Pumas triumph in Cake Tin thriller
25 Sep 2011
Argentina scored a late try to beat Scotland 13-12 in Wellington and take a big step towards the quarter-finals.
The Pumas and Scots now both have 10 log points after three games, with the former set to play Georgia in their last pool fixture and the latter up against England. Scotland, in all likelihood, will have to beat the Poms and score four tries to stand any chance of progressing further.
This was an ordinary match, but it had a thrilling finish.
When replacement flyhalf Dan Parks slotted a drop kick to make it 12-6 with eight minutes to go it forced Argentina, who had rarely sent the ball past No 12, to play an expansive game in search of a try. Replacement wing Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino got possession on the right-hand touchline, brushed off the tackle of Chris Paterson and cut back inside to score. Contepomi, who’d had an average night with the boot, nailed the pressure conversion.
Scotland, though, had a glorious chance to win the game in the final couple of minutes when they kicked a penalty into the corner, won the 5m lineout and used their forwards to set up Parks for the drop goal. But pressure from Contepomi forced his opponent to kick with his left foot and he missed the target.
Scotland had deservedly led 6-3 at half-time thanks to penalties from Paterson and Ruaridh Jackson, while Contepomi kicked one from in front. The Scots had 61% of the possession in the first 40 and were regularly able to get over the advantage line, while the Pumas offered nothing on attack.
Scotland crucially achieved parity at scrum time, with Argentina losing two key forwards – No 8 Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe (who injured his knee in the 20th minute before hobbling off in the 30th) and loosehead prop Rodrigo Roncero (who appeared to pull a groin muscle just before the break).
The Scots came close to scoring early in the second half when Max Evans regathered his kick, but Rory Lawson opted to dart around the blindside of the subsequent ruck instead of offloading to Jim Hamilton on his outside, and the ball was turned over.
With half an hour to go, the rain came pelting down and the game became tighter.
Contepomi missed a penalty goal at the start of the final quarter, but kicked one soon after to level the scores. Jackson then regained the lead with a 30m drop goal, before Contepomi hit the right-hand upright with his penalty attempt.
Then came Parks’ drop goal, which set up a dramatic final 10 minutes in which Argentina dug deep to pull off a famous win.
By Simon Borchardt
149 Comments
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25 Sep 2011, 13:42 pm
This is what we like to see. A match that is in the balance right down to the last move of the game. Scotland will rue Parks being so close to the goalline when he attempted his drop. It is this kind of experience that separates the champion teams from the rest.
25 Sep 2011, 13:47 pm
Match was pure drama, top contest.
Just wondering, re. the Namibia match what possessed PDV to start Bakkies Botha? surely he didn’t need to be risked. Pure idiocy, no?
25 Sep 2011, 13:55 pm
@Big Hit(Big Hit)-102:
The only basis for Botha starting would’ve been to get him match time thinking that Samoa would definitely be too physical. Whether it was necessary to give him the match time after Fiji is another matter.
25 Sep 2011, 14:32 pm
@Big Hit(Big Hit)-102: I said the exact thing the minute the team was announced to play Fiji… and then Namibia.
Pure dof-ness.
25 Sep 2011, 14:41 pm
Wayne Barnes is surely the kakkest ref at the WC.
25 Sep 2011, 14:46 pm
The thing is the Boks still have a lock cris with Bakkies injured again. For how long we don’t know. And Vic hopefully coming back for the Samoa game.
But the biggest joke of all is Johan “sick note” Muller pullung up lame in training. Just as he did on the away leg of the 3N. What a waste in giving that oke a Bok jersey.
25 Sep 2011, 14:47 pm
@I am a stormer(I am a stormer)-106:
cris???
crisis
25 Sep 2011, 14:52 pm
@>^..^< katman(katman)-105:
??
He was the best in 2007
25 Sep 2011, 15:00 pm
@>^..^< katman(katman)-105:
There’s actually a fair bit of competition even with the low volume of participants.
25 Sep 2011, 15:05 pm
@Hurricane(Hurricane)-108: Not the best, but he wasn’t the worst either in 2007. No major fckups then. Now he’s just toilet.
