Le Pays De France - Nervy Irish edge Argentina in Test nailbiter

The Irish led by 13 points at the break but a lack of discipline and excellent play by the Pumas almost gave the visitors their first ever win in Ireland.

"It went right down to the wire there," Ireland skipper Caelen Doris told TNT Sport.

"We were happy with how it started. There was a good feeling through the warm-up and that carried over to the start. I felt we were in a pretty good position at half time and their quality showed in the second half."

Ireland started brightly but it was the Pumas who thought they had struck first through Matias Moroni.

Instead Moroni trudged off after receiving a yellow card for a head collision with Irish fly-half Jack Crowley earlier in the play.

It was Crowley who was celebrating a minute later as he went over for his second Test try and converting it for 7-0 in the fourth minute.

Barely a minute had passed since Crowley's try when Garry Ringrose broke through the centre and a sublime pass by Jamison Gibson-Park found Tadhg Beirne, who selflessly passed inside to Mack Hansen.

The Australia-born wing touched down for his 10th Test try -- Crowley failed to convert but the Irish were 12-0 up inside six minutes.

Pumas fly-half Tomas Albornoz got his team on the board with a penalty.

The Irish piled the pressure on the visitors and were denied a third try after Beirne knocked on as he went to touch the ball down.

However, they lost prop Finlay Bealham to a yellow card in the 17th minute for a dangerous tackle.

Andy Farrell looked rueful in the coach's box as Bealham trotted off with Albornoz knocking over the penalty for 12-6.

Crowley landed a sweetly struck drop goal to make it 15-6 to the hosts.

Albornoz's unerring boot added three more points shortly before Bealham returned to the fray for 15-9.

The Pumas resisted waves of Irish attacks but finally cracked just after the half hour mark as Joe McCarthy powered over for his second Test try -- Crowley converted for 22-9.

By contrast the Irish line somehow held out as the Pumas pressed in the final few minutes of the half.

Ringrose turned the ball over and the hosts breathed easier as they headed in 22-9 up.

- Cheers for Healy -

However, the Pumas responded brilliantly after the break, fullback Juan Cruz Mallia broke through from deep, Ringrose and Hansen failing to bring him down, and touched down.

Albornoz converted for 22-16.

Irish discipline was creaking just as it did against the All Blacks, conceding three penalties within minutes.

Referee Paul Williams had had enough of Irish offsides and sent McCarthy to the sin bin much to Farrell's frustration.

Albornoz moved past 100 points in Test rugby with a smoothly taken penalty for 22-19 and just under half an hour to play.

The penalty count went to 10 as Crowley took out Albornoz in the air, but at the end of the next phase of play the Pumas' fly-half sent a drop goal attempt wide.

Farrell rang the changes just after the hour including replacing Crowley with 21-year-old Sam Prendergast for his first cap.

Perhaps the biggest cheer of the night came in the 67th minute as prop Cian Healy came on to equal Brian O'Driscoll's Irish record of 133 caps.

The Irish were hanging on but received a huge boost when Pumas replacement Francisco Gomez Kodela was sin-binned for a head shot on Doris.

The Pumas were the ones pressing right at the end and were inside the 22 when the Irish managed to turn the ball over.

(P.Toussaint--LPdF)