England edge past Argentina to claim third place at rugby World Cup

England's brand of unfrilly rugby gained them third place at the World Cup on Friday night following a 26-23 win over Argentina.

Steve Borthwick's players zoomed into a 13-0 lead at the Stade de France within a quarter of an hour.

Skipper Owen Farrell - unceremoniously booed - scored eight of the points. As well as adding the two points after Ben Earl's try in the seventh minute, he knocked over two penalties with his customary fortitude to provide a platform for his side.

And he swapped penalties with Emiliano Boffelli to keep England in the driving seat at 16-3.

Fight

But Argentina had the last word of the first-half. Tomas Cubelli managed to power over and Boffelli converted to send the sides in with all to play for inthe second half.

Argentina emerged from the pause with a running game in mind to counter England's kicking and it paid instant dividends. Santiago Carreras shimmied and sliced through three tackles to dive over under the posts. Boffelli added the two points to offer the South Americans the lead that their adventure deserved.

But it was gone in a flash. Theo Dan charged down Carreras's clearing kick, got the luck of the bounce and picked up the ball to go over under the posts.

Tight

Farrell converted for the two points and a 23-17 lead.

Boffelli brought it back to 23-20 before Farrell restored the six point lead.

Nicolas Sanchez trimmed it to three with a penalty but five minutes from time, another effort that would have brought parity and possibly extra-time, veered to the left. 

Argentina coach Michael Cheika rued the lost opportunity.

"We didn't score enough points when we were at our best," he added. "But to be here on 27 October is a positive for us.

"When we got here we wanted to be in France as long as possible andd here we are. We have shown the capacity and ability to overecome obstacles."

Sanchez' miss offered symmetry to England who began their campaign with victory over Argentina on 9 September on a sultry evening in Marseille.

Six weeks later on a rainy night just outside Paris, they won again.

"Delighted that the team found a way to win," said Borthwick. Third place defied England's prelude to the tournament when they won only two of their nine matches.

In France, they have lost one in seven.
"I always believed we were building towards September and the start of the tournament," he added. 

"I will review the tournament objectively and address what we need to do going forward. The players need to be proud of what they have achieved."