Argentina coach Michael Cheika has curtailed his half-time team talk after his Pumas side’s shocking comeback win over Wales in the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals on Saturday.
Wales led 10-0 after the first quarter and went ahead 17-12 with 12 minutes remaining, but Argentina finished strongly with a 29-17 win and will advance to the semi-finals next week to face either Ireland or New Zealand.
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Argentina looked disorganised for the first 30 minutes, unable to break down the Welsh defence and slow to regroup.
But winger Emiliano Boffelli converted two penalties late in the first half to keep his side in the game until the break, and Cheika insisted there was little to change in the dressing room.
“We had two or three mistakes in the first half that cost us dearly, one of which was a try,” said the Australian, who led his country to the 2015 World Cup final.
“And Wales were very intelligent tactically. They played with width, which we didn’t expect.
“It took me two or three times to reorganize.
“From then on we played well in defence, apart from the mistake that led to the opponent’s try in the second half.”
Sheikha insisted he had no worries even when Wales dominated the first 30 minutes.
“I have experience in these types of games. 10-0 is a big win, but it’s all about momentum,” Cheika added.
“When we have positive momentum, we can score quickly and we’ve always been in the game.”
Argentina looked a far cry from the team that was crushed 27-10 by a 14-man England team in their first World Cup group match.
But Cheika insisted it was just part of the build-up. “We knew the first game would be a bit tough and there were a lot of World Cup rookies there so we learned a lot,” he said.
“I don’t think there was a radical turnaround. We just built on what we learned and tried to be a little better in the next game.”
Cheika said his team showed one of the most important qualities in the game. “We started to get a little bit of flow, but one thing this team always has is a lot of struggle,” he said.
“In the game against England we showed a lot of fighting spirit, but we didn’t handle the situation well.”
Asked whether Argentina could go all the way, Seika admitted they were not the favourites to reach the semi-finals in Paris.
“We are so happy to be going to Paris, we haven’t had a taste of it yet at this World Cup,” he said.
“We’ll watch the game tonight and we know we’re not the favorites, but we’ll give it our all.”
– ‘It’s not perfect’ –
Argentina captain Julian Montoya praised his team’s tough character.
“I think it comes from our character and how we train,” Montoya said.
“Nothing has been easy for us over the past few years.
“We trust each other. We’re a very tight group.” But Montoya admits it wasn’t a perfect performance. “We know it’s not going to be perfect. Life isn’t perfect,” the prostitute said. “It’s about embracing the moment and fighting for each other. That’s what rugby is all about.”
Argentina will still be competing until the end of the tournament even if they lose to Ireland or New Zealand in the semifinals, while the teams that fail to make it to the finals will face the third-place playoff.
“Two more weeks with this team. I don’t want this to end.”
– Wales regret wasted opportunity –
Wales manager Warren Gatland lamented his team’s disorganisation following their 29-17 defeat to Argentina in the World Cup quarter-finals in Marseille on Saturday.
Emiliano Boffelli scored 19 points from a kicking tee, while tries from Joel Sklavie and Nicolas Sanchez were enough to see Los Pumas beat Wales, with Dan Biggar and Tomos Williams scoring tries.
Playing in his 112th and final Test match, Bigger came on as a substitute with five minutes remaining and added seven points.
“They are a tough team to beat and they have been very resilient,” Gatland said of Argentina. Argentina finished runners-up behind England in Group D and have reached the quarter-finals, where they will now face either Ireland or New Zealand in the semi-finals.
“It was an incredibly tough Test match that could have gone either way. We had chances to win the game,” Gatland added. “We talked about how important discipline was and that kept them in the game and the scoreboard kept moving.
“If you don’t take your chances and keep moving the scoreboard, your opponent will attack you.
“They defended well. I thought they were a bit weak before half-time, but they got back into the game thanks to a couple of penalties. I was a bit disappointed with those two soft penalties.
“We went into the game with a lot of confidence… it’s not going to happen, but that’s sport. That’s how Test match rugby works.” – one missing word – Gatland said the team were “all pretty disheartened” and had “missed their chance” to reach the last four.
“It got away from us. You have to learn from it,” said the Kiwi, who is in his second spell as Wales manager after a hugely successful first term from 2007-19.
“We play the Barbarians on November 4 and then we’ll focus on the Six Nations. We’ll just make sure we don’t go backwards,” said co-captain Jack Morgan, who called the result “devastating”.
“We knew they were a physically strong team but the lack of discipline and a few mistakes let us down,” the flanker said.
“We let them come into our half and they took advantage of it. We let them have more possession and they got points out of it.
“It’s a huge disappointment for the whole team to have failed to make it to the final four,” added co-captain Dewi Lake. “We’ve worked hard for the last four months to get to this point and unfortunately we failed.”
“When we started the campaign, many people didn’t think we would be eliminated from the group and we came out as the favorites to win this match.
“All credit to Argentina. They left everything to chance as did we but our accuracy let us down a little bit.” Gatland takes charge for the second time at a time of turmoil in Welsh rugby, with problems off the pitch and turmoil between the Union and local clubs.
But he turned a losing team into one that won all of its Pool C matches, and Gotland insisted that was a positive outcome from the team’s French adventure.
“They should hold their heads up and be proud of what they did,” he said of the Welsh players.
