Argentina have secured their place in the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals as they subdued Tonga’s physicality and flair, to claim a 45-16 bonus-point victory in Leicester on Monday.
The win lifts the Pumas above Tonga to second place in Pool C, with the Pacific Islanders yet to play group leaders and defending champions, New Zealand, while Argentina need only beat Namibia to seal their passage to the last eight.
Argentina fly half, Nicolas Sanchez, proved the difference, tormenting Tonga with the boot and ball in hand, weighing in with 25 points from four penalties, four conversions and one of the Pumas’ five tries.
Also, Ireland have secured their place in the finals, but were far from convincing in their first real test of the competition, squeezing past Italy 16-9 to move on to a group decider against France.
After trading early penalties, Keith Earls was slickly put through to become Ireland’s record World Cup try scorer, but the Six Nations Champions were sloppy throughout the half and Tommaso Allan’s boot kept the tireless Italians within four points at the break.
