Italy’s Sergio Parisse tries to shake off Ireland’s Jamie Heaslip during their Pool D match at Olympic Stadium in London on Oct. 4.Eddie Keogh/Reuters
Ireland qualified for the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals by squeezing past Italy 16-9 at the Olympic Stadium.
The victory also lifted France into the last eight, and confirmed their match in Cardiff next Sunday as the Pool D decider.
The loser of the Ireland against France match will likely face New Zealand in the quarter-finals.
A near full-strength Irish team, having racked up 94 points in its first two matches, was expected to put away an Italy lineup that had fired only in spurts in a loss to France and narrow win over Canada.
But the first appearance of fit-again captain Sergio Parisse inspired Italy, and it threatened a boilover by holding possession for long periods and, at 10-6 down in the second half, missed a try by a matter of inches. After easily its best display, Italy was still condemned to yet another exit in the pool stage.
In Leicester, England, Argentina moved closer to a place in the World Cup quarter-finals after a comprehensive 45-16 win against Tonga in Pool C.
Argentina scored five tries to get a bonus point that all but seals a place in the last eight, unless the Pumas lose to last-place Namibia and Tonga gets an unlikely win – with a bonus point – against tournament favourite New Zealand in their last games.
The crowd of 29,124 at Leicester's City Stadium included Diego Maradona, and he was the No. 1 cheerleader.
The player who made Argentina's No. 10 soccer shirt so famous high-fived anyone around him and jumped up at every try, thrusting his blue-and-white scarf in the air.
Nicolas Sanchez, wearing 10 on the field, was among the try-scorers and leads the tournament point-scoring list with 51.
Meanwhile, England's back-to-back losses to Wales and Australia meant a host team became the first to miss out on the quarter-finals.