Early Red Card Fails to Scupper Win

MARSEILLE – England shook off an early red card to beat Argentina 27-10 in their Pool D match at the Stade de Marseille on Saturday.

England fly-half George Ford kicked all of his side’s points as they beat Argentina 27-10 at Stade de Marseille on Saturday, despite playing almost the entire match with 14 players.

England flanker Tom Curry was shown a yellow card, later upgraded to red following a review, after a head clash with Argentina full-back Juan Cruz Mallia in the third minute of the Pool D match.

However, Ford kicked six penalties and three drop goals as Steve Borthwick’s side made a big statement at Rugby World Cup 2023 with their victory in Marseille.

Ford, the Mastercard Player of the Match, praised the England forward pack for creating the field positions from which he could launch his drop goals, which he admitted were always going to be part of his team’s armoury.

“It’s always planned,” said Ford. “It’s a great weapon for us, especially when the ball’s a bit greasy.

“We went a man down early on and we had to come away with as many points as possible when we had field position. We managed to do that.”

‘Pretty much everything’ goes wrong for Argentina

Courtney Lawes, the England flanker, also gave credit to the battling forwards.

“Coley (Dan Cole) and Gengey (Ellis Genge) and Jinksy (Jamie George), the front three, unbelievable,” he said.

“They really were the cornerstone of our game today, won loads of penalties and with penalties come territory and come points – basically won us the game.”

Argentina head coach Michael Cheika was frustrated that his team could not take advantage of their numerical superiority.

He said: “There was almost no play. There were so many stoppages. The play we did get we didn’t master every well. That was by design by the other team. They did it very well. They put us in that corner.

“Pretty much everything that could go wrong did go wrong. I think we let the play get too stop and start. England played the circumstances very well and full credit to them.”

Reaction from England’s Mastercard Player of the Match George Ford, captain Courtney Lawes, head coach Steve Borthwick and full-back Freddie Steward following their 27-10 win against Argentina at Stade de Marseille on Saturday, 9 September.

George Ford, Mastercard Player of the Match, fly-half on his three drop-goals being part of a planned strategy:

“It’s always planned. It’s a great weapon for us, especially when the ball’s a bit greasy. Also we went a man down early on and we had to come away with as many points as possible when we had field position. We managed to do that.

“The boys up front were incredible, to get ourselves into that field position. So all credit must go to them.”

On the team coming together in adversity to turn their fortunes around:

“It’s never about one individual. We’re a close-knit team. We’ve had a bit of a rocky build-up to this World Cup but the last 10 days there’s been a bit of a different feel about the place, the way the lads have grabbed hold of it and it’s a pleasure to be a part of. I must say it’s only the start of course, it’s game one, we’ll look to build on it next week.

“Winning the first game is always a good thing against a quality team like Argentina. But again, it’s only the first game. We’ve got some tough games to come and we’re in a position where we want to keep improving.”

Courtney Lawes, captain, flanker on the performance after England’s recent struggles:

“Obviously a really good performance, you saw today how much it meant to us. We’ve not been performing, we know that, but today defensively unbelievable. Still plenty to work on, especially in attack but a good start to the tournament.”

On England’s red card not mattering to the team on the field:

“It’s obviously very unlucky that Cuzza (Tom Curry) got the red early on but I think you could tell the intensity we came out with: we wanted to shock Argentina, we knew we could and that just continued throughout the game. Not a great start but it didn’t matter. We had a great training week, we were just prepared for everything. (It was) pretty much worst-case scenario and we were ready for it and we dug in. We dug in for Cuzza and we dug in for each other.”

On England’s front three being critical to the win:

“Obviously Coley (Dan Cole) and Gengey (Ellis Genge) and Jinksy (Jamie George) as well, the front three, unbelievable. They really were the cornerstone of our game today, won loads of penalties and with penalties come territory and come ponts – basically won us the game.”

“It’s massive it could have gone very wrong but, as I said, we dug in for each other. It’s fantastic to be able to get a win.”

Steve Borthwick, head coach on his side proving the pre-match doubters wrong:

“I am really pleased for the players. As I said before, they felt that people were writing them off a little bit too early. I’m pleased with many aspects of the performance, particularly clearly the attitude and composure under pressure against a very good Argentina team.”

“When people talk about the players, what I see is a great group of players who have a lot of experience and some real exciting young players and I thought the blend was just about right today.”

On England being blessed with a trio of great fly-halves:

“We’ve got really good players in that position with Owen Farrell, George Ford, Marcus Smith – we are blessed.”

On turning his gaze to England’s next game against Japan:

“We’ll have a good review of this game. The context was changed very early in the game, which set the tone for the rest of the game. Next week will be a different battle.”

Steve Borthwick, head coach on the leadership shown by England’s senior players:

“I thought George Ford was magnificent this evening. We can all talk about his kicking, what he did scoring the points but the composure and the management he showed throughout. Tonight is another example of the great leadership in this England team. A lot has been said in the past about the leadership within the England team but what I see is a group that is packed full of senior pros who are fantastic leaders. Like the man next to me (Courtney Lawes), George Ford, we could discuss Jamie George, Ellis Genge, the list could go on.

On Ford’s remarkable skills as a strategic fly-half:

“His (Ford’s) ability to think clearly in the highest-pressure circumstances is exemplary. You can tell with those players they seem to have more time. When he was kicking those drop-goals, it felt like he had more time. When he was kicking those high balls, it felt like he had more time, and that is a sign of a real top-quality player.”

On the players bouncing back from criticism they have received following England’s Rugby World Cup warm-up performances:

“I talked in the week how I sensed from the players that they felt they’d been written off a little too early. I think we’ve got a quality group of players and I reiterate that again, and you saw that on the pitch today. That blend of experience – a lot of people have been talking and writing columns about that experience and I thought the players showed their experience today on the big occasion.”

