Argentina 28 Ireland 24

Argentina progressed to the World Cup quarter finals following 89 minutes of the most nail-biting match seen so far in this tournament.

Twenty-three points from fly-half Gonzalo Quesada kept the Pumas ahead in the battle of the boots but it was a 72nd minute try from winger Diego Albanese which broke the game open and lead to a thrilling extra time period.

Seventy-nine minutes had elapsed in the game when Quesada slotted his seventh penalty but little did he know that the best was yet to come.  A huge hit by tighthead prop Mauricio Reggiardo on Irish centre Brian O'Driscoll gave Ireland a chance to kick for the lineout and drive for a match-winning try.  Deep into time added on, the men in green put all 15 into the lineout effort.  The Pumas pulled it down but a second attempt was equally unsuccessful and, as referee Stuart Dickinson blew the final whistle, the Argentina side leapt for the skies.

Dickinson was particularly stringent around the breakdown and 15-9 line in Ireland's favour was purely down to his fondness for blowing up when players went down with the ball.  The only interruption to traded penalty attempts was failed drop goal attempts from both Quesada and his opposite number David Humphreys.

Humphreys was more successful just four minutes after the break when a chip from 35 yards split the posts and, with a 12-point margin, Ireland looked like cruising to a home fixture with France at home on Sunday.  Instead, tonight's victors will face Les Bleus in front of a Dublin crowd deprived of their appetite for action.

The Teams:

Argentina:  1 Omar Hasan Jalil, 2 Mario Ledesma Arocena, 3 Mauricio Reggiardo, 4 Alejandro Allub, 5 Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe, 6 Rolando Martin, 7 Santiago Phelan, 8 Gonzalo Longo Elia, 9 Agustin Pichot, 10 Gonzalo Quesada, 11 Diego Albanese, 12 Lisandro Arbizu (c), 13 Eduardo Simone, 14 Gonzalo Camardon, 15 Ignacio Corletto
Reserves:  Felipe Contepomi, Martin Scelzo

Ireland:  1 Paul Wallace, 2 Keith Wood, 3 Reg Corrigan, 4 Jeremy Davidson, 5 Malcolm O'Kelly, 6 Kieron Dawson, 7 Andy Ward, 8 Dion O'Cuinneagain (c), 9 Tom Tierney, 10 David Humphreys, 11 Matt Mostyn, 12 Brian O'Driscoll, 13 Kevin Maggs, 14 Justin Bishop, 15 Conor O'Shea
Reserves:  Bob Casey, Eric Miller, Justin Fitzpatrick

Attendance:  22000
Referee:  Dickinson s

Points Scorers:

Argentina
Tries:  Albanese D.L. 1
Conv:  Quesada G. 1
Pen K.:  Quesada G. 7

Ireland
Pen K.:  Humphreys D.G. 7
Drop G.:  Humphreys D.G. 1