Argentina def Wales, quarter final result, score, Michael Cheika, video, highlights

Argentina head coach Michael Cheika played down his half-time team talk after his Pumas side twice came from behind to stun Wales in the quarter-finals of the Rugby World Cup on Saturday.

Wales led 10-0 after the first quarter and led 17-12 with 12 minutes remaining, but Argentina finished strongly with two tries to win 29-17 and claim a semi-final on the week next against Ireland or New Zealand.

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Argentina looked disjointed in the opening half hour, appearing unable to break down the Welsh defense and slow to reorganize their own.

But two late first-half penalties from winger Emiliano Boffelli kept them in the game at the break and Cheika insisted there was little he needed to change in the dressing room.

“In the first half we made two or three mistakes which cost us dearly, the first was the try,” said the Australian, who took his country to the World Cup final in 2015.

“And then Wales were tactically very intelligent. They played with width, which we didn’t expect.

“It took us two or three times to reorganize ourselves.

“From there we were good defensively, apart from the mistake that led to their try in the second half.”

Cheika insisted he was not worried, even during the first half hour when Wales appeared to be in control of the game.

“I have experience in these types of matches, 10-0 is a lot but the momentum is what is important,” Cheika added.

“When you get positive momentum, you can score points quickly and we were still in the game.”

Argentina have become a completely different proposition to the team that so meekly surrendered 27-10 to 14-man England in their opening World Cup group match.

But Cheika insisted it was simply part of the building process. “We knew the first match would be a bit difficult and we learned a lot because there were a lot of new players in the World Cup,” he said.

“I don’t think there has been 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 their main qualities in this match. “We’re starting to have a little flow, but this team has always had a lot of fight,” he said.

“Even in that England game we showed a lot of fight, but we just didn’t handle the occasion very well.”

As for whether Argentina can go all the way, Cheika admitted she would not be favorite in the semi-finals in Paris.

We’re just excited to go to Paris, we haven’t had a taste of it yet at this World Cup,” he said.

“We will watch the game tonight and I know we will not be favorites but we will do our best.”

– ‘Not perfect’ –

Argentina captain Julian Montoya paid tribute to the strength of character of his team.

“I think it comes from our personality and the way we train,” Montoya said.

“Nothing has been too easy for us in recent years.

“We trust each other. We are a very close-knit group. Montoya, however, acknowledged that it hadn’t been a perfect performance. “We know it’s not going to be perfect: life isn’t perfect,” the hooker said. “It’s how you enjoy the moment and fight for each other. That’s rugby.

Argentina will now remain in the tournament until the end, even if they lose their semi-final against Ireland or New Zealand, with a third place play-off awaiting those teams who fail to qualify for the final .

“Two more weeks with this team. I never want this to end. »: Getty Images

– Wales street of lost chances –

Wales coach Warren Gatland was left bemoaning his side’s lack of discipline after losing 29-17 in their World Cup quarter-final to Argentina in Marseille on Saturday.

Emiliano Boffelli’s 19 points from the start, combined with tries from Joel Sclavi and Nicolas Sanchez, were enough to see Los Pumas overtake a Welsh side for whom Dan Biggar and Tomos Williams scored tries.

Biggar, playing his 112th and final Test, added seven points with the boot before coming off with five minutes remaining.

“They’re a tough team to put down and they held on and fought hard,” Gatland said of Argentina, who qualified for the quarter-finals as runners-up in Pool D behind England and who will now face Ireland or New Zealand. in the semi-final.

“It was an incredibly tough test match that could have gone either way. We had chances to win the match. Gatland added: “We talked about the importance of discipline and that kept them in the game and the scoreboard kept going.

“If you don’t take your chances and keep the scoreboard rolling, they’ll come after you.

“They defended well. I thought they were a bit on their feet before halftime, but a few penalties allowed them to get back into the game. For me, it was a bit disappointing, these few light penalties.

“We went into the match with a lot of confidence… it’s not possible, but that’s sport. That’s the way test match rugby goes. – The one that got away – Gatland said that the team was “very gutted”, saying it was “a missed opportunity” to advance to the final four.

“This is the one that got away from us. You have to learn from it,” said the Kiwi, who is in his second spell as Wales coach after a highly successful first spell from 2007 to 2019.

“We have a game against the Barbarians (on November 4) and then we will focus on the Six Nations, just making sure we don’t go backwards.” Co-captain Jac Morgan described the result as “devastating”.

“We knew they would be a physical team, but discipline and a few mistakes let us down,” the flanker said.

“We let them get into our half and they took advantage of it. We gave them more possession and they took points away from it.

Dewi Lake, the other co-captain, added: “We are gutted as a group to have missed the final four, all the work we have put in over the last four months to get here.

“At the start of the campaign, not many people thought we were going to make it out of the group and we went into this game as favourites.

“All the credit goes to Argentina. They left it all out there, just like us, but our accuracy let us down a bit. Gatland took over as coach for the second time when Welsh rugby was in disarray, with unrest between the union and regional clubs, as well as a series of off-field problems.

But he transformed a losing side into one that won all four of their Pool C matches and Gatland insisted that was a positive takeaway from the team’s French adventure.

“They should hold their heads high, they should be proud of what they have done,” he said of the Welsh players.