Rugby World Cup 2023 warm-ups: Argentina thrash Spain, Japan lose to Italy
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Japan struggled to contain winger Monty Ioane, who scored a hat-trick in their meeting in Treviso
Argentina tuned up for their Rugby World Cup opener against England with an emphatic 62-3 win over Spain.
Newcastle's Mateo Carreras scored one of their nine tries, with the winger continuing to impress for the Pumas after the Rugby Championship.
England, beaten by Fiji on Saturday, face Argentina on 9 September in Marseille and then take on Japan in a Pool A encounter eight days later.
Wing Monty Ioane scored a hat-trick as Italy beat Japan 42-21 in Treviso.
England also face Chile and Samoa in their World Cup group, with Samoa impressing in a narrow 17-13 loss to Ireland in Bordeaux on Saturday.
Argentina's veteran fly-half Nicolas Sanchez kicked 17 points in the victory over Spain, which could tilt him in the favour of head coach Michael Cheika, after Gloucester's Santiago Carreras missed kicks in the Pumas' narrow loss to South Africa in the Rugby Championship.
The win was only Argentina's second since beating England at Twickenham in November.
Meanwhile, Japan conceded five tries in their loss to Italy but they did finish off an excellent team score, which went through 17 phases before being touched down by full-back Kotaro Matsushima.