Argentina produce a spirited second-half performance to book a spot in the World Cup Semi-Finals after beating Wales 29-17 this afternoon in Marseille.

10-0 down on the brink of half-time, Argentina chipped away at Wales lead through the boot of Emiliano Boffelli, before scoring tries through Ausgustin Creevy and Nicolas Sanchez to send Wales packing. Argentina book their spot in a World Cup Semi-Final, where they will face either Ireland or New Zealand 

Fighting for a spot in the Semi-Finals, this game got off to a cagey start as both teams put boot to ball to try and cath their opponent off guard. Argentina were undoubtedly winning the kicking battle, their chase far superior, but they were unable to create any chances after multiple phases. Wales, as has been common in this tournament, were happy to bed-in and make consecutive tackles. 

Wales broke the deadlock in the 14^th minute with a brilliant strike move off the base of their own scrum. With the scrum on the left side of the pitch on the halfway line, Wales put the ball through the hands of their backs and drove up the pitch, Josh Adams in particular making a strong carry. Liam Williams, nearing the touchline, cut back inside, and recycled the ball after he was brought to ground. From the next phase, Dan Biggar played an excellent inside pop pass to George North, who ran an excellent support line to break through the Argentinian defensive line. Tackled around the legs, as North landed on the ground he popped the ball back up to his scrum half Gareth Davies who broke the line again. Davies had Biggar to his left, and he drew the defender before offloading to Biggar. The fly-half crossed over for an easy score to give Wales the lead in this game. 

In the build-up to the try, Referee Jaco Peyper pulled up with a calf strain and he was unable to keep up with play. This led to a swapping of referees as Peyper could no longer continue. Englishman Karl Dickson took over control of the whistle and would referee the remaining 65 minutes of this game.

A penalty from Dan Biggar would bring his personal tally, and Wales tally, to 10 points as they held Argentina to nil. A missed penalty from the Welsh fly-half in the 28^th minute meant that the lead remained at 10 rather than 13 with little more than ten minutes until half-time. 

After a period of sustained pressure from Argentina, as they were finally growing into this game, Argentina would convert a penalty through Emiliano Boffelli from right in front of the posts to cut the deficit to just seven points in the 38^th minute. Wales’ Josh Adams then gave away a stupid penalty when the clock was in the red with a late shoulder hit on Santiago Carreras after he had knocked the ball on. A mini-brawl ensued, but Karl Dickson brought it back to Adams’ offence and awarded Los Pumas a penalty. With 44 minutes on the clock, Boffelli brought an end to the first half with a penalty kick that cut Wales’ lead to just four points.

It was an opening 40 minutes that Wales dominated, yet only had a four-point advantage to show for it due to a momentary lack of judgement. Argentina were lucky to only be four points down at half time, as they looked very poor in the first half, but ended strongly.

Argentina came out for the second half and looked to get going straight away. Within minutes they looked much more organized and disciplined than they had done in the first half. Four minutes into the second half, Argentina were awarded a penalty in front of the posts, 10 metre out from the Welsh try line. Argentina were smart and decided to take an easy 3 points to cut the Welsh lead to just a singular point. After leading 10-0 until the 38^th minute, within 6 minutes Argentina were all-but level.

Los Pumas relied on the boot of Emiliano Boffeli again in the 48^th minute as they won a penalty inside their own half, 55 metres away from the posts. Boffelli lined up the kick and slotted it from distance to put Argentina in the driving seat for the first time in this game. In the space of ten minutes, Argentina had chipped away at the 10-point deficit and had now taken the lead. 

Wales responded well to the pressure from Argentina as they looked to wrestle back control of this game. They would do just that, as substitute scrum-half Tomos Williams produced a sniping run from the base of the ruck deep inside the Argentinian 22’. Spotting a gap on the edge of the ruck, Williams sensed the opportunity and put on the afterburners to cross over for a score. A conversion from Dan Biggar would bring Wales’ lead up to five points, as they once again led on the score sheet.

Argentina were not disheartened by this concession, instead they spent the next ten minutes camped in the Welsh half, and then inside their 22’. With Wales giving away numerous penalties for offsides, Argentina kicked the ball to the corner to try and go for the lead. They made a crucial substitution before the lineout, the iconic Agustín Creevy taking the pitch in place of Julian Montoya. Though Argentina did not score directly from the lineout, Creevy would find himself at the base of the ruck just metres out from the Welsh try line. Supported by Tomas Lavanini, Creevy powered over the try line to draw the scores level with a conversion to come. It was a difficult kick, but Boffelli made light work of it to give Argentina a two-point lead with slightly more than ten minutes remaining.

Matias Moroni, coming on for Santiago Chocobares early on in this game, made a try-saving tackle in the 74^th minute on the electric Louis Rees Zammit, ploughing the winger into touch before he could dive for the try line.

With just minutes remaining, Wales had a scrum on the halfwy point and looked to build some momentum. From the following strike move, Sam Costelow tried to link up a pass with Tomos Williams. Veteran Argentinian Fly-Half Nicolas Sanchez read the play perfectly and intercepted the pass to race in for an excellent finish underneath the posts, as he outpaced Rio Dyer to the try line. Another Boffelli conversion would bring Argentina’s lead to 9 points.

In the dying seconds of the game, Argentina won another penalty, which Sanchez converted to bring an end to this game.

After being 10-0 down with 37 minutes played, Argentina produced a spirited performance in the second half to end up 12-point winners in the end. Wales’ discipline was poor, as they allowed Argentina to chip away at their lead, and it is Los Pumas who progress to a World Cup Semi-Final against either Ireland or New Zealand.