Argentina beats Samoa to reach Rugby World Cup quarterfinals contention

The Argentines needed to win after the dismal opening defeat to England, and used the 13-day break to get their heads on right for the Samoans, who had only a six-day turnaround.

Argentina even denied Samoa a losing bonus point when Nicolas Sanchez booted the margin beyond seven with a last-minute penalty from almost halfway.

Emiliano Boffelli scored all of Argentina's points for a 13-3 lead in a rainy first half and his third penalty after the rain passed extended their lead to 16-3 with 24 minutes to go.

But with five minutes left, Samoa replacement hooker Sama Malolo barged over for a converted try, and Argentina’s supporters were finally hit with a mute button. But Samoa couldn’t threaten again, the Argentines in the crowd resumed singing and dancing, and Sanchez delivered the finishing blow.

“Against England we didn't do what we were supposed to do. Today we did it pretty well,” Argentina captain Julian Montoya said. “It's a massive victory for us, very important for our tournament.”

Argentina has Pool D games left against Chile and Japan to rise higher in the standings, while Samoa was still in the playoffs picture but will have to beat England in two weeks.

The first half could have hardly gone better for a more composed Argentina.

Samoa fullback Duncan Paia'aua was sin-binned in the first minute for playing Argentina's Santiago Carreras in the air.

Christian Leali'ifano didn’t relieve the pressure on Samoa when he failed to take a free kick from the mark then missed touch. Argentina's counterattack exploited Paia'aua's absence when the ball was spread to both wings and Boffelli went over. He made the conversion and a penalty kick for 10-0 after 25 minutes.

Leali'ifano had three penalty kicks and nailed only one,