Bronze beauties: Dan and Earl steer England to third in the end
England ……………………….. 26pts
Tries: Earl 7, Dan 44
Conversions: Farrell 9, 45
Penalties: Farrell 3, 13, 30, 65
Argentina ……………………. 23pts
Tries: Cubelli 36, Carreras 42
Conversions: Boffelli 37, 43
Penalties: Boffelli 24, 50, Sanchez 68
At first glance a bronze medal third-place 2023 World Cup finish for an England side which came into the tournament looking like a busted flush after three years of mediocrity is cause for celebration.
However, it is too soon to break out the bunting, even though Steve Borthwick's England squad finished on a positive note in Paris with a dogged performance that brought them a narrow victory over Argentina – and sent Ben Youngs, their retiring record-holding 127 cap scrum-half, riding high into the international sunset.
It took England to two tournament wins over their South American pool rivals, and a measure of their improvement could be that this time, rather than relying on George Ford's drop goals and penalties as they did in Marseille seven weeks ago, they scored two tries, through Ben Earl and Theo Dan.
Set against that, they also conceded two tries, with Tomas Cubelli and Santiago Carreras crossing to keep the Pumas within striking distance until the final whistle. England also rode their luck, when, six minutes from time the usually reliable Argentine fly-half veteran, Nicolas Sanchez, missed a straightforward penalty which would have levelled it at 26-26, and probably forced extra time.
To England's credit, they kept their noses in front to finish with a tournament record of six wins, with their only reverse coming in last weekend's cliff-edge semi-final loss to South Africa.
The only notes of caution – and they are significant – is that the only nation England beat which is ranked among the top eight sides in the world was Argentina, and they avoided all the Six Nations teams from the stronger side of the draw who have beaten them regularly.
This included hosts France, whose loss to South Africa in the quarter-finals was only their third defeat in 24 internationals since the start of 2022, as well as reigning Six Nations Grand Slam champions Ireland, and also a Scotland side that has lost just once against England in their last six matches.
That shines a sharper perspective on how much progress England have made, but it is also true that they did not organise the World Cup draw – and they beat almost everyone put in front of them, and only went down after giving the Springboks an almighty fright.
England made the first inroads at the Stade de France when Tom Curry marked his 50th cap by winning a turn-over penalty. Owen Farrell kicked it to give his side an early lead, and this was extended soon afterwards thanks to a bustling 10 metre carry by the young Saracens hooker, Dan, which fractured the Argentine tackle line.
This saw Borthwick's team hit their stride as Earl, who has been England's most dynamic force throughout the tournament, sliced through the Pumas defence after taking a scoring pass from Marcus Smith to score a richly deserved first try for his country.
When Farrell converted, and soon kicked a second penalty to give England a 13-0 lead with 12 minutes on the clock, Argentina had been left in the starting blocks and looked as if they were still haunted by their semi-final drubbing by New Zealand.
Although, unlike South Africa, the Pumas scrum did not manage to disrupt England, they made some gains by putting up the high ball on Smith, and when they won a ruck penalty Emiliano Boffelli hit the target to make it 13-3.
However, when a third Farrell penalty made it 16-3 on the half-hour England appeared to be firmly in the driving seat. That changed in an instant when Argentina suddenly found the cohesion and accuracy to attack from deep through Juan Cruz Mallia and Boffelli. It gained momentum when Matteo Carreras bumped over Farrell, and Lucio Cinti put athletic flanker Juan Martin Gonzalez in the clear down the left touchline with an undetected forward pass.
As the Pumas ripped towards the England line with rapid-fire carries by loose-head Thomas Gallo and No.8 Facundo Isa, the final surge was provided by veteran scrum-half Cubelli. With the TMO unable to detect the forward pass despite examining the footage, Boffelli converted, and suddenly England's half-time lead was much less commanding at 16-10.
The second-half started with a bang, with an Argentine assault culminating in a spectacular solo try in which No.10 Santiago Carreras, taking a pass just outside the England 22, used his footwork and pace to slip the tackles of Dan, Ellis Genge, and Smith before scoring untouched.
However, no sooner had Boffelli added the extras to give Argentina the lead for the first time at 17-16, than England delivered a telling counter-punch straight from the restart. Pumas fly-half Carreras went from hero to villain when his low trajectory clearance was charged down by Dan, and the burly young hooker gathered the bounce to dive over.
Farrell's conversion restored England's lead at 23-17, but, with both teams emptying their benches, Argentina narrowed the deficit to 23-20 through a Boffelli penalty with half an hour left on the clock.
At this juncture, with England bringing on a fresh front row full of experience in the form of Dan Cole and Jamie George, and youth in loose-head Bevan Rodd, they made headway – and when Pumas bench tight-head Eduardo Bello dropped to a knee during a scrum, Farrell's penalty made it 26-20 with 15 minutes remaining.
The tension mounted when, two minutes later, Ford was deemed offside during an Argentine attack, and Sanchez – who had come on at 10 for Carreras – slotted the penalty to trim the deficit to 26-23.
With the game in the balance, Argentina used the introduction of bulky loose-head Joel Sclavi to mount scrum pressure, and also launch Matteo Carreras, their powerful danger-man, at every turn.
This contrasted starkly with England's total failure to launch winger Henry Arundell in attack, leading to his replacement by Ollie Lawrence. However, with the assistance of Sanchez's penalty miss, and a scrum which dugin, England escaped to victory.
Whether it will breed enough confidence, and consistency, to bring about the change in Six Nations fortunes in three months time that England supporters yearn for, is in the balance. The bronze medal is, however, a step in the right direction.
