We deserved better, says Argentina coach after loss to England in Rugby World Cup 3rd-place play-off

PARIS – England held off a spirited Argentina to win 26-23 in a game of intensity and errors to take third place at the Rugby World Cup on Friday, though Pumas coach Michael Cheika felt his team had been let down by poor officiating.

The boot of Owen Farrell proved the difference as both sides scored two tries apiece, but the England captain was unerringly accurate as he put over four penalties and two conversions for a tally of 16 points. Ben Earl and hooker Theo Dan crossed for the 2003 winners.

Pumas scrum-half Tomas Cubelli squeezed through for a try, before an explosive start to the second half saw Santiago Carreras slip through three England tackles to score under the posts.

Cheika criticised referee Nic Berry, his fellow Australian.

“I am disappointed with the way the whole game was run. The way the game was refereed and the consistency,” the 56-year-old said, after Argentina’s second defeat of this World Cup against 14-man England following their opening loss in the pool stage.

“Our players have worked for two years to try and get something here. I know we are one of the lower nations. We’re not England, New Zealand or South Africa or any of those guys but, at the end of the day, it’s hard. I feel for the lads as they deserved more than what they got out of it today. Sometimes I love the game, sometimes I hate it.”

It was, however, a defensive blip two minutes after Carreras’ superb try that allowed Dan to put England ahead again, and Nicolas Sanchez missed the penalty that could have sent the match into extra time in the 75th minute.

“It was fine margins. Three points. We had a charge down. We hung in there really well, I thought we fought back well. We didn’t get the rub of the green on many things, but we still stayed in the game. It’s just the way it’s meant to be, isn’t it?” Cheika said.

Captain Julian Montoya believed his team failed to control the game and also criticised the way the game was refereed.

“We made some mistakes, some things we could not control,” he said, after Argentina fell 13-0 behind.

“We need to be better at controlling things. We scored a try, but then we conceded points straight after from their kick-off. We fought for every ball, so I am proud of the team.

“We did everything we could, we deserved more both in terms of results and refereeing, but we missed two or three chances. That’s what happens, we lose by three points, it’s not a lot. I can’t understand why we were so much penalised at the scrum, despite dominating.”

Coach Steve Borthwick looked pleased, even if England made it hard for themselves at the end after being 13-0 up in as many minutes and 16-10 ahead at half-time.

“It was a tight game. It wasn’t a game of incredible high quality, but a game of high tension and game of very fine margins,” said the 44-year-old.

“There were two teams that really wanted to find a way to get a win; two teams who have progressed and built through the tournament and, while tonight wasn’t a classic of free flowing rugby, it was a tight affair.”

Sam Underhill, a late call-up to the squad and making his tournament debut, delivered a Man-of-the-Match performance, making 24 tackles, as he reprised the form that made him one of the star players in England’s run to the final four years ago.

“It is a bit surreal. It’s been a great few weeks, I’ve loved being part of this group. We just stuck to our game plan, we didn’t panic. A lot of the lads know it is the last 20 minutes of these games that matter. We stuck to our plan and that is testament to them,” he said. REUTERS, AFP