Argentina and Ireland took significant steps toward reaching the rugby World Cup quarterfinals with contrasting wins over Scotland and Russia, respectively Sunday. Samoa maintained its slim chances by flattening Pacific island rivals Fiji, meanwhile. Argentina, which finished third at the last World Cup four years ago, was seven minutes away from elimination after a grinding battle in the Wellington rain. That was until replacement winger Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino produced a piece of magic to scythe through the Scottish defense for the game's only try, which captain Felipe Contepomi nervelessly converted for a 13-12 victory. Scotland, playing with controlled aggression as Argentina struggled to deal with an injury pile-up, had built a 12-6 lead with penalties from Chris Paterson and Ruaridh Jackson and drop goals by Jackson and his replacement Dan Parks. Neither side had come close to a try in testing conditions but Amorosino, man of the match in their last game against Romania, caught the Scottish defense cold with a superb slaloming run to turn the match. The result leaves England top of Pool B on 14 points, with Argentina and Scotland both on 10. With Argentina likely to beat Georgia in their final game, Scotland would have to beat England, either with a bonus point or preventing England getting one, to maintain its proud record of reaching at least the quarterfinals of every World Cup. The pool winners are likely to face France while the runner-up will play New Zealand. There was no such pressure on Ireland, which backed up its upset win over Australia last week with a 62-12 thrashing of Russia — though the tournament debutants did score two tries in Rotorua. Keith Earls crossed twice for Ireland while flyhalf O'Gara gave a masterclass, kicking seven from eight goal attempts and marshaling a backline featuring several squad players.