@Tartan(Tartan)-109: True. But the way he blew this game was just incompetent and unprofessional. The Argies won despite him. And how many seriously injured players must he ignore while play just about ploughs right through them? And he sounds and looks like a school librarian.
25 Sep 2011, 15:21 pm
@>^..^< katman(katman)-110:
Ja, the injured players being ignored routine is beginning to grate.
It’s all very well the ref deciding that when a player is down he’s just wasting time or trying to disturb the other team’s rhythm at set pieces, but today’s match (and a few others in the last 24hrs) have seen bodies littering the field and players throwing the ball over and around them.
As for Argentina winning despite Barnes, I think that would have applied to either side winning…
25 Sep 2011, 15:24 pm
@>^..^< katman(katman)-110: couldn’t agree more, this guy is an absolute doos. I started watching and after 10 minutes turned off the telly. It is so patently obvious that he is intent on blowing an “down to the wire match”. Turned on again in the last 5 minutes and actually could believe it. With 2 minutes to go he blew arg for going off their feet at the ruck. then after the 80mins were up I watched the scots “control” the ball for 3 mins all the time going off their feet, entering from the side, hanging onto the ball on the ground yet nothing from wayne “d i c k h e a d” barnes. This man is clearly incompetent and his bias towards NH teams is so clear to see.
25 Sep 2011, 15:31 pm
Can anybody out there give me the web adresses of some kiwi and oz rugby sites i can blog on.
25 Sep 2011, 15:58 pm
@blueboy(blueboy)-113:
Why the hell would you want to do that???
25 Sep 2011, 16:38 pm
@Bod(bod)-114: Maybe he wants to be a Poppa on them.
25 Sep 2011, 16:50 pm
Both Flip vd Merwe and Gerhard Mostert are already on standby. One of them will replace Bakkies if he fails a fitness test.
25 Sep 2011, 16:52 pm
Nz won… yipie ka yah! France with some of their 2nd stringers did very well in the opening 20 min.
In saying that, it was obvious that they didn’t mind losing and lacked intensity in the 2nd half.
This Nz team don’t look invincible, let’s wait for the knockouts and see if pressure will get to them.
25 Sep 2011, 16:58 pm
IRB should consider changing the WC format, too many teams that can’t compete with tier 1 nations. Watching russia, japan and namibia get demolished is a dull and not very entertaining. Bring on the knockouts!
25 Sep 2011, 17:01 pm
My rugby highlight of the weekend was seeing John mitchell losing himself, he’s head looked like a pimple ready to explode
25 Sep 2011, 17:17 pm
As a Scotsman im sad we may not be reaching the quarter finals for the first time, but on the basis of the games we dont deserve to. To be kept tryless by Georgia is simply inexcuseable! We have 1 bonus point so it looks likewe are going out regardless. contepomi is missing too many kicks for the Argies technically they should be top of the pool as they are a better side than England as well in my opinion!
25 Sep 2011, 17:18 pm
@NoRugbyGuru_0_(RugbyGuru_0_)-118: Perhaps the IRB should stop giving giving the minnows less preparation time forcing them into playing B teams.
@Tartan(Tartan)-111: that’s not down to Barnes, that’s down to Paddy O’Brien’s directives, no doubt reacting to Australian accusations that Ireland were using injuries as a tactic to slow down play.
I agree it’s ruthless and play has to stop but more importantly Paddy O’Brien needs to be removed, he bends to every whim of the NZ and Oz.
@JamesNkomo(JamesNkomo)-112: biased towards NH teams when the penalty count was 9-12 against Scotland?
25 Sep 2011, 17:32 pm
@Big Hit(Big Hit)-121: to me it is not what he gives, it is what he misses or to be correct, “chooses” to miss. This is the same guy who gave Aus a penalty in the final 2010 Tri Nations game between SA and Aus that won them the game. Whilst he call may or may not have been correct the point is that he allowed the very same play over and over again when SA played Wales. Wayne Barnes is poor to say the least. He battles to keep up with play literally decides who he wants to give the call to. This way he keeps the game in the balance and afterwards everyone says wow what a tight game.
