England 27 Argentina 10
‘Ye of little faith’ is what Steve Borthwick could have intoned after England’s victory that seemed unlikely to all bar the most partisan red rose enthusiast and, palpably, within the tight-knit confines of the English squad, ahead of a pivotal Rugby World Cup encounter that would have a major bearing on the final shape of Pool D.
England’s head coach was content to gently chide the non-believers; there was no need to be John Bull(ish) in the context of the win. “I am really pleased for the players. As I said before, they felt that people were writing them off a little bit too early. I’m pleased with many aspects of the performance, particularly clearly the attitude and composure under pressure against a very good Argentina team.
“When people talk about the players, what I see is a great group of players who have a lot of experience and some real exciting young players, and I thought the blend was just about right today.”
Winners don’t care unduly about the aesthetics and while much of the fare was dull, littered with errors and stoppages, it was still eminently watchable, harking back to old school virtues.
The Counter Ruck: the rugby newsletter from The Irish Times
Unbreakable, a cautionary tale about the heavy toll top-level rugby can take
Jacques Nienaber: ‘It was never the case that Rassie and I didn’t enjoy Munster or Ireland’
Joe Schmidt factor makes Australia game special for Ireland and Andy Farrell
Borthwick’s team stood firm in adversity. Flanker Tom Curry’s head-on-head greeting on Argentinian fullback Juan Cruz Mallia’s return to terra firma earned him an initial yellow card that was upgraded to red following a ‘bunker’ review.
[ Andy Farrell delighted to have ‘record breaker’ Johnny Sexton back in harnessOpens in new window ]
Just under three minutes had elapsed and it might have been interesting to elicit the views of England supporters still taking their seats at that point thanks to the utter chaos as people tried to access the stadium. The colour, vibrant party atmosphere that permeated the build-up to the game on the streets on Marseilles was replaced by anger and frustration.
The England team would soon soothe any troubled brows in the stands. There were sterling qualities to the performance, the diligent work ethic, the singular focus, the aggression in the collisions, the speed and connection in the defensive line and the arch poaching skills at the breakdown, all of which ushered George Ford to centre stage.
The England outhalf managed the game beautifully, punishing Argentina for every indiscretion and misstep, six penalties, three drop goals and all 27 points of his team’s final tally. He kept the barrels of the scoreboard spinning at regular intervals which provided the adrenaline required to keep his team-mates topped up to the max and in ultimately declawing the Pumas.
Ford modestly deflected the kudos. “The boys up front were incredible, to get ourselves into that field position, so all credit must go to them. It’s never about one individual. We’re a close-knit team.
“We’ve had a bit of a rocky build-up to this World Cup but the last 10 days there’s been a bit of a different feel about the place, the way the lads have grabbed hold of it and it’s a pleasure to be a part of.”
He said of his three drop goals, two from distance: “It’s always planned. It’s a great weapon for us, especially when the ball is a bit greasy. Also, we went a man down early on and we had to come away with as many points as possible when we had field position. We managed to do that.”
Argentina will be mortified in the performance review, the display a mishmash of indiscipline – 13 penalties and three freekicks conceded – basic errors, poor handling and a general carelessness in possession, compounded by aimless kicking. They lacked the courage to play, the way they can with pace and width, the staccato tempo of the game rarely rising above a crawl.
On the rare occasions that they did manage to engineer continuity through several phases and get within touching distance of the English line, only once through replacement Rodrigo Bruni’s late try were they able to execute without a mistake.
Argentina head coach Michael Cheika admitted: “Pretty much everything that could go wrong did go wrong. I think we let the play get too stop and start. England played the circumstances very well and full credit to them.
“There was almost no play. There were so many stoppages. The play we did get we didn’t master every well. That was by design by the other team. They did it very well. They put us in that corner.”
England led 12-3 at the interval, two of Ford’s hat-trick of drop goals beautifully pinged from distance. The outhalf continued to punish Argentina whose second-half display was as ragged as the opening 40 minutes and there was little of any consolation for the Pumas in their late try.
Victory gives England the box seat when it comes to making the quarter-finals and they are unlikely to give it up to their pool rivals who must stand up to the rigours of the weeks ahead. England’s patterns require plenty more polish particularly in attack but it’s easier to tune up when you’re winning.
SCORING SEQUENCE – 3 mins: Boffelli pen, 3-0; 10: Ford pen, 3-3; 26: Ford drop goal, 3-6; 30: Ford drop goal, 3-9; 36: Ford drop goal, 3-12. Half-time: 3-12. 44: Ford pen 3-15; 52: Ford pen, 3-18; 56: Ford pen, 3-21; 65: Ford pen, 3-24; 75: Ford pen, 3-27; 79: Bruni try, Boffelli con, 10-27.
ENGLAND: F Steward; J May, J Marchant, M Tuilagi, E Daly; G Ford, A Mitchell; E Genge, J George, D Cole; M Itoje, O Chessum; C Lawes (capt), T Curry, B Earl.
Replacements: W Stuart for Cole (49 mins); J Marler for Genge (52); D Care for Mitchell, G Martin for Chessum (both 56); L Ludlam for Lawes (66); Ó Lawrence for Tuilagi (68); T Dan for George (71); M Smith for Ford (75).
Yellow card: Tom Curry (2 mins). Red card: Curry (10).
ARGENTINA: J Cruz Mallia; E Boffelli, L Cinti, S Chocobares, M Carreras; S Carreras, G Bertranou; T Gallo, J Montoya (capt), F Gomez Kodela; M Alemanno, T Lavanini; P Matera, M Kremer, J Martin Gonzalez.
Replacements: M Moroni for Mallia (3-10 mins, HIA); G Petti for Alemanno (h-t); P Rubiolo for Lavanini, J Sclavi for Gomez Kodela (both 49); R Bruni for Gonzalez, E Bello for Gallo (both 61); M Moroni for M Carreras (62); Gallo for Scalvi (66); A Creevy for Montoya (68); L Bazan Velez for Bertranou (69).
Yellow card: Santiago Carreras (9 mins).
Referee: M Raynal (France).