On George Ford kicking three drop-goals in a similar fashion to South Africa’s Jannie de Beer, who kicked five against England at Rugby World Cup 1999:

“I am seeing him kicking the goals, (they are) being played on this TV now. We all know, I am sure you’ve all looked at it, that in the World Cup there is a higher instance of drop-goals… I thought George took the opportunities really well today.”

On being delighted for the players, the fans in Marseille and the fans back home:

“I am really pleased for the players because they have been putting in an enormous amount of hard work and you want to see the reward of it and players started to see the reward tonight.

“The second thing I am really pleased for is the supporters around that stadium tonight, I thought they were really magnificent. I said before we have tens of thousands of England supporters in France and they are going to follow us around and spend an awful lot of money to do that so we want to make sure they have nights to remember and I think they will remember tonight.

“And the third group I would say about is all the people back home on the sofas, in the living rooms, the pubs and I hope they had a really good night tonight.”

On his view of Tom Curry’s red card and the yellow awarded soon after to Argentina’s Santiago Carreras:

“Clearly I am not going to comment on the one going through a disciplinary process now.

“I thought the other one was quite interesting. It looked very similar to an instance a few weeks ago that got upgraded to a red.”

Courtney Lawes, captain on the team’s “effort and intent” being what won them the game:

“It wasn’t just the public that was disappointed in our performances, it was us as well. So, first and foremost, we wanted to get it right for each other and we did that today. What really won us that game was effort and intent, especially in defence. And then set-piece, we came to the party and we were able to put some points on the board.

On Ford’s skills also being critical to the victory:

“Obviously Fordy (George Ford) had an unbelievable game and he led us around the park. When you have got a good se- piece and a good 10, you have got a good chance of winning.

“He just sees things that a lot of players don’t see. And obviously he’s not just got the job of getting himself up, he’s also got to organise the team around him and he does that exceptionally well. Today, he really put us in a position to go and win that game.”

On a need to celebrate a victory like that:

“It’s obviously a great atmosphere (in the changing room). It’s tough to win against the Pumas even with 15 men, so to do it with 14 is obviously a pretty big ask. There’s some pretty spent players in the changing room but we’re going to have a good time tonight. We’ve got to celebrate that kind of win.

“We still haven’t played exactly as well as we would have liked, so there’s plenty to improve upon.”

George Ford, fly-half on whether that performance was brewing:

“Inside the camp, we know we have not been too far away in certain areas. We felt like there was a performance building. The boys up front did a brilliant job of putting us in the right field position. Alex Mitchell and Danny Care both kicked brilliantly and we were so disciplined defensively, which gave us an opportunity to score the points.”

On his drop-goals:

“Marcus [Smith], Faz [Owen Farrell] and myself do some drop-goals after every session. It is such a crucial, critical weapon at times, and you’ve seen how influential it has been at World Cups. We get the nines [scrum-halves] to pass us the ball and get other players to put pressure on us. We try to make it as realistic as possible.

“The thing with drop-goals is the best time to take one is when the opposition least expect it. So you try to disguise it a bit, to give yourself more time and space. But the whole plan wasn’t about drop-goals, it was just about imposing pressure and coming away with points.

“We were laughing because out of this squad, Danny Care is the one who has the most drop-goals for England, so I thought ‘That’s not right, I need to put an end to that’.”

On threatening to match Jannie de Beer’s Rugby World Cup record of five in a match:

“That’s incredible. I thought I was on track at one point! But the crucial one was probably the third one, which took us more than seven points ahead. That was critical in a game where the ball was greasy and it was going to be hard to move the ball and score tries.”

On whether the ball being used at this Rugby World Cup travels further:

“You saw last night [in the France-New Zealand game] how far lads were kicking the ball. I think the temperature makes a massive difference. The ball is different to the ones we use in the [English] Premiership. I’m not sure how but they do seem to travel a lot faster and further in the air.”

Freddie Steward, full-back on pre-Rugby World Cup form not being important:

“It’s been said a lot; these are the games that matter. Coming into a World Cup, regardless of our form, we started on zero points. Today particularly we had to be tough. Obviously we lost Cuzza (Tom Curry) early on and I suppose it’s the ultimate test isn’t it, when you go a man down, can you still find something and we did today.”

On George Ford being a ‘dream’ to play with:

“He is one of those players that make it look so easy. He makes everyone else look great and that’s the telling side of a player like George. He’s a dream to play with. It’s so nice when you stand behind him and he’s slotting drop-goals for fun, it makes everyone else’s life a lot easier. He’s such a tactician.

“It’s very easy when you lose a man to hit the panic button and everyone’s like ‘Argh’ and heads are in the air but Fordy was ice cool about it and when you have one person doing it, it radiates around the team.

“To have someone like him at 10 you just trust him. You trust that he is going to make the right decision.”

On the importance of ‘having a few beers’ in order to deepen the team’s ‘bond’:

“I think we will have a few beers and get around each other. It’s important, we’ve got a very short space of time and we have to keep bonding and keep getting closer and sometimes the best way to do it is to sit round and have a few beers.”

On the team having found some belief from their recent performance against Wales when they went down to 12 men for a period:

“Definitely, when you’ve been somewhere before it’s always easier to channel that. Throughout this whole pre-season there’s still been genuine belief.”

On defence coach Kevin Sinfield’s big priorities:

“Kev is big on covering each other’s back, that’s his big thing. What he wants is a defensive unit that is going to work incredibly hard for each other and when it goes wrong cover up for each other.”