15. Rob Kearney: 7.5
Did not put a foot wrong all night and could not do anything about Argentina’s first two tries. As dependable as every under the high ball and always hit the line at pace in attack but was given little room to manoeuvre.
14. Tommy Bowe: 4
Sent flying early on when he made a poor attempt at a tackle and then taken off with a nasty looking knee injury soon after, but Luke Fitzgerald’s introduction brought Ireland back into the game.
13. Keith Earls: 7.5
Easily Ireland’s best player in the backline, the timing of his running and passing was impeccable in the first half and he managed to engineer a few tiny openings in a well-organised Argentinean line, despite failing to make his own way through.
12. Robbie Henshaw: 6.5
Tore the French defence to shreds a week before but stuttered against the line speed of the Pumas, fumbled almost everything that came his way in the first half but then he did redeem himself by setting up Luke Fitzgerald for his first and was solid in defence. Topped the tackle count with 13.
11. Dave Kearney: 4
At fault for Argentina’s first try when he was sucked in and left for dead on the outside, and missed a tough tackle on Juan Imhoff for the last try too. Worked hard all night but outplayed by the South American back three.
10. Ian Madigan: 6
The enormity of the occasion seemed to get the better of him at times as a few kicks and passes went astray. Kicked well off the tee and tried to find away through the Pumas line but it was too strong. For the next four years all Irish fans will be wondering: ‘What if Sexton had been fit?’
9. Conor Murray: 6.5
Will be having some sleepless nights after his unforced knock on gifted the Pumas the field position for Joaquin Tuculet to go on and get the decisive score. But stepped up and marshalled his troops well and showed a lot of composure to keep them moving forward against a ferocious defence.
1. Cian Healy: 6.5
Bested at the scrum although he did win two penalties with some strong shoves. Was not as effective or explosive with the ball in hand as he usually is and Ireland missed the front foot ball that he can provide.
2. Rory Best: 8
Tried to impose himself on the breakdown but was blown away by Argentineanz early on. However, in the second half he frustrated them by slowing and snaffling almost everything he got his hands on and frustrated them into conceding penalties. Fought fiercely until he was taken off and threw flawlessly at the lineout too.
3. Mike Ross: 5.5
Decimated in the first two scrums by Marcos Ayerza but recovered after that and caused the Leicester man a few problems later on. Caught out in defence a few times by the blistering pace of the South Americans before Schmidt hauled him off early in the second half.
4. Devin Toner: 5
Looked sluggish at times, fumbled a few simple catches and fell off a few tackles. Solid as ever in the lineout but Joe Schmidt would have been hoping for much more from the lanky lock in the loose.
5. Iain Henderson: 6.5
Conceded a turnover the first time he took contact and never really troubled the opposition with any of his other carries. But toiled all night and imposed himself on the breakdown.
6. Jordi Murphy: 7
Had some very big Peter O’Mahony-shaped boots to fill and after a slow start he made a real nuisance of himself at the breakdown as the game wore on and won two important turnovers in the second half. Some superb support play earned him a try too.
7. Chris Henry: 6
Managed to snatch and slow some Argentinean ball when his team were briefly dominating in the second half but outplayed by the opposing back-row and was second best to the breakdown for most of the match. Ireland clearly missed the Tullow Tank.
8. Jamie Heaslip: 8
Immense throughout, led from the front in defence and hit hard with real intent early on when many of his teammates were being shrugged off or left behind. Ran hard all night and hauled his side over the gainline on numerous occasions. Gave his all.
Replacements: 7
Luke Fitzgerald turned the game on its head with a scintillating solo try and then set up another in the second half. Jack McGrath was massive in the loose but he and Nathan White struggled just as much as their predecessors in the scrum.
By Nathan Hyde (@NathanHyde2)
Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images
I feel like Rob Kearney deliberately targets the contact far too much when he could be looking for an off load, or drawing the man to make space. He’s an incredibly physical player and I do rate him, but I think he’d work better if he tried to bring other people into the line with him rather than just crashing in every single time.
I like this Irish team and there are some fantastic players. But they were taken apart- scores much too high!
Agree with the comment above. I think some of these scores are way too high. This is an Ireland team that got smashed by over 20 points in a quarter-final, they only looked like they were in any way in control of the game for about ten minutes in the second half. Weak performance all round and so you simply can’t give 4 7+ scores and 2 8s. With a few minor exceptions they were all very much sub-par. (I think).