RWC 2015 Ireland vs Argentina: Improving Pumas put captain Agustin Creevy in dreamland

Argentina were clearly improved by participating since 2012 in the southern hemisphere Rugby Championship

Argentina Winger Juan Imhoff gathers to score the second try of the game as Ireland Full Back Rob Kearney tackles (Rex)

Sometimes the phrase “a dream come true” trips too easily from the tongue, but there was good reason to believe Argentina’s captain Agustin Creevy was free from hyperbole after his team’s World Cup quarter-final win.

“Watching the All Blacks beat France, I had wondered when it would be that we could beat a top team with more than 40 points,” said Creevy. “But we did it. I feel amazing. I can’t get my head around it. We are really improving and there’s no limit to this team. Our growth has been amazing. It is a dream come true.”

Ireland, the Six Nations champions of the last two seasons, were beaten by a team clearly improved by participating since 2012 in the southern hemisphere Rugby Championship and now into a second World Cup semi-final against Australia at Twickenham on Sunday.

Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt praised Argentina for a ‘fantastic performance’

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Ireland’s Kiwi head coach Joe Schmidt admitted: “We [in Europe] have got to be at our very best to be competitive against southern hemisphere sides. Even if they are a little below par, they can still be dangerous.

“As difficult as it is to be going out of the World Cup at this stage, it was a fantastic Argentina performance and a performance our players will learn from. A lot of them had never been in a match of that intensity.”

Schmidt was angry at Argentina’s fly-half Nicolas Sanchez for “milking” a high tackle by Devin Toner “for everything it was worth” in a crucial penalty incident that put the Pumas 26-20 up. But overall there were few gripes as Ireland sank to their sixth World Cup quarter-final defeat.

Ireland flanker Chris Henry said: “It just felt like every time you got the ball, you got the chop. It’s tough.”

Argentina’s coach Daniel Hourcade said: “Playing the best on a yearly basis requires a level of perfection that you get used to. The message is always the same: to win we need to take risks.”