give a magnificent performance, his kicking was not on target. Several missed kicks, as well as the worst possible game opening kick. Also keep in mind this was behind a dominant pack. To be honest I'm not convinced by him yet. (don't take this to mean I'm calling for O'Gara, I don't believe that he should get any more caps!)
3 Discipline. Sadly a feature of Kidneys reign as head coach has been very poor discipline. You can't defend such that you'll always give a penalty for every defensive drive. It you look at the first half, Ireland conceded a stupid penalty for each try they scored. Thank goodness those tries were scored!!!
At this point in time, I don't think Munster deserve to have any players on the field. (perhaps a few as subs) In general, I'd pick the Ulster backline and Leinster everything else. (perhaps with donnacha ryan in the second row)
Posted 19:25 24th November 2012
PREEST says...
The Pumas absolutely capitulated. It seemed as though they were content with only the won win over Wales and didn't put any effort into the recent two games. Disapointing for the Pumas, they looked another side. Seemed also to be very fatigued. However, can't take credit away from the Irish, they played some outstanding rugby and thoroughly deserved that win. Will be interesting to see how they fair in the 6 nations. I'm sure they Welsh will not be the favourites for the title this time around...
Posted 19:22 24th November 2012
TVaddict says...
Didn't see it but a fantastic result for Ireland, exactly what they needed to build up momentum for the 6 nations. Sounds like Donnacha Ryan is pushing for the lions squad.
Posted 17:20 24th November 2012
LondonWasp says...
this, i was not expecting....
Posted 16:53 24th November 2012
Dannyboy says...
Great match by Ireland, a massacre really. The Argies shouldnt have been allowed to get those late tries.
My only issue was the ill timed substitutions. There's definitely an argument for throwing in the lads at the end to give the some time on the pitch at the end, spread the glory and all that, but we should of put 60 on the scoreboard. Minor quibble though.
Overall, fantastic to watch! Sexton, Ryan and Gilroy for PR team of the week.
Posted 16:49 24th November 2012
ciaran1792 says...
I felt the ref let advantage go on too long and penalized Ireland at every contest he let Argentina away with everything he gave them pity points. And that last play for Argentina to score last minuet was way to long of an advantage. Last but not least Roman Poite still finds away to make bad decisions as a linesman. I felt the ref would only allow one team to compete properly at the breakdown and needs to get more consistant.
Posted 16:43 24th November 2012
J_HDK says...
Argentina appalling in defence. Horrific in the lineout... and then bored Ireland to sleep in the second half by spending most of the time laying on the ground with "injuries".
Very happy with the result though. Some great interplay and heads-up rugby (but given looooads of space to do it by the Pumas)
Posted 16:34 24th November 2012
decky100 says...
Injury crisis? what injury crisis??... Maybe a bit too early to state but Gilroy is looking like Shane Williams reincarnated; most exciting runner ireland have posessed since early O'Driscoll.6 tries in 3 games for ireland so far! (unfortunately 5 of those were in uncapped games) Great to see the team so full of confidence again.
Posted 16:25 24th November 2012
Wallaroo says...
Well done Ireland on a sterling performance. What a display of teamwork, just brilliant.
Posted 16:20 24th November 2012
Dhaych says...
Be consistent Ireland!! Great positives to take from that match.
Posted 16:16 24th November 2012
leinster_goy says...
Sexto's performance was majestic, and no surprise. he's been the best fly-half in the NH for the past 3 years (and fast approaching best in the world)
Posted 16:09 24th November 2012
three6three6 says...
What an absolutely outstanding result for Ireland. Is this first sign of a resurgence?
Posted 16:05 24th November 2012
melkdave says...
Brillant opening 20 mins from Ireland best they've played all year,or at least since the 2nd test against the ABsGilroy made such a difference for the 1st try,he had so much to do and succeed,got be contender for try of the season imo..Argentina looked a little off their game defencive wise,but it takes nothing away from how Ireland played.
Posted 16:02 24th November 2012
Coolhandsmike says...
hallelujah! Pumas, looked like we did at the end of our NZ tour, tired and flat but we looked clinical and hugely energetic in the first half. It's an odd outcome of this - that Kidney will be under more pressure as a result of this to do what he should be doing on a larger scale - infusing the national team with youth and letting them energize the older squad members who are clearly in need of rejuvenation.
Posted 16:01 24th November 2012