KINGSHOLM, Gloucester - Argentina have finally arrived at the World Cup. Five days after losing their opening Pool C game against defending champions New Zealand, Los Pumas ran riot against a Georgia team clearly feeling the effects of their efforts against Tonga.

In front of a raucous crowd that seemed more Glastonbury than Gloucester, Daniel Hourcade's side played a fantastic set. Those who were rested were singing and dancing at the back of the stands as the sky blue and white shirts romped to a seven-try victory.

"Today was an incredible experience," Leicester flanker Pablo Matera told ESPN afterwards. "There were a lot of Argentina supporters. It's amazing to play in a World Cup this far from home and have so many Argentina fans here helping us.

"It was an important match for us. We knew we needed to win in order to stay in contention for the World Cup, so I'm very happy."

Even the elder statesman of the squad, Juan Martinez Fernandez Lobbe, could not hide his joy. "It was so much fun - the amount of Argentina fans in the stand, it was frigging awesome," he beamed in the mixed-zone. For someone who played in Argentina's bronze medal win against France eight years ago to show such excitement in victory is a big statement indeed.

However, the performance wasn't perfect. Hourcade and his players made a point of displaying their annoyance over the flurry of penalties they conceded in the first half. And, like most victories, a touch of good fortune was needed: only after Georgia's influential captain Mamuka Gorgodze was sent to the bin shortly after the restart did Argentina really start to click. Tomas Cubelli lifted the crowd with a hard-worked try before Juan Imhoff and Santiago Cordero stole the show with an impressive brace each.

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"The first half was really tough. It was really physical," Matera said. "Then we realised it was better for us to play with the backs - they were a little disorganised at the back. There were some spaces to attack, which we did well. We brought our game and we scored some good tries.

"We knew we had to stop giving away penalties. All the points they scored were because of the penalties, so when we stopped the penalties they didn't have much to do. That's when we started playing."

"Gorgodze is their most important player. When he was off we had more space in the corners, which we took advantage of. I'm happy that we brought the backs into play. We came and we did well and we earned a good win that puts us in a good position for the rest of this tournament."

The boss seemed pretty pleased too and stated how "very happy" he was that Argentina's training routines had transmitted to the pitch. Much like opposite number Milton Haig has done for Georgia, Hourcade has transformed Argentina's game by bringing the backs into play. The balance has shifted from the power forwards in favour of a free-flowing, flamboyant style of rugby. For much of the second half in Gloucester, Argentina were scintillating to watch.

Lobbe explained: "The new staff came with new ideas - the most important thing is the players believe a lot in these ideas and I think we can see that. We're enjoying it because we managed to put into the 80 minutes everything we had trained on during the week.

"If you want to beat New Zealand, Australia, South Africa - you have to take it to them. It's always going to be tough if you just try and control them. You need to be aggressive - and that's what we're trying now. But we're staying calm. The important thing is to keep believing - when you're in the knockout phase as soon as you lose it's all over. So we keep on trying."

That familiar physicality will likely return to the fold in nine days' time, though, with the wounded Tongans waiting in Leicester. Despite the impressive showing against Georgia, nobody in the Argentina camp is resting on their laurels.

"Tonga beat France four years ago - they're a great team. We know teams like Tonga can score tries from nowhere, so we need to be careful," Lobbe said. "The only thing I'm honestly thinking about now is rest and then getting ready for Tonga, starting Monday. We need to win and win well again."