Did England beat Argentina in rugby?

England finish third at the Rugby World Cup for the first time by stopping waves of late Argentina attacks and prevailing 26-23 in a tense playoff.

Argentina’s attack was brought up short by too many handling errors but they did eventually string together a sharp move, albeit with what looked a clear forward pass, that finished with scrumhalf Tomas Cubelli squeezing through for a try.

Emiliano Boffelli’s conversion and an earlier penalty, and another for Farrell, meant it was 16-10 at the break.

EXPLOSIVE START

There was an explosive start to the second half as the ever-elusive Santiago Carreras slipped through three England tackles to score under the posts.

The lead lasted less than two minutes, however, as hooker Theo Dan, who was the worst culprit for the try, got immediate revenge by charging down Carreras and picking up to score.

A Boffelli penalty closed the deficit to three and there was then a scruffy 15-minute spell as replacements poured on, kicks went astray and tackles were missed.

England then earned a scrum penalty that Farrell slotted, only for replacement Sanchez to do the same for the Pumas to set up a tense finale.

Having been overhauled by South Africa so heartbreakingly three minutes from the end of their semi-final last week on the same pitch, England found themselves facing a similar scenario as Argentina won a penalty with five minutes left. However, from far out on the left, Sanchez pulled it wide.

This time England saw out the final minutes and, though the prize was not of remotely the same magnitude, it still meant they finished the tournament with six wins from seven games and bronze medals to show for it.

“You have to be able to play rugby a few ways and we are developing that and hopefully it will keep improving,” said Farrell after England made it 12 wins in the teams’ last 13 meetings. “We want to show this team fight for every minute of the game. In a scrappy game like that, we proved that again.”

England coach Steve Borthwick added: “It wasn’t a game of incredible high quality but one of high tension. Immense credit to Argentina for the way they played and the way they have gone through this tournament. You can see both teams have progressed through it and while it wasn’t a classic of free-flowing rugby, it was a tight affair.”

Michael Cheika, whose future as Argentina coach remains uncertain, was unhappy with the officiating.

“We didn’t get the rub of the green on many things but we still stayed in the game,” he said. “I’m disappointed with the way the game was refereed and the consistency. I feel for the lads as they deserved more than what they got out of today.”

Instead, it would prove only buffer for to withstand what must have felt like a gruelling rear-guard action, in what was a hostile atmosphere with Argentine and French supporters uniting to boo almost everything England attempted.

Perhaps it was the experience of Henry Arundell, who scored five tries in the victory over Chile, and had the chance to equal Chris Ashton’s record of six tries at the 2011 World Cup, that amplified the work in progress that remains.

Arundell did not touch the ball once in the first half and gave away a penalty after a miscued kick when he was given the ball in space for the first time after the break.

It was in sharp contrast to the growing attacking threat of Los Pumas, Carreras in particular. The experiment of starting Marcus Smith was also like a curate’s egg.

This World Cup may have lacked the finale desired by the romantics, but this tournament if nothing else has provided late drama, and even with only a bronze medal at stake, another England game was going down to the wire.

By the time Boffelli nailed a penalty from 45-metres to bring it back to a three-point game – and Earl won a crucial jackal penalty in front of England’s posts to relieve more pressure, a decision that provoked an angry reaction from Los Pumas head coach Michael Cheika – Argentina had completely seized control.

Boffelli launched another high ball, but despite a surge by Gonzalez and knock-on allowed England to catch their breath and run down the clock with a scrum. There was still time for more drama, with Carreras again storming up the left-hand touchline from deep, floored by a brave tackle by George Ford. It was Argentina’s last chance.

Yet for all the celebrations, on Saturday night, the England squad can only watch on as South Africa and New Zealand battle it out to be world champions. That should not be lost on them.

Their gargantuan effort against the Springboks, and a six-day turnaround, had left England leaden-footed. Arundell’s evening would only get worse, miscuing a kick and conceding a penalty.

Dan was at least able to make swift amends by charging down Carreras from the restart and showing great skill to gather and score under the posts. It was a hammer blow to Argentina but did nothing to dent their spirit.

Boffelli nailed a penalty from 45-metres to bring it back to a three-point game and Earl won a crucial jackal penalty in front of England’s posts to relieve more pressure, a decision that provoked an angry reaction from Los Pumas head coach Michael Cheika.

England turned to their bench for energy and purpose. And the boot of Farrell. Not deterred by the booing from a mix of Argentinian and French supporters, the England captain landed a fourth penalty – only for Sanchez to reply with one of his own.

A powerful surge by Mateo Carreras, bumping off a tackle by Smith took him searing into the England 22. England were penalised for not rolling away but this time Sanchez could not convert to level the scores and set up the probability of extra time.