Argentina broke Welsh hearts with two late tries to reach the semi-finals (Picture: Getty)
Former England scrum-half Matt Dawson admits he has been left ‘mind blown’ following Argentina’s 29-17 Rugby World Cup win over Wales.
Warren Gatland’s side took on the Pumas in the quarter-finals on Saturday but fell to defeat at the Stade Velodrome in France as Argentina reached the last four.
Wales were 10-0 ahead after 22 minutes – and also regained the lead midway through the second half – but Argentina scored two late tries to break their hearts.
Dawson was left shocked by the result, especially given the Pumas’ poor performance against England in the group stages last month.
‘No question Michael Cheika and his coaching staff knew something had to change for Argentina,’ Dawson told the BBC.
‘We have spoken about big games and big decisions and that Argentina side shifted considerably in that second-half. Wales did not know how to counter it.
‘Watching Wales in the first-half was a total joy. I cannot believe the side who played England in the first game of this World Cup is in the semi-final – it has blown my mind.’
Wales co-captain Dewi Lake, reflecting on his nation’s World Cup exit, told S4C: ‘The emotions are running high at the moment, we’re gutted as a group from missing out on the final four, all the work we’ve done over the past four months to get to this point.
‘At the start of the campaign not many people thought we’d get out of the group and we came into this game as favourites, and full credit to Argentina, they left everything out there as did – but our accuracy let us down a bit.
‘You’re never going to find the words to describe the emotions, but we’ll learn from this, we’re a young group and we’ll be here again and be better.
‘We’ve played for 80 minutes and it wasn’t to be but no complaints from me, everyone left everything out there and fair play to Argentina.’
Former Wales fly-half James Hook, speaking to the BBC, added: ‘We’re lost for words. In the second half, Argentina just turned the screw.
‘Tomos Williams was very good when he came on, he was a running threat, he scored a lovely try from nothing, really.
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‘Argentina just pinned Wales back, they put pressure on Wales. Their driving mauls started to work, their carries in the 22 started to work.
‘I know we’ll probably go to that incident with Nick Tompkins – that seemed to change the momentum with the fans and with the Welsh players, they looked deflated after that.’
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Wales are OUT of the Rugby World Cup.