Rugby World Cup: England-Argentina 26-23, English finish third

It was “only” a final for 3rd place, but it was a real battle: England took the podium after an 80-minute marathon. Borthwick’s team dominates the first half hour, goes ahead 13-0 but wastes the knockout blow and allows the Pumas to come back behind. In the second half there were many mistakes on both sides, understandable after 2 months of playing everything. Argentina responds blow for blow, but pays for the errors of its fly-halves: first Santiago Carreras, who has a free kick intercepted which causes Dan’s goal, then Nicolas Sanchez who, 5 minutes from the end, misses the kick of draw and ends the last match of his career in tears. England suffers, is perhaps pardoned when in the end they suffer a lot in an orderly scrum, but in the end they take home the podium.

Battle

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Furious start for the English, who with Smith and Farrell kick in the Argentine half of the pitch and with the third lines put great pressure on the Pumas: Curry wins the first free kick and Farrell himself – amidst the boos at the Stade de France – opens the score , then in the 7th minute Smith serves a great ball to Ben Earl who splits the Pumas defense in two and flies towards the goal. Farrell converts, then in the 13th minute he scores another 3 points to make it 13-0. At the first opportunity, Argentina was brutally repelled by the English scrum, which demolished the opponent’s first line and took the ball back by force. Boffelli moves the scoreboard for the Pumas’ first 3 points, but Farrell responds immediately on the other side. England seem to be in control, but in the 34th minute a burst from Argentina reopens everything: Gonzalez Samso’s hole on the left side brings him back into the 22, then Cubelli attacks firsthand taking advantage of Farrell’s defensive uncertainty and scores. Boffelli converts and takes the Pumas down “only” 16-10 at halftime.

Comebacks and gifts

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In the second half Argentina started better, boosted by the crescendo of the first half: England gave away a couple of balls too many, and in the 42nd minute Santiago Carreras broke the tackles of Dan and Genge and found himself in front of a field to fly in between the posts: 17-16. Ironically, a minute later the roles are reversed: Carreras has a free kick blocked by Dan, who crushes the ball in solitude for the immediate counter-overtaking: 26-17. A naivety from Arundell allows Boffelli to shorten from the pitch, then it is once again Gonzalez Samso who plays the charge but a great intervention from Ben Earl saves everything. A whirlwind of substitutions with the experienced Ford and Sanchez coming on for their respective teams, but the Argentine midfielder made two serious errors – and not by him – which brought England back into attack. Farrell extends the lead again to 26-20.

The end

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Sanchez partially redeems himself by putting in the -3 kick, then begins the assault. Argentina changes the inertia of the orderly scrum and pushes the English back twice, comes back in the 22 and in the 75th minute earns the free kick for a possible equalizer: Sanchez, however, sends the ball wide which would have been worth extra time. A splendid Mateo Carreras tries again, who is stopped at the 22 by Farrell, then Earl holds a very difficult ball on an Argentine scrum still advancing. The last minute is possession, then Farrell shoots out. England wins 26-23 and takes third place. Nicolas Sanchez’s career ends in the worst possible way, as he leaves in tears after missing one of the most important kicks of his life.