Flyhalf George Ford kicked all the points to lead 14-man England to a 27-10 victory over Argentina in their Rugby World Cup Pool D opener in Marseille, a performance full of intensity and guile from coach Steve Borthwick’s side.
Ford, in for suspended captain Owen Farrell, equalled the England record of three drop-goals in a World Cup game set 20 years ago in Australia by Jonny Wilkinson and gave a masterclass in kicking off the tee.
Such a comprehensive victory had looked unlikely when England lost flanker Tom Curry, playing his first game since May, three minutes into the game when he was given a yellow card, upgraded to a red on bunker review, following a dangerous tackle on Argentina fullback Juan Cruz Mallia.
The South American side were unable to counter England’s forward power, even with a man advantage, though, and were forced into numerous errors by the defensive organisation of their opponents, who put in comfortably their best performance under Borthwick.
It was a performance of great grit from England, who had four wins in their last 13 Tests, a win percentage of 33% under Borthwick, a 50-point loss to France recently and a first loss in their history to Fiji two weeks ago.
“Obviously a really good performance, you saw today how much it meant to us,” said England captain Courtney Lawes.
“We’ve not been performing, we know that, but today defensively unbelievable. Still plenty to work on, especially in attack but a good start to the tournament.”
On the red card, he added: “It’s obviously very unlucky that Cuzza [Tom Curry] got the red early on but I think you could tell the intensity we came out with: we wanted to shock Argentina, we knew we could and that just continued throughout the game.
“Not a great start but it didn’t matter. We had a great training week, we were just prepared for everything. (It was) pretty much worst-case scenario and we were ready for it and we dug in. We dug in for Cuzza and we dug in for each other.”
There were issues with crowd control before the game with fans stuck in a crush outside.
“We are aware of delays experienced by fans entering Stade de Marseille for the Rugby World Cup 2023 Pool D match between England and Argentina this evening,” said World Rugby in a statement.
“While fans were able to take their seats, fan experience is paramount, and we are working with all stakeholders to establish the facts and implement measures to prevent such delays for the remaining Rugby World Cup 2023 matches at the venue.”
pm
Roar Rookie
But it’s a bloke flying towards you in the air and you have to make a split-second decision whether to contest or wait and tackle (while trying to work out if you’re in the right spot). Can you do that already bent forward, where your upward vision and agility will both be impeded? It’s either that or a split-second bend as soon as he’s caught it. It’s very difficult.
scrum
Roar Rookie
Lots of legal tackles are made in every game - in fact the vast majority. And hip high is only dangerous if your technique and head placement poor. And I did not say hip high- lower rib cage or sternum. Most of the tackles sanctioned occur when the tackler is upright. It just a matter of dropping your height a foot or so. If you are upright it greatly increases the chances of head contact. That’s a basic concept- not difficult
Paulo
Roar Rookie
Not outlaw contestable kicks. We saw about 213 kicks (I have no idea how many we actually saw) in the weekend. Only a handful of iffy contests. The vast majority of those kicks are contested with issue. The issue isn’t the kicks, the issue is the decisions the players are making are different to what WR wants.
Paulo
Roar Rookie
If he goes too low, he probably would flip him if he was still in the air. If he’s on the ground it’s just be like every other low tackle. I’m suggesting WR wants him to make other decisions than the ones he did. That is where they are at and they are not changing right now, so it’s up to players to adjust. The logic or lack thereof of what they are asking is a debate for another day. Personally, I think his best option was to wait about 1m back and accelerate into his sternum when his foot touches ground.
Nobrain
Roar Guru
Nobody seems to be holding the ball so far in the tournament and that it is a fact. Coaches and players should take note and change their strategies.
Guess
Roar Rookie
So their problem was too many players
FunBus
Roar Rookie
I suppose the English 'put-down' to Aussie rugby would be '10-1 over the last 11 games between the sides.'
Adam
Roar Guru
If Argentina could actually hold onto the ball they probably had a chance. Was the ball a cake of soap? Then they got the score board pressure and started to drop it even more. I think the result was a mixture of a very poor Argentina and a very smart England
FunBus
Roar Rookie
Yes, it's totally unreasonable of me to comment on the sentiment that a major problem with the current RWC is the number of English people that are around at it. One thing I know for sure. If such a comment was made about Kiwis it wouldn't raise even a single retort. What with your famous thick skins... :happy:
FunBus
Roar Rookie
But, that's not all you said. You felt it necessary to say that one of the 'big downsides' of a RWC in France is the number of English people who attend.
pm
Roar Rookie
If they are going to referee it this way though they'll probably need to outlaw contestable kicks.
pm
Roar Rookie
But Paulo, you would suggest he goes in low for that? He's seeking to contest and then it becomes an absorbing tackle that goes wrong. Going in low he'd undercut the player and flip him.
pm
Roar Rookie
It's not at all simple. You want him to lower his head and go hip-high on a contest like that?
Nobrain
Roar Guru
Two things: 1- Argentina has a player wearing the number 10 in the back of his shirt and he is not a flyi- half. I Have been saying this since the put Carreras on that position. 2- Argentina is not mature enough to be the favourite, they rather be the underdogs which is something that they are used to and feel more confortable.
Paulo
Roar Rookie
Just ignore it, PeterK just tries to slip in a ‘ABs are cynical’ comment where he can, in an otherwise well reasoned and articulate comment history. Sorry Peter, but it’s true. None of us are perfect :silly:
W Evans
Roar Rookie
That’s the problem though. Many, many people are tuning out, especially in Australia but also in the Northern Hemisphere. English and Welsh rugby are basket cases. The problem is people who shut down the conversation with “but don’t you care about player welfare.” The thing is you need a game for players to play otherwise it’s chicken and egg. And there won’t be a marketable game shortly unless there is a balance introduced to the rules.
Objective Observer
Roar Rookie
Because I try to remain objective. We all do have biases, the point I was trying to make was that as someone who is not a fan of Eng, if I look at it objectively they were treated harshly in my opinion.
Paulo
Roar Rookie
I don’t know, I can think of at least one English fan who goes out of his way to be an arse… :laughing:
Paulo
Roar Rookie
No one said anything about not liking English people. It’s your language, you’d think you’d be better at it. Don’t take it so personal either, it’s a pretty common thing to do on here when discussing another team to avoid being called bias. Have you not noticed that before? Strange.
Paulo
Roar Rookie
If that’s how you feel, that’s how you feel. The game is not going back to what it was. You are free to move on and stop watching.