England reach last-eight after beating 14-man Argentina

England became the first team to reach the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals following a dominant 39-10 triumph over 14-man Argentina in Tokyo.

Los Pumas actually began the game well, going ahead via Benjamin Urdapilleta’s penalty, but Tomas Lavanini’s red card for a dangerous tackle changed the course of the encounter.

The Red Rose had already hit back via Jonny May but they capitalised on the extra man as Elliot Daly and Ben Youngs touched down for a 15-3 lead at the break.

George Ford, Jack Nowell and Luke Cowan-Dickie then went over in the second half while Owen Farrell added three conversions and a penalty as Eddie Jones’ charges claimed an important win.

Unless Tonga can upset France on Sunday then Argentina’s tournament is over, despite Matias Moroni’s try giving them a semblance of consolation late on.

With their World Cup on the line, the Argentines were unsurprisingly physical early on, but they were also intelligent on attack as Urdapilleta’s deft chip was collected out wide by Moroni.  The wing then sped away and grubbered ahead, forcing May to concede a five-metre scrum.

Having struggled in the set-piece for the past couple of years, there was a significant improvement against France and that good work continued on Saturday as a stable platform gave Los Pumas an opportunity to attack.

Under duress, the Red Rose infringed several times close to their own line and were perhaps fortunate not to be sin-binned, but they escaped with just a three-point deficit as Argentina’s fly-half kicked a penalty.

It was a hugely positive start from Mario Ledesma’s men but it was to go horribly wrong before the first quarter had even elapsed.  Firstly, England scored their opening try when poor defence on the short side saw May go over before the decisive moment in the contest.  Farrell took the ball and looked to step but was hit in the head by Lavanini’s shoulder and a red card inevitably followed.

To the Argentinians’ credit, they battled well but the pressure was unrelenting and they conceded twice late in the opening period.  Daly touched down, stepping Emiliano Boffelli and finishing well, before Youngs sniped around the fringes and crossed the whitewash for a 15-3 advantage.

England took that momentum into the second half and a well-constructed phase attack resulted in Ford scoring to seal the bonus-point.  Farrell, who had missed his opening four attempts off the tee, was finally successful with a conversion and they held a 19-point buffer.

Irrespective of the earlier red card, the Red Rose were controlling every facet of the game and a penalty from their inside centre increased their lead further.

With the match won and their passage assured, the contest lost its intensity and that allowed Argentina to gain a foothold, as a fine set-piece attack saw Moroni go over.

Evidently irked by that response, England hit back when the returning Nowell, who hasn’t played since the Premiership final in June, bounced out of a tackle and touched down.

Cowan-Dickie then followed him to complete a win which takes them into the last-eight.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  May, Daly, Youngs, Ford, Nowell, Cowan-Dickie
Cons:  Farrell 3
Pens:  Farrell

For Argentina:
Try:  Moroni
Con:  Boffelli
Pen:  Urdapilleta
Red Card:  Lavanini

England:  15 Elliot Daly, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Owen Farrell (c), 11 Jonny May, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Tom Curry, 5 George Kruis, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Jamie George, 1 Joe Marler
Replacements:  16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Courtney Lawes, 20 Lewis Ludlam, 21 Willi Heinz, 22 Henry Slade, 23 Jack Nowell

Argentina:  15 Emiliano Boffelli, 14 Matías Moroni, 13 Matias Orlando, 12 Jeronimo de la Fuente, 11 Santiago Carreras, 10 Benjamin Urdapilleta, 9 Tomas Cubelli, 8 Javier Ortega Desio, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera (c), 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Guido Petti Pagadizabal, 3 Juan Figallo, 2 Julian Montoya, 1 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro
Replacements:  16 Agustín Creevy, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Santiago Medrano, 19 Matias Alemanno, 20 Tomas Lezana, 21 Felipe Ezcurra, 22 Lucas Mensa, 23 Bautista Delguy

Referee:  Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees:  Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand), Andrew Brace (Ireland)
TMO:  Marius Jonker (South Africa)