Argentina scrap their way to Rugby World Cup semi-finals as Wales come up short

Louis Rees-Zammit leapt for the corner and came down with an anguished cry. A scrappy contest always looked likely to be a game of inches – and the Wales wing had come up agonisingly short.

By the end, there were bodies strewn all around the Stade Velodrome, the damage of a demolition derby all too clear to see. Argentina won’t remotely care. Their win was made secure at the death, replacement fly half Nicolas Sanchez plucking an intercept score from opposite number Sam Costelow to take Argentina out of sight. Ireland or New Zealand await in the World Cup semi-finals – the challenge is mighty but Los Pumas live to fight another day; Wales are going home.

Earlier in the day, the travelling Welsh fans had brought Marseille’s Vieux Port to a standstill with a most harmonious warbling of “Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau”; but there was little mellifluous about a discordant contest that most would have expected from two sides with such obvious flaws. When eyes were not turned to the sky, they were often focused on the floor as the two sides took chunks out of one another in a brutal battle on the gain line.

Few would have anticipated a match befitting this last eight occasion, two pragmatic coaches and inconsistent teams predictably working off bits and pieces. This was the first World Cup quarter-final to feature sides ranked outside of the world’s top five since the introduction of the rankings in 2003, and the first 15 minutes only gave an already odd encounter a wackier tone.

A harum-scarum opening saw the numbers drop repeatedly from the back of Welsh shirts as they were flung around through contact, peeling away like paint from improper plaster, before referee Jaco Peyper suffered a calf injury, necessitating English assistant Karl Dickson to rid himself of his flag and take on duties with a whistle.

Dickson arrived in the aftermath of Wales’s first try, a rare thing of lovely construct. From a set-piece near the halfway line, a nifty move allowed initial inroads and left George North lurking out the back. The centre, becoming the first Welshman to play in four World Cup quarter-finals, cut a gorgeous line on Biggar’s inside before offloading off the deck to Gareth Davies, who returned to his half-back partner to complete the job under the posts.

The fly half seemed to be enjoying the contest, chest puffed out despite a sore pectoral muscle, a couple of trademark bits of gamesmanship complementing his calm and control from the No 10 channel. Wales’s exit from this tournament will be his international farewell – Biggar was desperate to make sure there were at least two more Tests to come. He extended his side’s advantage from the tee.

Having paired two traditional sevens in their back row, Wales had indicated an intention to make the breakdown messy. Scavengers Jac Morgan and Tommy Reffell roamed the savannah, picking at the carrion left by the tougher tacklers in front of them, drawing a series of breakdown penalties; the South American fans greeted unpopular replacement referee Dickson with horrisonant howls.

Only Wales’ misfires were keeping Michael Cheika’s men in the game. Three lineouts went awry deep in Argentine territory, while Biggar erred with his next penalty attempt. Emiliano Boffelli, who had earlier missed his first kickable opportunity, got Argentina on the board after advancements were made via a scrum penalty.

The half ended in a massed melee, as had appeared inevitable given the squabbling both on and off the pitch. Josh Adams was perhaps fortunate that his cheap shot on Tomas Cubelli which sparked the scrap was deemed not to merit a yellow card; the penalty did at least allow Boffelli to narrow Argentina’s deficit to four points.

Three minutes after the restart, the wing added three more, the gap suddenly down to a single point. The Edinburgh man had found his range – over went another from all of 55 metres.

Wales needed to sharpen up, and replacement scrum half Tomos Williams duly injected extra speed of service off the bench; Argentina bit on two forward carriers waiting for a pass, allowing Williams an open alleyway adjacent to the ruck. Through he went in an instant, with Biggar accepting another simple conversion.

Another flashpoint soon arrived. Guido Petti charged into a ruck, looking to make a legal clearout but inadvertently struck a falling Nick Tompkins in the head. Dickson, despite Welsh cries, stuck to his guns in seeing it as accidental, ruling it to not even be worth a penalty.

It proved a crucial call. Two minutes later, after a series of opportunities on the Welsh line, the burly Joel Sclavi, who had arrived on the loosehead side only moments earlier, biffed his way over from a metre. Boffelli’s conversion edged Argentina back in front by two points.

There was to be one last chance for Wales, a canter up the left led by Rio Dyer, bursting free of Argentine clutches. Rees-Zammit, already nursing a shoulder injury, dived for glory, his plant of the ball half a foot shy of the line. Sanchez, the veteran fly half, inserted the dagger into the wounded Welsh, beetling beneath the posts. A final penalty made totally certain as the Welsh that could still stand sank to their knees, their World Cup dream over.