A little bit of team news to get us started…

Argentina– Amorosino, Agulla, Bosch, Contepomi, Imhoff, Fernandez, Vergallo; Ayerza, Arocello, Figallo, Galarza, Albacete, Cabello, Leguizamon, Senatore.

Georgia– Urjukashvili, Gugava, Kacharava, Zibzibadze, Todua, Khmaladze, Abuseridze; Kakovin, Giorgadze, Kubriashvili, Datunashvili, Maisuradze, Chkhaidze, Kolelishvili, Gorgodze.

Felipe Contepomi’s World Cup kick conversion rate is hovering around the 33% mark. Not that impressive, even given the tough kicking conditions. I mean, he’s coped with worse before…remember this?

It’s anthem time! Georgia have one of those slightly unpredictable, meandering Soviet-era tributes, while Argentina’s is all jaunty, symphonic flouishes…  nice.

Mary Dwyer on Facebook says:

“njoyin ur match reports. come on ireland. gonna be a long nite and morning.”

You guys make it all worthwhile… *sniff* It’s getting dusty in here…

Jonathan Kaplan gets thing underway with a shrill peep off the whiste. Georgia loft a kick doownfield.

[As an aside: does anyone have an effective headache remedy? Nurofen isn't doing the trick...]

Argentina claim a lineout on the edge of their 22 and– you guessed it– build a rolling maul.

Agulla sprints clear of the Georgian line and, for a second, looks capable of going all the way. He loses his balance, however, and rolls to a halt before offloading to his support. Georgia interfere at the breakdown, but the referee plays advantage, allowing Argetina to swing their attack to the left wing. The attack goes nowhere, however, and the ball’s brought back for the first penalty of the game…

… which Contepomi puts wide from in front of the posts. A horrible attempt.

Georgia have a go at out-mauling the Argies on the right wing, before slinging the ball back inside. It goes through two pairs of hands before an error hands the South Americans a defensive scrum.

That’s not Jonathan Kaplan! It’s Alain Rolland. I get the feeling we’ll see a few try resets before the eighty minutes is out.

Amorosino claims a high ball and promptly gets caught in possession below his own posts. He’s saved by his tackler’s lack of composure, but: what was he thinking?

He tried to run through two swarthy Georgians.

Argentina are awarded another penalty after Georgia drift off-side in midfield. Play had degenerated into a free-for-all and a couple of confused-looking blokes in red shirts ventured the wrong side of no man’s land.

Contepomi sizes up a kick from forty metres out, right in front of the posts. It’s lauched high and very wide.

A mix-up under a high ball sees Contepomi collide head-on with bosch. Both roll back onto their backsides with looks of bafflement on their faces. Their opponents can’t avail of the confusion, though, yet again drifting the wrong side of the ruck.

Georgia launch a chip-and-chase, but the ball finds the arms of Amorosino, who sidesteps a couple of onrushing tacklers and rockets away up the left touchline. The Argentinian pack are slow in support, however, and after going through two pairs of hands, the ball’s plucked from the ground by a pair of Georgian hands. The attack comes to nothing.

Poll: Which of these Georgian names is the most difficult to pronounce?

Play’s back underway after an injury scare for a member of the Georgian pack– Chkhaidze, I think it was…

The tempo of the match appears largely unchanged, however, with brief, frenetic spells of possession for both sides preventing the development of any real rhythm.

Now, we’ve lapsed into another period of hand-on-hips lassitude…

Argentina begin to take the ball through the phases, progressing slowly up the pitch from the edge of their own 22. It’s slow-going, attritional stuff, eventually coming to an end when a fumble from Amorosino on the right wing forces Contepomi into a furious, possession-saving backtrack. He gathers the ball, but is swamped by a crowd of Georgians, who succeed in forcing the turnover.

Again, Alain Rolland takes some time to explain to the packs the philosophical principles underpinning his instructions.

Apparently, he worries the front rows are beginning to anticipate his call… almost as if they knew what he was going to say next.

Blimey! It’s a try for Argentina! Finally, the South Americans build some momentum on the left wing, the ball eventually finding Imhoff, who succeeds in palming off the challenge of Urjukashvili and crossing the try-line. He tries to arc his run under the posts, but is forced to ground the ball a couple of yards inside the touchline.

Shocker: Contepomi misses the conversion.

Argentina 5-0 Georgia

Suddenly, Argentina look a lot more dynamic in possession, with Amorosino and Contepomi combining in midfield before a butter-fingered forward knocks the ball on.

An afro-headed Kolelishvili drives into the Argentinian, forcing Albacete into infringing at the breakdown. The result is a penalty to Georgia, Urjukashvili sends his effort wide of the posts.

