Classic Lions 15 Argentina 5

The Classic Lions will have to bring their wide boys to the party if they are to stand a chance of dethroning the mighty Springboks in Sunday's World Rugby Classic final.

That was the view of former Scotland outhalf Derek McAleese who apologised for the lack of flowing rugby during last night's bruising semi-final encounter with the Argentine Pumas but stressed making the end game was all important.

The Lions ran out 15-5 winners but only in the last few attacks did their wing men take flight, the scores coming through a combination of pressure up the centre and good kicking.

Tries from Welshman Rowland Phillips, Scottish flanker Fergus Wallace and Irish fullback Kenny Murphy were enough to put paid to the champions of two years ago at the National Sports Centre. But McAleese acknowleged they had played their part.

"Argentina is always a tough game," he said at the end of a game which saw more than a few off-the-ball skirmishes. "Our forwards have been playing well and I would say they dominated again today. Argentina have played a few warm-up games and we haven't, so we are getting there slowly."

Identifying where the Europeans needed to improve, McAleese said: "Harvey Thorneycroft and Derek Stark are out there on the wings now and so we have to try and use them a wee bit more. It was only in the last seven or eight minutes that we could do that when they (the Pumas) were chasing the game.

"I'm sure it was disappointing for the crowd because of all the kicking, but there is just too much at stake these days."

Too true, greying hairs and the occasional pause for breath were the only evidence that this was not a full-blown international. The intensity was there, the physical contact was there and so was the passion.

The latter came to the fore as early as the 12th minute as linesman John Pearson will attest.

With the ball long since gone, Ricky Evans felt he needed some Greco-Roman wrestling practice with one of his South American counterparts. But before he could apply the submission move, Pearson leapt in to pull the pair apart.

With order restored the Lions went on the attack. A fine kick down the left hand side in the 16th minute saw Phillips give chase, outstrip the defence, and ground the ball to the delight of his team-mates. The subsequent conversion was missed.

Two minutes before the break the Lions doubled their lead, good running from Ian Cocoran opened the way for Wallace to cross the line.

The Pumas needed to get back into the game quickly and within three minutes of the restart they thought they had.

Despite the attentions of a defender, Mario Gerosa dived over in the right hand corner, but the try was disallowed after it was adjudged he had made contact with the corner flag.

But Argentina were not to be denied in the 44th minute, Gerosa reducing the deficit by half.

However, just as it looked as if they were going to bring the scores level, the Lions went over for the try of the match.

After winning the ball in an attacking lineout, the Lions drove forward in the final third and with the Argentines looking to their left, play was switched back to the right and Murphy, fleet of foot, went in unopposed to seal victory.

"We made a lot of mistakes out the back and we have got to try and improve that on Sunday because South Africa are very, very good," said McAleese.

"They are a big, big side. They can nullify our pack and their backs look sharp. Our forwards have played well for two games so the backs owe the forwards one in the final."

Pumas' scrum-half, Martin Yanguela was magnanimous in defeat but felt his side had played the better rugby.

"We made a lot of opportunities to win the match but . . ." he said with a shrug of the shoulders. "They were lucky because they shot balls into our 25 metres and made tries without really playing the ball. They scored twice through Argentine mistakes, not through plays of their own. Argentina had good handling, passed the ball and scored two tries, although one was not allowed.

"We had the ball more than the Lions and the effort was there from the Argentine side. It's just a match - you win and you lose and this time we lost."

Earlier, the joint Portuguese and Spanish side put paid to a Plate final meeting between Canada and the USA, beating the Canadians 13-5. (Pictured)

If the nightcap was physical, this encounter was even moreso. As one observer said, referee Paddy Tynan sounded like a New York City traffic cop so often did he have to resort to the whistle.

Josep Dorca Balsells scored the first try for the Iberians and a Ramon Blanco Duelo penalty made it 8-0.

Content to try and sit on their lead, they then went on the defensive and upset the flow of the game with numerous illegal hits. At one point they were down to 13 men as referee Tynan decided to make examples of two transgressors.

Mark Oleson reduced the arrears to 8-5 at the half, but the Big Red Machine never really got rolling and they joined the Iberians in the sin bin as both sides traded punches as the period wore on.

With the Canadians running out of ideas the win was sealed with another try in the 52nd minute, this time from Alejandro Ruggero.