They would have taken this – as the saying goes —before the start of the World Cup. They would have taken this; bronze medals and an honourable third-place finish, when England were in apparent disarray.
They would have taken this straight after the defeat against Fiji at Twickenham at the end of August, when the prospects of such a lofty position in the global pecking order would have seemed fanciful — delusional even.
They would have taken this after the national team slumped to a record-breaking, half-century humiliation at the hands of France, in front of a stunned home crowd in the last Six Nations. They certainly would have taken this after Eddie Jones was abruptly sacked last December, to leave a void, an almighty mess and a mountain to climb in a hurry.
So who are ‘they’? The RFU —who had presided over a chaotic and ill-fated four-year cycle between the last global showpiece and this 2023 edition. The union hierarchy will have surveyed events at the Stade de France with a profound sense of relief.
But ‘they’ are also the fans who were fearing the worst when this World Cup began and have ended up with a reasonable return on whatever faint hope they had left. It wasn’t always pretty, but England came through. They turned it round, from the depths of spring and summer chaos, to late autumn shoots of recovery and positivity. Steve Borthwick’s team surpassed expectations.
Ben Earl scored as England claimed a 26-23 victory against Argentina to claim the bronze medal at the Rugby World Cup
Theo Dan (middle) also scored, charging down a clearance kick to help give England the win
Ben Youngs made his final appearance in an England shirt, after announcing he will retire after tonight’s game
Last night, the Red Rose campaign concluded as it began, with victory over Argentina. First time round, it was heroism in adversity as 14 Englishmen made light of Tom Curry’s third-minute red card to dispatch the Pumas 27-10 on a steamy night in Marseille. This time, the flanker’s team-mates responded to his recent ordeal with another gritty win, albeit an untidy, unconvincing one.
Curry had been engulfed by South African poison and indignation ever since complaining to referee Ben O’Keeffe in last weekend’s semi-final that he had been racially abused by Springbok hooker Bongi Mbonambi. Having been selected to start at blindside last night, the 25-year-old was met with a neutral reception by the crowd in Paris, as he emerged from the tunnel ahead of his 50th Test appearance. He wasn’t feted, but he wasn’t jeered either.
What followed was an opening quarter when England took charge, but were unable to totally shake off the flawed but tenacious Pumas. A third-minute Owen Farrell penalty set the ball rolling for his team and five minutes later, they claimed an impressive try.
Hooker Theo Dan has emerged as an explosive attacking talent at domestic level and he showed that ability as he blasted through a series of defenders to give England precious momentum. The ball was sent left, Farrell released Marcus Smith and the full-back’s smart, delayed pass sent Ben Earl storming through a gap and on to the line. It was the latest highlight of the No 8’s eye-catching contribution at this World Cup and Farrell converted to make it 10-0.
England’s players and staff were presented with bronze medals after the game
It was a hard fought win for England, with Farrell (middle) kicking four penalties
Courtney Lawes will also retire from international rugby after a stellar career
It was heartache for Argentina, who dropped to their haunches after giving everything during the match
A win would have seen Argentina finish third in the tournament for the first time since 2007, their highest-ever placing
Another penalty by the captain further extended the lead but the match degenerated. There were errors galore and neither side could establish fluency and sustained pressure. England were the better of the two, but it was far from a classic.
Farrell was on target again at the other end. Then came a try from nowhere for the Pumas, to create the semblance of a contest again. Julian Montoya broke from a rolling maul and his side came alive.
Juan Cruz Mallia made ground down the right, then the raid continued down the opposite flank and — despite what appeared to be a forward pass in the build-up, several drives through the England 22 ended scrum-half Tomas Cubelli touching down. Boffelli converted to reduce the gap to six points going into half-time.
After the interval, all hell broke loose. Two minutes into the second half, Argentina were ahead. An attack nearly broke down when Manu Tuilagi flattened opposite number Jeronimo de la Fuente with a sledgehammer tackle and the ball went loose. But the Pumas regained possession and Santiago Carreras capitalised – slaloming through the England defence and around Smith to go clear and strike under the posts. Boffelli’s extras made it 16-17. It was some turn-around.
But the pendulum swung back again, seconds after the re-start, as the chaos continued. Santiago Carreras’ attempted clearance kick was charged down by Dan, who ran through, picked up and crashed over the Argentine line.
But England were made to work for the win, with Argentina pushing them right to the end with Tomas Cubelli crashing over at the end of the first-half
Santiago Carreras would break through the England defence to score their second try after the break
But England would hold on, despite Argentina’s advances at the end of the match
With multiple players set to retire, Steve Borthwick will now look to a new age of English rugby, with many young stars coming through the ranks
Farrell converted again to put his side 23-17 up, but another Boffelli penalty from long range kept the Pumas firmly in the hunt. With 15 minutes remaining, Farrell’s latest three-pointer put England in the driving seat again, then back came Argentina and a Nicolas Sanchez penalty set up a tense climax. But when the fly-half had a shot to level the scores four minutes from time, he missed it.
So here’s another recap of the English efforts in France these past two months. They won six of their seven matches and the only one they lost was by a single point — when they were within touching distance of knocking the defending-champion Boks out in the last four.
Trying to build a team and game-plan on the hoof, England made use of their favourable draw to add layers as they went. They were strong and gallant in the opener, pragmatic and ultimately emphatic in the win over Japan, then enjoyed a try-spree in the demolition of part-timers Chile. They dodged an upset in a late fightback against Samoa and calmly problem-solved when Fiji threatened to turn their quarter-final upside-down.
The solitary loss was the unfortunate up-shot of England’s best performance, but then came this. It was initially impressive, but it became erratic. Poor Smith was targeted by the Pumas and poor Henry Arundell barely touched the ball before being replaced. It was scrappy and ugly, but they hung on. Having claimed bronze here, Borthwick has some cause for hope as he starts plotting the next English golden age.