England leave it late
England scored the only try of the match as they edged out Argentina 13-9 in a brutal World Cup, Pool B arm-wrestle at the new Otago Stadium in Dunedin on Saturday.
This surely was as tough as it gets and as strange as it gets.
Two sides slogged it out with such great intensity that it was enthralling, ending in relief for England and grief for Argentina - a match the Pumas could well have won to replicate their opening feat of 2007 when they beat France.
It was not pretty, but, heavens, it was engrossing, and it ended with many if-onlys.
The biggest if-onlys were the kickers. There the players were playing in perfect conditions in a sealed, closed stadium, brand new and shiny, no climate to bother them and they kicked appallingly, one of them the great Jonny Wilkinson. Wilkinson missed five kicks in a match won 13-9 and the two Puma kickers - Felipe Contepomi and Martín Rodríguez - missed six, four in the first half alone. Kicks enough were missed to produce a handsome victory for either side.
That was a big feature of the game. The other was the intensity of the play - the concentration of the players as they made tackles and competed for possession. For much of the match it was the Argentinians who did both best - tackled and competed, but in the end they lost on a slipped tackle which had more to do with the brilliance of replacement scrumhalf Ben Youngs than his would-be tackler. Youngs changed the game - Youngs and perhaps a slightly fading Puma fitness.
Then, too, the Pumas suffered telling injuries. Felipe Contepomi, so much the lodestar of the side, damaged ribs, soldiered on bravely but left in the first half to be replaced by Marcelo Bosch and then later in the half Gonzalo Tiesi was also helped off after Courtney Lawes had slammed into him from behind.
The match produced a yellow card - a punishment for the team rather than for Dan Coles as England were penalised for the seventh time in and around tackles. The penalty count in the first half was 8-4 againnst them but ended 15-12 in their favour. The side less penalised prospered more.
The scrum contest, expected to be a major feature, did not really materialise as there were just two in the first half and half a dozen in the match altogether but they were messy, the six producing eight collapses, seven resets and four penalties. Just as well there were not more.
Both sides protected the ball well at the tackle but there was precious little quick ball in the match despite the referee's sanctions. The Pumas in fact seemed to prefer their ball slow and thoughtful.
In the midst of all the beefy effort there was also some brilliant running, especially by Gonzalo Camacho and Ben Foden. But in the end it was Youngs who made the difference.
England played in their annoying black strip which became even more annoying as their numbers became tatty - not great at such a swish tournament.
Contepomi kicked off for the Pumas and they scored first when the second penalty against England enabled Contepomi to put his side 3-0 up after 6 minutes. But then Rodrigo Roncero tacked high and Wilkinson goaled, not giving a hint of his erratic performance to come. Coles may have got the yellow card but Roncero was the most penalised in the match - five times before he was substituted.
After Wilkinson's penalty the Pumas missed three till Andrew Sheridan was penalised and warned and Martín Rodríguez kicked the goal while Contepomi was getting his ribs strapped.
Foden then slashed through the midfield on a long run which could well have ended in a try but Juan Manuel Leguizamón got him and the chance fizzled out with Delon Armitage.
Just before half-time Coles was sent to the sin bin.
The Pumas started the second half in promising style as Rodríguez went on a long break and Bosch did good things to set up the attack but the Pumas had to be satisfied with a Rodríguez penalty when Lawes was offside. 9-3 after 44 minutes.
Coles returned and then Youngs replaced Wigglesworth. That was significant.
In the match England had three five-metre line-outs. The Pumas coped well but from the second England went wider, crabbing across beyond the posts and then suddenly Youngs scooted round for a try under the posts. 10-9 with just 13 minutes to play.
Roncero was penalised at a scrum and the kick was easy enough for Wilkinson to goal. 13-9 with 6 minutes to play.
Youngs nearly set up a try when he chipped right for Chris Ashton to get a perfect bounce but Juan José Imhoff caught him from behind. A penalty gave England another five-metre line-out on their right and Armitage was just tackled out at the left corner.
Desperate, the Pumas broke out of their own 22 with a great run by Bosch and a sudden burst of energy from a line-out but a penalty against Agustin Greevy killed off their chances.
Man of the Match: Do you give it to a player who played less than half the match but made the winning difference as Ben Youngs did? And what about the exciting running of Ben Foden, Gonzalo Camacho and Marcelo Bosch? And what about the bravery of loose forwards Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe, Juan Manuel Leguizamón and James Haskell? Our choice of Man of the Match is Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe who was so strong, so committed and so effective.
Moment of the Match: Nick Youngs's try.
Villain of the match: Generally it was well contained but the game could have done without Courtney Lawes's bang into Gonzalo Tiesi's back and his knee to Mario Ledesma's head. And then James Haskell's final expletive was not edifying.
The scorers:
For Argentina:
Pens: Contepomi, Rodriguez 2
For England:
Try: Youngs
Con: Wilkinson
Pens: Wilkinson 2
Yellow card(s): Dan Cole (England, 34 - repeated infringements at the breakdown)
The teams:
Argentina: 15 Martin Rodriguez, 14 Horacio Agulla, 13 Gonzalo Tiesi, 12 Santiago Fernandez, 11 Gonzalo Camacho, 10 Felipe Contepomi (captain), 9 Nicolas Vergallo, 8 Juan Martín Fernandez Lobbe, 7 Juan Manuel Leguizamón, 6 Julio Farias Cabello, 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Manuel Carizza, 3 Juan Figallo, 2 Mario Ledesma, 1 Rodrigo Roncero.
Replacements: 16 Agustin Creevy, 17 Martin Scelzo, 18 Mariano Galarza, 19 Alejandro Campos, 20 Alfredo Lalanne, 21 Marcelo Bosch, 22 Juan Jose Imhoff.
England: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Mike Tindall (captain), 11 Delon Armitage, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 Nick Easter, 7 James Haskell, 6 Tom Croft, 5 Courtney Lawes, 4 Louis Deacon, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Steve Thompson, 1 Andrew Sheridan.
Replacements: 16 Dylan Hartley, 17 Matt Stevens, 18 Tom Palmer, 19 Tom Wood, 20 Ben Youngs, 21 Toby Flood, 22 Matt Banahan.
Referee: Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Romain Poite (France), Simon McDowell (Ireland))
TMO: Matt Goddard (Australia)