Rugby World Cup 2015: Winners and Losers from Sunday's Two Games

Hosts England may have slipped out the back door, but the Rugby World Cup 2015 party rages on.

Ireland booked a quarter-final slot for themselves with a 16-9 win over Italy while Argentina took a big step towards the last eight by beating Tonga 45-16.

The two victors could yet meet in the next round depending on the outcome of Ireland’s key clash with France next week.

But England fans looking to offload semi-final tickets may not find too many Irish supporters willing to part with their cash for them after a scrappy performance against the Azzurri that made their team look far from dead certainties to reach the latter stages.

Here are Sunday’s winners and losers.

We saw the searing pace of Santiago Cordero do untold damage to Georgia last week, and the youngster was at it again in Leicester.

No sooner had Tonga kicked off having conceded to Joaquin Tuculet then they were under their own sticks again.

Their restart arrived in the hands of Cordero, who hit the gas pedal and blew the Tongan defenders away, throwing in a delightful sidestep for good measure before the ball was moved right across the field for his mate Juan Imhoff to finish.

It was a try from the halcyon days of French flair dressed in South American blue and white.

If it’s rugby to make you smile you’re after, follow the Pumas for the rest of this World Cup.

Italy made life tough for Ireland with aggressive defence and a wonderful display from their returning captain Sergio Parisse.

But they could not transfer that quality into their lineout in a 16-9 defeat. They were missing first-choice hooker Leonardo Ghiraldini, and his replacement Andrea Manici had a shocker with his throwing in.

Ireland stole four of his throws and plenty of others sailed over the entire pack. How they needed the Leicester Tigers man’s accuracy at the Olympic Stadium.

Diego Maradona was in the stands at Leicester, but the only Godly hands on display belonged to another No. 10.

Argentina fly-half Nicolas Sanchez bagged 25 points to move to the top of the points charts in the tournament.

The Toulon pivot was in fine form with a try and eight successful kicks at goal in the Pumas’ 45-16 win over Tonga.

What will Les Bleus make of that Irish performance?

On the one hand, France could judge it as evidence that they have little to concern themselves with when they meet the Irish next week in Cardiff.

Ireland failed to break down a stubborn Italian defence and had a try-saving tackle by Peter O’Mahony to thank for the game not being right in the balance towards its end.

Conversely, they may worry that Joe Schmidt’s team will have shaken off the rust and cannot possibly play that poorly again next week.

France are traditionally the hardest team to predict, but they may be in two minds about what to expect from the Irish next weekend.

Tonga had a bad night in front of the sticks against Georgia in the week, and they missed another hatful of points with wayward attempts against Argentina.

In all other facets of the game, they were capable of giving the Pumas hell when they executed properly, but coughing up 10 points through missed shots at goal is a bit like trying to overtake in Formula 1 with a three-wheeled car.