25 Sep 2011, 17:38 pm
@JamesNkomo(JamesNkomo)-122: the neutral Foxsports panel (or was it the NZ commentary team?) thought it was the best reffing performance of the tournament. Right or wrong I think Barnes calls it as he sees it, but you have your opinion and that’s fair enough.
25 Sep 2011, 17:44 pm
@JamesNkomo(JamesNkomo)-122: @Big Hit(Big Hit)-123:
I think Barnes was equally poor to both sides. In my opinion, Contepomi was offside at the final drop kick attempt.
The standard of reffing is very poor in general, particularly from the NH refs who have no grasp on the tackler must release rule.
And I agree wholeheartedly with Big Hit – all the grief around reffing comes from O’Brien’s ineptitude. He should be removed as soon as possible. (Drawing and quartering him would be an added bonus)
25 Sep 2011, 17:46 pm
Where’d that weekend go????
25 Sep 2011, 17:50 pm
@Big Hit(Big Hit)-123: “neutral” lol. I doubt it. Just check the headline on this page – “Cake Tin Thriller”. So we all blow smoke up the IRB’s arse becasue it was such a great close game.
However, as I said, I never watched the game. saw him reffing and thought “nope, got better things to do”. Maybe he was just amazing in between the first 10 and the last 5. In those last three minutes that the scots had the ball I saw at least 5 penalties that he missed – diving off their feet at the ruck and side entry being the most common. the point is imagine they had broken the defence and scored. The win would have been down to the ref and not the players which is bollocks. I mean surely staying on your feet at a ruck is pretty simple to blow let alone side entry. My problem with WB is the same as my problem with Kaplan – they think that their role on the park is to ensure we have a good tight game so they keep the score close by constantly changing who they favour when it comes to a 50/50 call. Their role should be to blow to the rules. And yes, I know there are some grey areas but too many refs are missing infringments that are actually straight forward black and white.
25 Sep 2011, 17:51 pm
Now what is that hack, Noakes doing on this master plan? Man he is out of his depth trying to mix it with the big men.
25 Sep 2011, 17:52 pm
He wasn’t amazing, it’s irritating to see a ref who looks out of his depth.
25 Sep 2011, 18:00 pm
@Hooker22(Hooker22)-124: too true. You just have to wonder wtf the IRB’s brains are. If you ask polled rugby supporters on what they felt was the biggest problem in rugby today I am damn sure a huge majority would say the reffing. And then the IRB appoint Paddy O’ Brainless as the manager of refs. They keep changing the rules to make the game more attractive and glamorous but they do nothing to fix the reffing problems. the blantant bias shown by some refs is nothing short of disgusting – something O’ Brainless was not to shy on in his heyday.
Maybe they need to introduce a new card say Green which is only 5 minutes off the field. The ref can then use this early in the game and set the tone for the play. leave your feet at the ruck twice in succession, green card. Offside, green card, not through the gate green card. this will quickly stop the guys from playing negative rugby
25 Sep 2011, 18:05 pm
@Hooker22(Hooker22)-124: Contepomi was onside, they analysed it with a line after the game, it was literally perfectly timed.
I agree with you that the NH refs don’t enforce the tackler-release rule as they should but again that’s down to O’Brien not ensuring uniformity.
25 Sep 2011, 18:11 pm
Some of the refs are ridiculous, some of them want to steal the show by swallowing their whistles. I have it on good authority the reason Lawrence didn’t go to WC is because of show boating…
25 Sep 2011, 18:15 pm
@JamesNkomo(JamesNkomo)-129:
Technically, if you read the rules, the only players who should be off their feet at a ruck are the tackled and the tacklers or a player who has secured a lose ball on the ground. Even then the tackler must roll away or get to his feet. In other words, the ruck should resemble an informal scrum rather than the pile of bodies we’re seeing. I frequently wonder, on what basis the refs decide to overlook this fact.
