Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt has suggested that his team may have tried too hard early in the Rugby World Cup Quarter-Final defeat to Argentina, becoming loose in their play as a result.
The Six Nations champions trailed 17-0 in the opening stages, but tries from Luke Fitzgerald and Jordi Murphy hauled the Irish back into the contest at the Millennium Stadium before late tries from Joaquin Tuculet and Juan Imhoff put the Pumas into the last four.
However, Schmidt has admitted that Ireland did not start as they wanted in Cardiff.
He is quoted by BBC Sport as saying: "The result just reflected the tour de force demonstrated by the southern hemisphere teams this weekend.
"We didn't get the start we wanted, but I'm incredibly proud of how we got back into the contest. When you try a bit too hard, you get loose, and they have tremendous speed merchants to take advantage.
"It was always going to be disappointing if we lost, but it was exacerbated in those final 15 minutes."
Argentina will face Australia on Sunday for a place in the final.
Chris O'Keefe
