By Mitch Phillips
PARIS (Reuters) – When England played Argentina on the first weekend of the Rugby World Cup they were coming off five defeats in six games with doubts swirling about their prospects, but when they meet again in the bronze final on Friday it is on a run of five wins in six games.
Of course the one that spoiled that streak was the agonising one-point semi-final defeat by South Africa, but it is still an England team unrecognisable in confidence and execution from the one that endured a dismal August warm-up campaign.
Coach Steve Borthwick had constantly promised that they would be ready on Sept. 9 and, sure enough, that night in Marseille changed everything – for both teams.
England recovered from having flanker Tom Curry sent off in the third minute to deliver a totally dominant display in a 27-10 victory, brilliantly marshalled by flyhalf George Ford, and were suddenly a team full of self-belief.
Argentina, who had arrived ranked two places higher than England, had one of their worst performances for years, worryingly allowing themselves to visibly lose heart after Ford banged over his third drop goal in a nine-minute spell.
England eventually advanced as pool winners, then beat Fiji before their Springbok loss, while Argentina improved to beat Japan to clinch second place then see off Wales in the quarter-final.
But while England won plaudits for their tactics and technique in defeat by South Africa, Argentina were back where they started, utterly brushed aside by New Zealand 44-6 in one of the most one-side semis in the history of the tournament.
Borthwick and Pumas coach Michael Cheika followed their defeats by immediately stressing that they were treating the bronze final as a match they were taking very seriously.
Borthwick said it was an opportunity to give more players some big-game World Cup experience, while Cheika said simply: “we can’t leave like this”.
England’s game plan is likely to be a little more ambitious than in the opening fixture, when their tactics were somewhat dictated by their numerical disadvantage, and it is now Owen Farrell rather than the benched Ford at flyhalf.
They have made eight changes from their semi-final team, with the most notable aspect being a new-look back three of Marcus Smith at fullback, Henry Arundell and Freddie Steward and the trio will certainly hope that England will look to move the ball wide more often.
Borthwick said that both teams have grown since that opening fixture. “Argentina have developed a very long kicking game,” he said. “They have used that to great effect, particularly in the quarter-final to force the opposition into errors. They have developed phase attack game. Both teams have played more games together so I think it is a different contest.”
Cheika made only three changes and said mentality was crucial in a fixture that is often derided as irrelevant and unwanted by exhausted and disappointed players.
“In these final matches that are more important, desire is key,” he said. “Winning the bronze medal is very important for the future and the legacy of the most experienced players. Finishing as high as we can was always the goal.”
England’s pool win was their 11th in the teams’ last 12 meetings, with Argentina’s sole success during that period coming at Twickenham 11 months ago. England have also won all four of the teams’ pool clashes at the World Cup.
Teams:
Argentina: 15-Juan Cruz Mallia, 14-Emiliano Boffelli, 13-Lucio Cinti, 12-Jeronimo de la Fuente, 11-Mateo Carreras, 10-Santiago Carreras, 9-Tomas Cubelli, 8-Facundo Isa, 7-Marcos Kremer, 6-Juan Martin Gonzalez, 5-Pedro Rubiolo, 4-Guido Petti, 3-Francisco Gomez Kodela, 2-Julian Montoya (captain), 1-Thomas Gallo
Replacements: 16-Agustin Creevy, 17-Joel Sclavi, 18-Eduardo Bello, 19-Matias Alemanno, 20-Rodrigo Bruni, 21-Lautaro Bazan Velez, 22-Nicolas Sanchez, 23-Matias Moroni.
England:
15-Marcus Smith, 14-Freddie Steward, 13-Joe Marchant, 12-Manu Tuilagi, 11-Henry Arundell, 10-Owen Farrell (captain), 9-Ben Youngs, 8-Ben Earl, 7-Sam Underhill, 6-Tom Curry, 5-Ollie Chessum, 4-Maro Itoje, 3-Will Stuart, 2-Theo Dan, 1-Ellis Genge.
Replacements: 16-Jamie George, 17-Bevan Rodd, 18-Dan Cole, 19-David Ribbans, 20-Lewis Ludlum, 21-Danny Care, 22-George Ford, 23-Ollie Lawrence.
(Reporting by Mitch Phillips, editing by Christian Radnedge)
