Under-21 World CupIreland 26 Argentina 22 Ireland grinded out a victory - when sides of old would have crumbled - in a ferocious battle at Dumbreck last night to leave Mark McDermott's men on course for a top-four spot. Roll on France this Saturday in Edinburgh.
The gritty performance is a testament to the mentality of Irish sides in the professional era. Outhalf Gareth Steenson's 16-point haul and man-of-the-match Jamie Heaslip took the individual plaudits, but the contest was littered with standout displays, none more so than captain David Gannon.
In the end, Ireland's superior fitness levels tipped the scales: "I thought when they got the penalty-try, which put them 22-20 ahead, that it could be it for us," said McDermott. "We were in for a tough 15-20 minutes there, but our distribution was good, we started retaining the ball and there were no turnovers. It put the pressure on them and they folded. I was absolutely delighted that in the last 15 minutes we were on top of the game."
With the gale at their backs, Ireland raced into a 20-5 lead after 38 minutes. The tactics were working, as the mobile pack sucked in their larger opponents to generate two tries for centres Glen Telford and John Hearty.
Crucially, Argentina finished the half stronger as burly loosehead prop Marcos Ayerza bundled over in first-half injury-time to level up the try-count and leave it 20-12.
The first breakthrough came after just six minutes when a clever break around the front of the lineout by Brendan O'Connor and David O'Brien sucked in the cover. The ball went wide to Steenson, whose half-break and offload sent Telford over.
Yet, the Argentinians looked dangerous in every area. Winger Mauro Comuzzi set the alarm bells ringing with a break up the left. It came to nothing, but the normally reliable Steenson's failure to find touch resulted in full back Roman Miralles running back from 45 metres for a fine individual try.
The wind ensured Alfredo Cordone was never going to have an easy kicking opportunity, while Steenson added two penalties to make it 13-5.
Ireland were now dominating, and John Hearty powered over for the third try of the game after some excellent work from Telford and Heaslip, who bumped off two tackles before offloading five yards out.
Steenson added the conversion to leave Ireland in a similar scenario to last year's competition when they led Argentina 19-5 at the interval. Several of the main actors from that match were back and memories of that capitulation must have surfaced.
Argentina's pack began to gain the upper hand; they started the second-half as they finished the first, with Cordone making it a five-point game from a penalty. The next score looked likely to be the decider.
Argentina set up camp in the 22 and seemed assured of a try when Comuzzi broke the cover out wide, only to spill the ball with the line at his mercy - Richard Lane's flaying arm can take some of the credit.
However, they were not to be denied and, after a succession of scrums, Kiwi referee Bryce Lawrence awarded a penalty-try after an Irish forward was adjudged to have kicked the ball out of the scrum. Cordone put Argentina in front with the conversion.
To Ireland's credit, they regained a slender one-point lead instantly when Steenson was put in range for his third penalty after a drive up the middle. It was now Ireland's turn to dominate, but number eight Heaslip knocked on going for the line, when a pass out to Tommy Bowe would have delivered the try.
Bowe did finally get to stretch his legs, with only a last-gasp tackle into touch from Miralles denying him the killer score.
It didn't matter, as Ireland refused to bend and duly ran down the clock deep in their opponent's territory. A Steenson penalty in injury-time capped a fine display.
SCORING SEQUENCE - 7 mins: G Telford try, 5-0; S Steenson conv, 7-0; 17: R Miralles try, 7-5; 21: Steenson pen, 10-5; 27: Steenson pen, 13-5; 38: J Hearty try, 18-5; Steenson conv, 20-5; 44: M Ayerza try, 20-10; A Cordone conv, 20-12. Half-time. 50: Cordone pen, 20-15; 62: penalty try, 20-20; Cordone conv, 20-22; 65: Steenson pen, 23-22; 82: Steenson pen, 26-22.
IRELAND: A Finn; R Lane, J Hearty, G Telford, T Bowe; G Steenson, T O'Leary; J Wickham, D Fogarty, D Fitzpatrick; D Gannon (capt), S O'Connor; B O'Connor, D O'Brien, J Heaslip. Replacements: K Doyle for Fitzpatrick (75 mins)
ARGENTINA: R Miralles; A Gosio, J Irazusta, M Lecot, M Comuzzi; A Cordone (capt), A Lalanne; M Ayerza, M Perez Guimil, J Francisco Gomez; M Carizza, F Aranguren; F Barni, G Padro, L Lardieri. Replacements: P Figueroa for Padro (69 mins), S Bottini for Lecot (72 mins).
Referee: B Lawrence (New Zealand).
