George looks back on the first World Cup of the professional era, and how that made this tournament different from all the others up to that point.
The advent of professionalism meant that the tournament was expanded to include 20 teams instead of 16, adding a number of sides that were real minnows, making for a few matches that didn't exactly reflect all that well on the tournament as a whole.
With five groups, that meant that there were quarter-final playoffs, bringing in three runners up and the best third placed team.
That best third-placed team was Argentina, and with somewhat of an air of inevitability, the Irish team were drawn to face them and fell at that unlikely hurdle. A beautiful try from Diego Albanese was enough to send Warren Gatland and the rest of the Irish team packing.
That sparked a great period of growth and development for the game in Argentina, and was the start of a huge rivalry between the Los Pumas and the Boys in Green.
While the quarter-finals didn't live all that long in the memory, the semi-finals produced a truly amazing game between New Zealand and France.
With New Zealand leading 24-10, France pulled off a historic comeback that may well be one of the greatest in the history of the game, and solidified their reputation as a team that simply can't be discounted when it comes to the World Cup.
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