Pumas ease past Georgia as England and Wales set for battle

Argentina picked up their first Pool C win at the Rugby World Cup by dispatching Georgia in convincing fashion on Friday as the tournament prepared to lower the drawbridge for the Twickenham blockbuster between England and Wales.

The Pumas had given holders New Zealand a scare or two in their opener at Wembley but gave their noisy and plentiful support in Gloucester even more to cheer, serving up a seven-try treat as they cantered to a 54-9 victory.

Georgia's physicality ensured a tough first 40 minutes, but the complexion of the game changed when Mamuka Gorgodze was sent to the sin bin and the Pumas pounced with a three-try blitz.

Wingers Santiago Cordero and Juan Imhoff scored two tries apiece while the boot of flyhalf Nicolas Sanchez weighed in with 15 points, including the tournament's first drop goal, as the Pumas moved into second place in Pool C behind New Zealand.

Away from Kingsholm, much of the attention focused on the build up to Saturday's 127th clash between bitter rivals England and Wales. The hype has been unrelenting, with so much at stake in a group that, with Australia also in the mix, contains three of the top teams in the world.

England have won their past two meetings, including a 21-16 victory in Cardiff in this year's Six Nations Championship, but Wales are hungry to bloody their noses in their own backyard.

While it is unlikely that Wales coach Warren Gatland, as a proud New Zealander, would have any knowledge of Anglo-Welsh wars long since forgotten, he will have fired up his troops to storm the citadel of English rugby.

Gatland, his ire ignited earlier in the week when Wales were warned for using non-World Cup squad players in training, is never shy of stoking a fire and on Friday he promised his side would "smash" rugby league convert Sam Burgess along with the rest of the England team.