Rugby: Pumas left licking wounds

Manu Tuilagi of England tackles Juan Manuel Leguizamon of Argentina. Photo / Getty Images

Bruised, battered and harbouring a major sense of lost opportunity, Argentina face a major medical patch-up job to stay competitive in this World Cup.

The Pumas were compelling for 65 minutes and if Martin Rodriguez had managed to kick with the accuracy as well as the ferocity of a mule, Argentina would be sitting pretty in Pool B this morning.

Instead they are now back to the scenario they were rather hoping to avoid - having to defeat Scotland and then most likely face the All Blacks in the quarter-final. But their chances of achieving their goal depend largely on medical reports to key players.

Felipe Contepomi - the tactical general and preferred goal-kicker for the Pumas - came off after half an hour in obvious discomfort. His ribs were damaged in a late tackle and he was unsure of the damage.

"We don't know what the injury is - it could be cartilage or it could be a rib. I have to go to hospital," he said. The situation wasn't much clearer with centre Gonzalo Tiesi who was carried off before the break. He tried to play on but once he stood up and tried to run, it was obvious his knee was in trouble.

No one was sure whether it was a sprain or a damaged medial ligament - the latter presumably will end his involvement.

Those injuries had a double impact for the Pumas. Not only did it result in Argentina losing two key members of their back division and all the subsequent disruptions - it meant they were unable to use their bench in the final quarter when fatigue was biting.

Maybe they would have found an extra something in those critical closing stages if they had some breathing space on the scoreboard. But however much they were hurting, coach Santiago Phelan was reasonably upbeat about the performance and his sides' chances of progressing.

"It wasn't the outcome we wanted but we had the right tactical approach," he said. "Sometimes when the score doesn't go your way you realise it is the little details you have to get right. Whenever we were in a position to score points we failed to do so. We wanted to defend well and we did.

"Kicking for posts is part of the game. You can score by other means not only kicking but we didn't take them."