“Small final”, “match for third place”, “bronze final”… Whatever its official name, this England-Argentina on Friday October 27 was above all the “digestion match”, and not only because the two teams were able to savor the pearls of French gastronomy for two months.
Frustrated by South Africa in the semi-final (15-16), it was ultimately the English who bounced back the best by defeating the Argentinians who had been corrected by New Zealand in the previous round (6- 44). Thanks in particular to the foot of Owen Farrell, the men of coach Steve Borthwick concluded their World Cup with a short success (26-23) and a medal at the Stade de France (Saint-Denis).
If we stick to the coldness of the figures, this third place nevertheless looks like a regression, the XV de la Rose remaining in a final during the 2019 edition of the great mass of the Ovalie. But recently, the English student was mainly getting bad grades. As evidenced by his report card from the past year, largely seeming to condemn him to repetition and ridicule during the 2023 World Cup. His correction received at home by the Blues in March, during the Six Nations Tournament (10-53)? “His darkest day”, noted the daily The Telegraph, in the role of the professor. The first defeat in its history against Fiji (22-30), in August? Posed “the question of style, results and everything in between”according to the BBC.
At the time of a World Cup in the form of end-of-year partials, the gang is Owen Farrell – perfect in his role as the head slap of the class following his suspension for a shoulder tackle in a preparation match – came out with average during the start of the competition, thanks to clear victories but without flights against Argentina (27-10) and Japan (34-12), to a success calm against Chile (71-0) and a frankly worrying but victorious performance against Samoa (18-17).
Farrell stronger than Ramos and the whistles
On Friday, the English dunces added an “honorable” mention – already outlined during their previous knockout matches – to their journey in France. With a profoundly rejuvenated squad and in the wake of Ben Earl, the Kingdom players got off to a flying start in this “small final”. We didn’t have to wait eight minutes to see the third center line go to lie down victoriously in the opposing goal.
Having proven his love for the group Queen throughout the meetings, the Stade de France announcer as usual took advantage of each stoppage in play to fill the speakers of the Dionysian speaker with hits from the British group. But when the first in the series – We will rock you – resonated in the stands at the 20e minute, it was the Argentinians who were already deeply shaken and trailing 0 to 13.
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