Purring Pumas Send Ireland Packing

Argentina are through to the quarter-finals of the World Cup after a 30-15 win over Ireland at the Parc des Princes.

Eddie O'Sullivan's team needed to win the match by more than seven points and score four tries to secure the bonus point they needed and deny the Pumas the extra point that would take them through, but Argentina kept the scoreboard ticking over and didn't even give Ireland a glimmer of hope.

By the time Brian O'Driscoll had scored Ireland's first try, Lucas Borges had already gone over for Argentina and Juan Marti­n Hernandez had scored a drop goal to cancel out a Ronan O'Gara penalty.Horacio Agulla scored another try shortly before half-time to give the South Americans an 18-10 lead at the break.

Geordan Murphy scored a second Ireland try early in the second half, but the bonus point calculations meant they could not take any risks because a fourth Argentina try would have knocked them out before the match was over.

Felipe Contepomi kicked three second-half penalties to fend off an Irish challenge and Hernandez dropped another goal at the end to send Argentina through. They will face Scotland in the quarter-finals at the Stade de France next Sunday; Ireland will face their campaign's inevitable autopsy.