Argentina end with bonus-point win

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Argentina finished their World Cup campaign on a high with a 47-17 victory over the USA in Kumagaya on Wednesday. DYLAN JACK reports.

The win ensures that Argentina will finish third in Pool C, which secures their place in the 2023 World Cup in France. It provided something of a sweetener for what has been an otherwise disappointing campaign from the Argentinians, as they failed to progress to the playoffs for the first time since 2003.

The match will also be specially remembered as Juan Manuel Leguizamon’s last in the Los Pumas jersey. Leguizamon was the last remaining member in the squad from the team that finished third at the 2007 World Cup.

For the USA, it was yet another game where they had their opportunities, but just lacked the quality and composure to finish when it mattered. Gary Gold’s team finish their campaign against Tonga on Sunday. That will present them with a chance to win just their fourth World Cup game ever.

It took nearly 20 minutes for either of the teams to get points on the board, with both Argentina and the USA enjoying a fair share of opportunities. However, Argentina capitalised best, scoring two tries in quick succession to leave the Americans chasing the game.

A first-half brace from fullback Joaquin Tuculet and two quickfire tries from centre Juan Cruz Manilla were enough to seal the bonus point for Argentina, with Nicolas Sanchez and Jeronimo de la Fuente also scoring a try each. Sanchez enjoyed a return to form after being left out of the loss to England and was involved in everything positive Argentina did on attack.

The USA were able to grab a try in each half through captain Blaine Scully and inside centre Paul Lasike. Their set-piece struggles, particularly at the lineout, prevented them from further capitalising on their chances. They finished the game in style as Scully went over after the hooter to add a bit of respect to the scoreline.

Argentina – Tries: Nicolas Sanchez, Joaquin Tuculet (2), Juan Cruz Manilla (2), Jeronimo de la Fuente, Gonzalo Martin Bertranou. Conversions: Sanchez (6).
USA – Tries: Blaine Scully (2), Paul Lasike. Conversion: AJ MacGinty.

Argentina – 15 Joaquin Tuculet, 14 Bautista Delguy, 13 Juan Cruz Manilla, 12 Jeronimo de la Fuente, 11 Santiago Carreras, 10 Nicolas Sanchez, 9 Felipe Ezcurra, 8 Rodrigo Bruni, 7 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Matias Alemanno, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Santiago Medrano, 2 Julian Montoya, 1 Nahuel Tetaz Chapparo.
Subs: 16 Agustin Creevy, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Enrique Pieretto Heiland, 19 Marcos Kremer, 20 Tomas Lezana, 21 Gonzalo Martin Bertranou, 22 Benjamin Urdapilleta, 23 Matias Moroni.

USA – 15 Mike Te’o, 14 Blaine Scully (c), 13 Bruce Campbell, 12 Paul Lasike, 11 Marcel Brache, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Ruben de Haas, 8 Cam Dolan, 7 Hanco Germishuys, 6 Tony Lamborn, 5 Greg Peterson, 4 Nate Brakeley, 3 Titi Lamositele, 2 Joe Taufete’e, 1 Eric Fry.
Subs: 16 Dylan Fawsitt, 17 Olive Kilifi, 18 Paul Mullen, 19 Ben Landry, 20 Ben Pinkelman, 21 Nate Augspurger, 22 Will Hooley, 23 Martin Iosefo.

Photo: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

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Dylan Jack