Argentina ran in four tries as they ripped apart a weakened Irish side in this afternoon's RWC quarter-final at the Millenium Stadium, but even the might of Sexton, O'Brien, O'Mahony and O'Connell may not have been enough to shackle the Pumas.
Ireland were outclassed all over the park from the get-go as the Southern Hemisphere brand of rugby still proves far superior to what we're accustomed to on these shores.
Los Pumas continued playing their impressive brand of rugby as they dismantled Ireland, dominating the breakdown and having the firepower out wide to punish Joe Schmidt's side, with Santiago Cordero, Juan Imhoff and Joaquin Tuculet all in scintillating form.
It was almost surreal as Ireland found themselves on the wrong side of a 17 point mauling in the opening 13 minutes, as Argentina schooled the 6 Nations champions.
Argentina set the tone before the game with a passionate rendition of their national anthem, with John Hayes-esque tears flowing, meaning there wasn't a dry eyed Argentine to be found.
They brought that passion into the match, blitzing Ireland with trys from Matias Moroni and Juan Imhoff and a penalty from Nicolas Sanchez stunning Ireland.
The first was too easy. Tuculet gathered an up and under, giving them the field positiion. Cue the big runners at Madigan and then soft hands out wide which saw the centre coast in for his sides first.
Next up was Juan Imhoff who outpaced the Irish cover to collect Cordero's chip ahead and ground before hitting the dead ball line.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/acmQxRhMNdA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
To rub salt in the wounds, Tommy Bowe was stretchered off after 15 minutes, becoming the sixth frontline player to sit on the sidelines for the game.
It was nightmare stuff as we haven't seen Joe Schmidt's Irish side bullied like that before, but we were thrown a lifeline in the 16th minute when the Pumas tighthead Ramiro Herrera got himself sin binned for a shoulder charge on Keith Earls in the 16th minute.
Ian Madigan, the late replacement for Johnny Sexton, got Ireland off the mark with a penalty before Sanchez immediately added another.
Sanchez struck another off the post while they were still a man down as they managed to keep Ireland at arms length until a piece of magic from Luke Fitzgerald, who came in for Bowe.
A rare mistake from Argentina was punished when Conor Murray picked up a loose kick in the midfield, with quickball going wide to Robbie Henshaw and then to Fitzgerald who took a great line to skin Cordero and then step Tuculet to cross under the posts. The fightback was on.
They went in 20-10 at the break but suddenly the crowd were raucous in their support as Ireland were back in it. They came out firing in the second and got the best possible result four minutes into the second half when Jordi Murphy went over.
Fitzgerald took another fantastic line off Madigan and brushed off the tackler before displaying his soft hands with the offload for the onrushing blindside. Hope had turned into belief as Madigan converted but another Sanchez penalty kept Ireland in check.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/3ATp6KimMXk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Madigan slotted another penalty to bring the gap to three and Ireland began to play a little. Rory Best and Iain Henderson won some important turnovers before our stand-in 10 had a chance to level but pushed it wide.
That was as good as it would get for Ireland, as they huffed and puffed but couldn't knock the Argentinian defence. Sanchez added another penalty in the 63rd minute before they decided to cut loose once again.
Conor Murray's knock-on from the base of an Irish scrum was the source of the Argentina's 3rd, with Tuculet's skillful grounding and Sanchez's touchline conversion giving the Argentines a 13 point lead with 13 minutes to go.
Ireland needed a miracle, it never came as Imhoff grabbed his second, scorching his way past two Irish tacklers on his way to the line, sealing the win.
Sanchez converted and added another penalty before the end, and Ireland were left downtrodden, desolate and well beaten on the hallowed turf of the Millenium Stadium.
The final whistle went, ending Ireland's dreams and consigning us to another heartbreaking quarter-final exit.
Match Highlights;
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/38upQjuTMQA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
