After a magnificent, breathless match that neither team deserved to lose, Argentina are in the last eight and Japan are going home. Mateo Carreras of Newcastle scored a hat-trick as the Pumas set up a meeting with Wales, while the end of the road has arrived for Michael Leitch and his fellow surviving veterans from the Miracle of Brighton. Another classic was added to the CV of the Brave Blossoms, but it is Michael Cheika’s dangerous side who roll on to the quarter-final in Marseille on Saturday.
Tackles were missed, knock-ons proliferated and errors were committed with alarming regularity in the Nantes sunshine. But space was attacked at every opportunity and the percentage plays were uniformly ignored for high-risk, high‑excitement rugby. And isn’t that – as opposed to suffocating defence and speculative kicking – what really matters? These inspirational teams kept ball in hand and kept the crowd on their feet. The only disappointment is they cannot both be in the quarter-finals.
