Irish accuse Pumas of gouging

Ireland have accused Argentina of gouging while the Pumas have accused the Irish of unsporting behaviour after the sides' gripping Test match at Lansdowne Road.

Amid all the accusations of gouging and cynicism, it was easy to forget a packed Lansdowne Road had been treated to a gripping Test match.

The entertainment was soon overlooked in the aftermath of a ferocious encounter when claims emerged from the Ireland camp that five of their players had been gouged in the eye – one required stitches – and a sixth in the mouth.

The Irish management immediately reported the matter to the match commissioner while skipper Brian O’Driscoll said the persistency of the Pumas’ gouging prompted him to complain to referee Tony Spreadbury during the match.

Second row Paul O’Connell, who was in thick of the action for the entire 80 minutes, escaped the Argentinians’ attention but revealed the incidents were discussed in the dressing room.

“I wasn’t a victim of any gouging. The lads have talked about some of the stuff that went on. It was a tough game and there was stuff going on all the time,” he said.

Ireland were not the only side with grievances to air, however, as Argentina skipper Agustin Pichot was incensed by the conduct of the Triple Crown holders who he accused of asking the referee to sin-bin his Pumas.

“Ireland asked the referee to give out yellow cards and penalties. It was very unsporting behaviour. Rugby should be played with the code of ethics we’ve always had. Asking for cards and penalties is not right,” he said.

But O’Connell dismissed the claims as sour grapes and insisted the Pumas were guilty of stepping outside the laws to neutralise Ireland’s attacking ambition.

“They were very cynical in their own half of the pitch. We have players like Ronan O’Gara, Shane Horgan and Brian O’Driscoll in the backs so we want to get the ball wide and play rugby,” he said.

“How they can say we didn’t play in the spirit of the game is strange – we’re not a cynical team. That’s Agustin’s opinion, but I’ve been on receiving end of beatings in the past and come out with comments like that as well.

“It was a tough game and they were unlucky to lose it. It would have been a great win for them. They are doing very well at the moment, so they are naturally disappointed.”

Controversy aside, it was a scintillating end to Ireland’s autumn Tests and they completed their clean sweep of victories by the narrowest of margins.

Argentina raced into a 10-point lead after six minutes following fly-half Felipe Contepomi’s pinpoint kicking and a well-taken try by centre Federico Martin Aramburu, who finished off some excellent work from Contepomi’s brother Manuel.

The 16-6 interval scoreline did not bode well for Irish hopes and when another Felipe Contepomi penalty sailed between the uprights in the 49th minute, it appeared the home side had left themselves with too much to do.

But Eddie O’Sullivan’s men refused to panic as they ate away at the Pumas’ lead through the boot of man-of-the-match Ronan O’Gara who, in a repeat of the clash with South Africa, accounted for all of his side points.

He left it late, however, as the match winning kick arrived two minutes into injury time with the Munster fly-half firing home a beautifully weighted drop-goal from long-range to seal a dramatic victory.

Argentina had been reduced to 14 men in the 72nd minute after number eight Gonzalo Longo had been sent to the sin-bin and O’Connell said: “We always knew we were going to win.

“There are some great leaders in the team and we kept telling ourselves there was enough time on the clock. For the second to last penalty we initially thought we should go for the corner because they’d just had a man sent to the bin.

“But Brian came over and said ‘we’ll kick it’ because it was on the 15 metres line. It was an excellent position and we built from there. We were always aware of how much time we had. It was a very professional display.”

Ireland’s players celebrated a thrilling win made all the sweeter at having matched the Pumas’ physicality and O’Connell felt it was a tougher match than the 17-12 victory over the Springboks.

“Argentina are probably more physical than South Africa because they do more work in the tight.

The Springboks try and throw it around a bit more while Argentina will keep it tight all day if they can make ground,” he said.