Argentina 64-19 Namibia
Argentina scored nine tries by nine different players as they beat Namibia 64-19 in their final group game of the Rugby World Cup. The Pumas went ahead thanks to a Juan Martin Hernandez try before a Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias penalty put the South American 10-0 up. However, the Africans replied despite being reduced to 14 men after some sloppy Argentine defending allowed Johan Tromp to kick the ball over them and dive on the ball for a try.
The Argentinians would stomp out any hope soon after, with Matias Morini going over for an excellent solo score before three more tries from Horacio Agulla, Facundo Isa and Lucas Noguera put them 36-7 ahead at half-time. Namibia gave themselves a glimmer of hope just after the break as JC Greyling seized on some poor passing to go through alone to score his nations' second try of the afternoon. That hope was short-lived as Argentina would reply quickly again, with Matias Alemanno powering over the line after a strong scrum.
Leonardo Senatore finished off another classy move from the Pumas for their seventh try before Julian Montoya and Tomas Cubelli compounded their advantage with quick tries within five minutes. Eugene Jantjies scored a late consolation try for Namibia and the nation allowed retiring prop Johnny Redelinghuys to take the attempt but the big man's kick fell short. Argentina had already qualified from Pool C before the game and will now take on either France or Ireland in the quarter-finals.
Italy 32-22 Romania
Italy have secured third place and qualification for the 2019 Rugby World Cup after beating Romania 32-22 at Sandy Park. Lynn Howells side took an early lead at Sandy Park after their scrum managed to stand up the Italy pack and earn a shot at the posts. However, winger Leonardo Sarto crossed in the corner for the Azzurri before an Eduardo Gori try increased Italy's advantage. With the interval approaching, stand-off Tomasso Allan touched down as Jacques Brunel's side led 22-3.
The Six Nations outfit threatened to run away with proceedings when Alessandro Zanni scored before Adrian Apostol delivered the first try for Romania. Romania finished strongly with Valentin Poparlin getting a second score before Apostol scored his second try of the afternoon. However, it was not enough to overhaul Italy, who secured victory and a place at the 2019 World Cup in Japan, courtesy of their third-place finish in Pool D.
France 9-24 Ireland
Ireland have finished their pool campaign at the Rugby World Cup with a 100% record, defeating France 24-9 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff this evening.
France showed signs of nerves with their kicking game in the opening stages of the match as Frederic Michalak and Scott Spedding both missed chances to open the scoring, allowing Jonny Sexton to boot the opening points of the encounter through down the other end. Penalties continued to dominate the opening 25 minutes of the closely-contested first half in front of a vocal crowd in Cardiff, with Spedding making a couple for France, while Sexton maintained his 100% record.
The Ireland fly-half had to go off with a rib injury though, leaving Ian Madigan to assume the kicking duties, but he quickly restored his side's lead just moments after coming off the replacements bench. Both sides had chances to get the opening try on the board before half time, but Keith Earls spilled the ball following a blistering run from Tommy Bowe, while Wesley Fofana went over, only to see play called back for a knock on. There was a further injury blow for Ireland on the cusp of half time though as captain Paul O'Connell, who will retire at the end of this tournament, remained on the pitch for several minutes after appearing to injure his knee, eventually leaving the field on a stretcher. Ireland made a determined start to the second half following the loss of their captain, with Tommy Bowe and Conor Murray both involved in setting up Rob Kearney for a leap over in the right corner to score the opening try of the contest.
Joe Schmidt's side were soon pressing for a second try as Cian Health, Earls and Chris Henry all trying to create something, but France fought back, with Morgan Parra closing the gap to five points with just under 20 minutes remaining. France continued to see more of the ball as the final 10 minutes approached, with Parra involved again as he tried to set up Brice Dulin for a score, but the Ireland defence held firm. The Ireland supporters soon had something else to cheer though as Jack McGrath tried to power through under the posts, being held up just short, but still able to get the ball to Conor Murray, setting up the scrum-half for the team's second try. The result sets up a quarter-final with Argentina, which will take place in Cardiff next weekend.
USA 18-28 Japan
Japan have become the first side in Rugby World Cup history to win three of their pool-phase fixtures and still exit the competition after seeing off USA 28-18.
The Brave Blossoms have provided some of the finest moments of the tournament, but their fate had already been decided following other results this weekend.
It took the United States just a couple of minutes to register their first points of the contest, as Alan MacGinty found the sticks from an early pen after the opposition failed to roll away from the tackle. Japan responded in superb fashion, though, breaking through Yoshikazu Fujita before some solid handling allowed the Far East nation to string together a sweeping move which culminated in Kotaro Matsushima making a breakthrough.
There was a special moment for Ayumu Goromaru from the follow-up, with his successful kick from the conversion taking him to the 700-point mark in Test rugby. For large parts of the opening quarter of the match events on the field failed to match those off it, with both teams being heavily supporters at the home of Gloucester Rugby.
USA used this boisterous backing to their advantage shortly before the half-hour mark courtesy of Takudzwa Ngwenya's score, which came after his side's first real prolonged spell of pressure in the opposition's 22, but MacGinty was well short from the resulting conversion.
Much like before, the Brave Blossoms - hosts of the next instalment of this showpiece competition in four years' time - hit back almost instantly as a result of a US fumble from the restart. Fujita was the man to profit by picking out a gap and crossing over on his Rugby World Cup debut, ensuring that the game remained tight.
Japan were slowly able to turn the screw and assert their dominance when Goromaru split the sticks for a second time, making this officially their best ever World Cup showing in terms of points scoring, and opening up a nine-point advantage in the process. It was left to Goromaru to kick off the second half in the same manner as he ended the first, with his perfect kicking record being maintained after splitting the sticks with an early pen.
USA, who have exited the tournament at the group stage in each of their past seven appearances now, pushed hard for a route back into the game that was only denied by some poor handling errors. There was some hope for the Americans when MacGinty kicked over 25 minutes from time to reduce the arrears, but they were denied a second try due to Harumichi Tatekawa's superb challenge to deny flying winger Ngwenya down the right.
It proved a key moment in the game, too, as Eric Fry was shown a yellow for kicking the ball on the ground, and just moments later Eddie Jones's men capitalised after opting to kick into touch and crossing over through replacement Amanaki Mafi from the subsequent lineout.
Japan had already bagged more win in this year's tournament than in their previous seven, but they were made to work hard for victory number three as the US refused to go down without a fight. On the back of arguably their finest attacking move of the evening, MacGinty used his vision to pick out skipper Chris Wyles in acres of space on the right to cut the deficit a little more heading into the closing stages. Just when it looked as though the Eagles were beginning to build some momentum, Goromaru again remained composed to slot over after Michael Leitch's ill-discipline at the ruck to re-open that hefty margin.
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