Argentina took their place in the Rugby World Cup quarter-final play-offs - thanks to the ever-reliable boot of Gonzalo Quesada at the Millennium Stadium.

David Parry-Jones: "Japan were inspired, but Argentina were in a fearsome mood"

The result means Argentina, as the best third-placed team, will now play Ireland in Lens next Wednesday.

It also confirms Wales' place as Pool D winners, setting up a quarter-final with Australia, while runners-up Samoa take on Scotland in a play-off.

Ignacio Carletto is halted by Japanese tackleer Tsutomu Matsuda

The South Americans went into Saturday's match needing to score 69 points to deny Wales first place - but it never looked likely as they struggled to find their fluency in Cardiff.

Although scrum-half Agustin Pichot and wing Diego Albanese touched down for tries, they displayed little threat apart from Quesada's place-kicking.

Japan played most of the rugby, and had it not been for a succession of unforced handling errors they would have made it a much tighter contest.

They had to settle for four penalties from fly-half Keiji Hirose.

But Japanese wings Diasuke Ohata and Patiliai Tuidraki were constant threats to the Pumas well-drilled defence.

A crowd of around 30,000 got behind the Japanese for most of the match, but they failed to inspire a major upset.

Bristol scrum-half Pichot provided a rare moment of individual flair, lighting up a forgettable affair 12 minutes before half-time when he dummied the Japanese defence and darted over from 20 yards.

Quesada and Hirose continued to exchange penalties until two more Quesada strikes early in the second half gave Argentina breathing space.

Although they ended comfortable winners, coach Alex Wyllie must demand a considerable improvement from the Pumas as they prepare for their make-or-break clash against Ireland in France.

The winners of that game face a quarter-final against France in Dublin next Sunday, with World Cup favourites New Zealand awaiting whoever comes out on top.

Teams:

Argentina: Corletto, Camardon, Simone, Arbizu, Albanese, Quesada, Pichot, Reggiardo, Ledesma Arocena, Hasan-Jalil, Sporleder, Allub, Phelan, Martin, Fernandez-Lobbe. Replacements: Orengo, Contepomi, Fernandez-Miranda, Ruiz, Ostiglia, Scelzo, Canalda.

Japan: Matsuda, Ohata, McCormick, Motoki, Tuidraki, Hirose, Bachop, Nakamichi, Kunda, Oguchi, Gordon, Tanuma, Okubo, Smith, Joseph. Replacements: Masuho, Ito, Murata, Sakuraba, Nakamura, Sakata, Hasegawe.

Referee: Stuart Dickinson (Australia)