Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt praises Argentina, Nicolas Sanchez in particular

Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt has praised the display of Argentina and in particular fly-half Nicolas Sanchez.

The New Zealand-born coach admits that the Pumas deserved their 43-20 victory over Ireland, in which Sanchez kicked 23 points.

"As difficult as it is to be going out of the World Cup, it was a fantastic Argentina performance and a performance our players will learn from," Schmidt told reporters following the clash.

"There's a lot of my players who have never, ever been in a match of that intensity. You cannot afford to give a good team like that such a head start.

"I thought Sanchez was imperious today. Building that scoreboard pressure allowed them some confidence and dented the confidence of our group."

The Argentina out-half is currently the competition's second-highest points scorer with 74, five behind Greg Laidlaw, whose Scotland side were knocked out at the death by Australia on Sunday.