It is amazing the difference one decent result can make. On the train south from Paris on Saturday, the carriages had been packed with pessimistic England fans bracing for more trouble and strife. Suddenly every single one of them is cheerfully contemplating potential quarter-final opponents and daring to believe a rousing red‑rose renaissance is materialising beneath a clear blue Mediterranean sky.
Let’s just say that was not the universal mood in the immediate aftermath of Tom Curry’s red card when every white-shirted supporter will have had a familiar sinking feeling. World Cups can be shaped fundamentally by the tiniest of misjudgments and here, apparently, was another classic case study. What all concerned, including Argentina, underestimated was England’s resolution and desire to stand up and fight rather than bow to the supposedly inevitable.
England are yet to score a try at this World Cup but, for the moment, that is relatively unimportant. Of more immediate relevance is the sense of a corner having finally been turned and the smile that, for the first time in ages, spread across the relieved face of their head coach, Steve Borthwick.
It does not mean England are instantly poised to win the tournament, but the release of pressure is practically tangible. Beat Japan in Nice on Sunday and their place in the last eight will be in effect booked, with all that August angst receding in the rear‑view mirror. They have also made many of their rivals sit up and take note of their old-school use of drop goals. As with vinyl records and your dad’s old clothes, they’re back in vogue, baby.
Listen, for example, to Ben Earl, the epitome of a modern-day rugby athlete, on how he felt, as part of England’s seven-man pack, hearing the roars that greeted George Ford’s fusillade of drops, the most successful exhibition of its kind at a World Cup since Jonny Wilkinson kicked three to beat France in Sydney in 2003. “I don’t think I saw a single drop goal … my face was in the turf every time, but it was so nice,” said the Saracens flanker, among the game’s three busiest tacklers alongside his clubmates Jamie George and Maro Itoje.
Ford, meanwhile, also revealed the squad had been amused to learn that, until now, Danny Care was their most prolific Test drop‑goal merchant. “I thought: ‘That’s not right, I need to put an end to that.’” With the tournament balls flying slightly further in the warm French air, the Sale fly-half was smart enough to employ the tactic and catch Argentina visibly off guard. “It’s such a crucial and critical weapon at times … you have seen how influential they have been at World Cups.
“The thing with drop goals is doing them when the opposition least expect it. If you try and disguise it you give yourself a little more time and space.”
Which is essentially what England now have in Pool D. No longer are the Japan and Samoa games freighted with quite as much anxiety, although the players were quick to stress this is not the moment to relax. “That can’t be us peaking; that has to be the base level and we have to push on from there,” Itoje said. “This is a step forward but we’re not going to get ahead of ourselves. We know there’s a lot more work to do.”
The other self-evident truth is England’s tendency to lift their intensity the more their options shrink. Keeping it simple and reducing everything down to its basics seems to make them feel more secure, even if Argentina’s performance fell way below the standard required at this elite level.
“When you go down to 14 men – and we’ve been down to 14 men a bit too often in recent times – you have to fight and work,” Itoje said. “If you don’t, the other team will pick you apart. We had the belief in our team that, regardless of how many men we had, we will see it through.”
Curry’s disciplinary hearing will be interesting, with numerous voices across the rugby spectrum suggesting he had been harshly treated. It could yet develop into another test case for rugby’s “bunker review” initiative – or the “bonkers review system”, as some social media wags are dubbing it – with the Argentina fly-half Santi Carreras receiving only yellow for what appeared, in slow motion, to be a worse challenge on Ford.
Why was Tom Curry sent off?
World Rugby, the game’s governing body, is trying to protect players from brain injury (AKA concussion) and its guidance on punishing high tackles has changed in recent seasons. Head clashes and high tackles, and the resulting red and yellow cards, are causing controversy in the professional game. England have been punished with four reds since March, although Freddie Steward’s (against Ireland in Dublin in March) was rescinded.
But the Curry incident looked accidental?
That is largely irrelevant under World Rugby’s head contact process, which aims to “aid consistency in the application of sanctions”. If head contact occurs and the officials deem it to be foul play, that process must be followed. There are three “considerations” in determining foul play: “Intentional”, “reckless”, and “avoidable”. In other words foul play can have taken place, even if an act was unintentional. If officials deem head contact a “high degree of danger” and there is no mitigation - for instance, “a sudden and significant drop or movement” by the tackled player - it's a red card. If there is mitigation, a yellow card offence can be downgraded to a penalty, or red can become yellow. But under the new bunker review system, a yellow card can be upgraded to a red. The idea behind the bunker system is to speed the game up, and take pressure off the referee to make an on-field decision.
What happens next?
Curry faces a disciplinary hearing on Tuesday before a three-man judicial committee. He faces a ban if found guilty. Despite hopes for consistency, there remains plenty of subjectivity in the decision-making process. For example, a disciplinary committee disagreed with Jaco Peyper’s decision to send off Steward in Dublin, concluding that Hugo Keenan’s late change in dynamics and positioning was mitigation.
Luke McLaughlin
Official efforts are already being made to improve matchday access for spectators following the concerning scenes outside the stadium’s main entrance that resulted in many ticket holders missing the start of the game on Saturday. No one, thankfully, was seriously injured in the crush but this is clearly not a time or a place for complacency. Which is precisely what Borthwick and his coaches will be reminding his players as England head back north to their Le Touquet base for a few days – a convoluted itinerary in anybody’s language – before returning to Nice on Thursday.
In some respects this backs-against-the-wall effort ranked up there with England’s most memorable World Cup pool wins, a timely reminder they still possess good players who can step up when les frites are down. For all the retro 2003 chat, though, drop goals alone will not win this particular World Cup and every self-respecting team possesses character in adversity. While they survived the Curry takeaway on Saturday night, it was just the hors d’oeuvre. Ford has infused his side with fresh belief but their focus must now turn to playing even better.
