Australia flanker Michael Hooper has praised Argentina after they pushed the Wallabies all the way in this afternoon's Rugby World Cup semi-final at Twickenham.
Australia set up a showdown with Southern Hemisphere rivals New Zealand with a 29-15 victory today, but Argentina threatened to draw level in the closing stages before Adam Ashley-Cooper scored his third try to put an end to the Pumas' hopes.
Hooper told Sports Mole after the final whistle that the Wallabies were not yet thinking ahead to the final, instead giving credit to Argentina.
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"We're not thinking about [New Zealand] too much at the moment," said Hooper. "We're thinking about this game still and how tough it was tonight. Credit to the Argentinians, they were really good and brought it to us.
"We need to see where we came up short tonight and we know we have to bring more if we're going to win the World Cup."
Hooper admitted that there was some battered bodies in the Aussie changing room, but is confident that they can recover in time for the final clash with the All Blacks.
"Looking round the changing room there's plenty of sore bodies, so first and foremost we're looking at recovery," he added.
"We'll start reviewing tomorrow or the next day, but tonight I'm really proud of the guys. Everyone's wanting to do as much as they can, everyone's wanting to get off the ground to be involved and that's a good sign for us."
Australia topped a group with England and Wales to advance to the quarter-finals and then sneaked past Scotland in a tight last-eight affair last week.
Reigning champions New Zealand have cruised through with much less hassle, but Hooper believes that the Wallabies' difficult run to the final could be an advantage.
"I think [our tough route to the final] has put us in good stead," he said. "We've been playing finals footy from the word go.
"The Kiwis are an outstanding team, but we'll just be focusing on what we have to do right next week."
At 23 years and 361 days of age, Hooper became the second-youngest player to collect his 50th test cap today.
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