Pumas win hearts if not the match

The sense of occasion may have suffered because of Ireland's absence, but the game itself most certainly didn't. This was a veritable little gem, albeit with perhaps no great bearing on the overall destiny of the Webb Ellis Trophy, which was played with a fluctuating fluidity beyond most matches in the tournament thus far.

While a fired-up Ireland in front of a packed Lansdowne Road may well have made a porous France sweat more profusely than an increasingly jaded Argentina, the home side would not have had the skill levels to have made a similar contribution to the sheer enjoyment of the contest.

Despite a nightmare start, once again these Pumas showed they've the hearts of Lions. Not alone did they dig deep to claw their way back into the match and make the first half-hour of the second period a compelling contest, they did so with an irreverent flair which was not reflected on the scoreboard. Credit too to referee Derek Bevan for permitting and encouraging such a fluid encounter.

Initially, the late influx of day-trippers from Paris had conspired to make this almost a home game for the French, the "Allez Les Bleus" chant reverberating around the ground half-an-hour before the kick-off.

Long before the end though, the Irish in the crowd had adopted Argentina, much as the Lens crowd had done the previous Wednesday. Rarely if ever will the old ground give such fulsome support to a team wearing the colours of Blackrock.

It was with good reason too. The performance of the Pumas went some way to reducing the sense of Irish shame at losing to them.

Those Irish supporters amongst the estimated 30,000 crowd who didn't tear up their tickets were handsomely rewarded and it was fitting that the loudest individual ovation was reserved for the diminutive scrum-half Agustin Pichot.

The live wire little Puma unveiled his full repertoire of tricks, clearing the ball away swiftly, seizing up options in a second and invariably taking the right one, while sniping away and deftly offloading the ball in a variety of ways.

His was a virtuoso performance, while others such as feisty and elusive left-winger Diego Albanese, the inventive and classy Lisandro Arbizu, and their ubiquitous, ball-carrying hooker Mario Ledesma left lasting imprints on the game.

According to their coach Alex Wyllie, an inferiority complex borne out of nine defeats in their first 10 World Cup games has gradually given way to an infusion of confidence that has led to wins over Samoa, Japan and Ireland.

While expressing his pride at his Pumas' performance, Wyllie left the door very much ajar for future international coaching roles, be they a renewal of his contract with Argentina or throwing in his hand with Ireland.

Ironically, the Argentineans' major let-down was Gonzalo Quesada, who may have the goal-kicking boots of Hugo Porta but otherwise isn't fit to lace them. After Christophe Lamaison had kicked France into an early lead, it was Quesada's knock-on and subsequent missed touch which put the Pumas on the back foot.

The abrasive Richard Dourthe, who showed more invention than on all previous visits to Lansdowne Road, took the ball up the middle and the supporting Christophe Juillet cleverly took out three men with a dummy before floating a long pass for Xavier Garbajosa to score. Not unexpectedly, Garbajosa gave France much more of a cutting edge at full back than the ineffectual Ugo Mola had done in the pool stages. Likewise, the restored Fabien Galthie also gave France much more direction and decisive link play.

A non-existent forward pass hauled back one such link-up with his back row, in which Olivier Magne made acres of early inroads. It was Galthie's scintillating break up the touch-line onto a Philippe Bernart-Salles pass which launched the pitch-length move for France's second try, after the magnificent Abdelatif Benazzi had made the most of a charged down 22 restart.

Garbajosa carried on the move from Magne's superb pass, and the full-back's switch with Bernart-Salles saw the winger gallop in diagonally under the posts.

At 17-0, it seemed the game was over for the Pumas. Their limited line-out could only provide slow or mauled ball from the middle of the line, unlike the French who could launch their backs off Magne's quick off the top deflections at the tail.

However, gaining a territorial foothold and then opting for set-pieces close-in, intense Argentinian pressure told when Pichot scored off Gonzalo Longo's pickup on the blindside. A Quesada penalty inched them closer, but the out-half's laboured dummy and transfer to Arbizu off the restart saw Emile N'tamack extend himself to first charge down the centre's kick and then win the race to score. Lamaison and Quesada exchanged further penalties before the Pumas earned the perfect halftime fillip following a quick tap by Albanese. Ledesma took the ball on and from Quesada's skip pass Arbizu rounded N'tamack's poor tackle to score. The second period was enthralling end-to-end stuff. After Lamaison had made it 30-20, the Pumas really began to take a wilting France on up front with a superb close-in drive through several phases which ended with Quesada landing another penalty.

The Puma defence held out brilliantly, Pichot stealing the ball outrageously and then Albanese almost making it in the corner. The crowd roared them on as Pichot's quick tap and a couple of mesmerising offloads launched the underdogs once more; their confidence rising by the minute as substitute out-half Felipe Contepomi made it 30-26.

However, a Lamaison penalty steadied France, and Magne made another dart up the line, which was recycled and moved across field for Garbajosa's reverse pass to send Bernart-Salles scampering around the posts once more.

The Pumas had been to the well once too often and they'd scarcely a drop of energy left as Garbajosa beat Dominici to Dourthe's grubber, giving France a flattering victory margin.

After five games in 24 days (10 had played in all) and then three in eight days, Argentina were almost out on their feet and their lap of honour was conducted at walking pace. It was, however, well-deserved and heartily received.