Different feel as England Argentina meet again in bronze final

PARIS : When England played Argentina on the first weekend of the Rugby World Cup they were coming off five defeats in six games with doubts swirling about their prospects, but when they meet again in the bronze final on Friday it is on a run of five wins in six games.

Of course the one that spoiled that streak was the agonising one-point semi-final defeat by South Africa, but it is still an England team unrecognisable in confidence and execution from the one that endured a dismal August warm-up campaign.

Coach Steve Borthwick had constantly promised that they would be ready on Sept. 9 and, sure enough, that night in Marseille changed everything - for both teams.

England recovered from having flanker Tom Curry sent off in the third minute to deliver a totally dominant display in a 27-10 victory, brilliantly marshalled by flyhalf George Ford, and were suddenly a team full of self-belief.

Argentina, who had arrived ranked two places higher than England, had one of their worst performances for years, worryingly allowing themselves to visibly lose heart after Ford banged over his third drop goal in a nine-minute spell.

England eventually advanced as pool winners, then beat Fiji before their Springbok loss, while Argentina improved to beat Japan to clinch second place then see off Wales in the quarter-final.

But while England won plaudits for their tactics and technique in defeat by South Africa, Argentina were back where they started, utterly brushed aside by New Zealand 44-6 in one of the most one-side semis in the history of the tournament.

Borthwick and Pumas coach Michael Cheika followed their defeats by immediately stressing that they were treating the bronze final as a match they were taking very seriously.

Borthwick said it