25 Sep 2011, 18:20 pm
@Big Hit(Big Hit)-130:
It’s not about uniformity, per se, it’s about blowing the infringement. That’s one area where the ref doesn’t, or shouldn’t, have any discretion.
25 Sep 2011, 18:41 pm
The biggest disappointment for me in this world is Fiji. I did not expect them to win against major rugby playing countries like the Boks and The Welsh but surely was hoping that they would be competitive and shock some countries as they nearly did to the in 1997. They seemed to be unfit this time around if you compare to the 1997 performances. They seemed to have some players missing from 1997, or are they on pension?
25 Sep 2011, 18:49 pm
@Peter Mkata(Peter Mkata)-134:
Surely you meant 2007? Their best player, Nicky Little is now 34, and only a bench player. I reckoned he was about the best 10 at the last WC, along with Hernandez.
25 Sep 2011, 18:55 pm
@Peter Mkata(Peter Mkata)-134: They are likely staying in NZ or Aus waiting to gain citizenship before they play 2 games for the national team and disappear into obscurity
25 Sep 2011, 19:34 pm
@David(David)-135:
Correct, just read somewhere on this site that some of their players (Fiji) playing in Europe were not released by their clubs. Surely that cannot be right. World cup is the event in a rugby calenda. Are there no IRB regulation that forces national representatives to be released when representing your country especially during the world as they do in football? If not, IRB is a toothless dog, they are depriving poor countries that are not well off in terms of professinal leagues. That must be rectified in the future.
25 Sep 2011, 20:13 pm
What a game by Contepomi! He should be in the form XV for the week?
25 Sep 2011, 20:17 pm
@Peter Mkata(Peter Mkata)-137:
I saw that, as well, and couldn’t understand it. Clubs are forced to enforce a rest period for players which can affect international callups outside the NH international season, but that’s well passed. It could be that the clubs have contracts with foreign players that prevent them from risking injury through international games.
25 Sep 2011, 20:35 pm
@David(David)-139: How about players being released by their clubs and then not making the final squad. Think BJ Botha for instance. It must agitate the club immensely?
25 Sep 2011, 20:41 pm
@Peter Mkata(Peter Mkata)-137: There were all released,if they wanted to go, some were offered more money to stay at the club, which they could take, and some did
25 Sep 2011, 21:51 pm
I hope the pumas injuries are not serious. Without Fernandes Lobbe they are lost. He has been my favourite no.8 of the tournament. And Roncero is their front row rock. They need these two if they’re to progress.
25 Sep 2011, 23:33 pm
@http://www.wineandmore.co.za(www.wineandmore.co.za)-138: He wasnt really that good, maybe stood out against the Jocks, but to say he was the form player etc, nup, Nonu at 12 for the AB’s was superb, not because I’m an AB fan, but just think he broke the defensive lines, set up some big plays, and was everywhere throughout the match. Tindall had a better game for England too.
25 Sep 2011, 23:59 pm
@Big Hit(Big Hit)-123: BH – most of the time this RWC, Barnes has got it right – all he really misses is the odd forward pass – which in context – he should be getting better support from the touch judges.
26 Sep 2011, 00:48 am
@Big Hit(Big Hit)-123:
Barnes does call it as he sees it, as should all refs. Nothing special there.
But he has come a long way since being so green in the 2007 RWC.
26 Sep 2011, 00:50 am
@KiaKahaNZ(KiaKahaNZ)-143: nonu is untouchable at the moment, breaks the line at will & his passes are well considered & executed…
contempomi had a captain’s match today, leading from the front in both attack & defence, putting his already crocked body on the line. courageous performance from him.
26 Sep 2011, 01:12 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-146: Carrying a rib injury – so yep, very courageous, and he didn’t hold back in his defense work too. He was instrumental in forcing the Scot to move to his left in the failed droppie – clever thinking that.
26 Sep 2011, 16:17 pm
Iron ribs kept his team in the hunt for sure. Truth be told, both sides played terrible rugby.
26 Sep 2011, 23:34 pm
Now it’s a straight shoot-out for one quarter-final slot between the slave traders.
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