Try for Georgia! Some woeful defending from the Pumas allows Khmaladze to run onto an ostensibly harmless little chip over the top from the right wing. Collecting the ball, the centre blazes over unopposed for his first international try.

Urjukashvili ensures a maximum, seven-point return for the Eastern Europeans.

Argentina 5-7 Georgia

Half-time: ITV are insisting on showing that “Body to Body” car crash PSA… time for a quick channel change.

Injured Scotland back turned ITV pundit Tom Evans is such a public schoolboy, but amidst his beige, studiously inoffensive patter, there’s usually a hint of wisdom.

This time, he thinks Alain Rolland has been favouring Argentina at the breakdown. He’s not wrong; the contact area has been generally chaotic, but policed (unjustly) as if that was entirely down to the interfering hands of the Georgian pack.

FACT: If Georgia beat Argentina by eight points, Scotland would replace the Pumas in the quarter-finals.

We’re back underway… a deflected clearance grants Georgia a lineout just inside their own half.

Argentina demolish two Georgian scrums, using the first victory to drive to within ten metres of their opponent’s line and the second to win a penalty. Rather than opting for the posts, the South Americans kick to the corner. Arocena’s delivery is imperfect, however, and the resulting maul is heading backwards before it can even settle.

Rolland grants Argentina another scrum.

Don’t you just love scrum resets?

Georgia concede another penalty. It’ll be another scrum. Rolland interposes himself between the front rows to dispense some last-second instructions in French, then English, the French.

At last, the ball is released from the base of an Argentinian scrum and spun left-to-right across their offensive line. Inhoff has a hint of space, but a gloriously quick-witted tackler brings him to ground.

Argentina are immediately awarded a penalty when Maisuradze reaches over a ruck to lift the ball. Contepomi can’t miss.

Argentina 8-7 Georgia

An Argentinian fumble at the restart puts Georgia on the front foot, but they can’t make the pressure tell, conceding a penalty that allows Argentina to clear their lines.

A little nugget of information from the interwebs:

Georgia are too predictable in possession and, moving the ball through the hands, don’t really look capable of breaking the Argentinian line.

The Pumas, by contrast, are beginning to look a little more threatening. Amorosino and Contepomi again combine on the right wing, the latter launching a frantic defensive effort when he pops a brubber kick through the Georgian line.

The referee, it turns out, was playing advantage and brings the ball back for an Argentinian penalty. Contepomi makes his second kick of the half.

Argentina 11-7 Georgia

Georgia concede another soft penalty, this time when Todua fails to release the ball in contact. Bosch decides to have a crack at the posts, but his effort is a complete shocker– largely in keeping with the tone of his overall performance, mind– the ball coming to ground midway between the right post and the corner flag.

Ironic cheers all-round.

The Georgian horde rampage their way into the Puma’s half, sending white-and-blue-shirted defenders scattering like skittles. They sacrifice their momentum when Kolelishvili is deemed to have held on to the ball that little bit too long on the ground.

Gorgodze, the Georgian No8, is a beast of a man. His strength in the contact area is little short of an affront to the Laws of Gravity.

When did “emphatic” become the sports commentary buzzword du jour?

Try for Argentina! The pace of Amorosino on the right wing confounds the Georgian defence and the full-back offloads to Cabello, who eludes three tacklers before being brought to ground. Quick ball sees possession move out wide, where Contepomi, after a sidestep, bundles over for the try.

He makes the conversion.

Argentina 18-7 Georgia

Georgia gird themselves for a final assault on the Argentinian line.

Sustitutions:

Argentina– On: Creevy, Scelzo, Vallejos, Fessia, Lallane, Rodriguez, Gossio.

Off: Arocena, Figallo, Galarza, Senatore, Vergalla, Contepomi, Agulla.

Play’s back underway and Georgia attempt to run the ball through the centre of the park. They make some ground, with Gogodze and Kacharava building momentum, before the ball’s lost forward.

Substitutions:

Georgia– On: Shvelidze, Bregvadze, Kakovin, Zedginidze, Nemsadze, Samkharadze, Malaguradze, Kvirikashvili.

Georgia have taken people off too, by the way, but play’s back underway…

Argentina condede a penalty for being off-side at the breakdown (again). Georgia punt the ball to touch on the left wing.

Try for Argentina! An elementary error at the set-piece gifts the Pumas another scrum.. that they use as a platform from which to lauch a break. The ball makes its way to Inhoff on the left wing and, just as he’s about to be forced out of play, he dispatches a grubber kick inthe direction of the try-line. Gosio, on the pitch a matter of minutes, outraces the defence and touches down.

Bosch brings his 80-minute nightmare to a close with an improbable conversion from the left touchline.

Argentina 25-7 Georgia