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<\/p>\nEngland\u2019s George Ford (left) and Jonny May (centre right) during a training session at the Stade de France<\/p>\n
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Of the many ways that one could spend a Friday evening in Paris, competing in a third-place play-off would rank somewhere near the bottom, perhaps just above a night-time stumble into a particularly nasty section of the Seine. However much World Rugby dresses up what it insists on calling the bronze final, there is no escaping the fact that most players would, at this stage, rather be back at home with a bottle of beer, or enjoying some downtime with a verre de vin rouge<\/em> in a Paris bistro. <\/p>\n \u201cThis is not the game you want to be playing in,\u201d England assistant Richard Wigglesworth conceded this week. \u201cYou can be honest and say this isn\u2019t the game that these two teams aimed to play in.<\/p>\n \u201cBut we could already be at home, and we\u2019re not. If you\u2019re asking where would you rather be, you\u2019d rather be here participating in a World Cup.\u201d<\/p>\n For England\u2019s players, the manner of defeat to South Africa has made this week more difficult still. Steve Borthwick\u2019s side had the game within their grasp last weekend, the pain of a defeat of fine margins clear both on Saturday night and beyond, full-back Freddie Steward almost overcome with emotion when speaking on Tuesday. Even if they will, in time, take confidence from the performance, imbued with the certainty that they can mix it with the world\u2019s best, Friday night\u2019s fixture will represent something of a comedown from a night when it so nearly came together for England.<\/p>\n Not that anyone in Borthwick\u2019s squad is taking this as anything other than a game must be won, with the head coach and captain Owen Farrell, two men who you suspect would squabble over a game of Buckaroo, setting the tone. After a performance that so encouraged their fans in the semi-final, the last thing anyone in the England camp wants is to finish with a Friday night flop.<\/p>\n England have to pick themselves up after defeat to South Africa <\/p>\n \u201cYou disrespect anyone who has worn an England shirt if you don\u2019t give your best on Friday,\u201d explained Ben Earl. \u201c[You have to] apply yourself in exactly the way you are expected to.<\/p>\n \u201cWinning would be great but it\u2019s the performance that is the most important thing in the way we give a good account of ourselves. I think this is our 20th\u00a0week together, maybe even 25th\u00a0week together, so it would be a shame with all the hard work we have done as a group to let that slip in the last game. We just want to play well and show how much it means to play for England.\u201d<\/p>\n Not that this is an occasion of complete insignificance. This will represent an international farewell for Ben Youngs, England\u2019s most capped male player, after 13 years of sterling service at scrum half. It could also be it for his long-time Leicester colleague Dan Cole, a fellow centurion; Courtney Lawes has already played his final minutes in an England shirt.<\/p>\n England captain Owen Farrell will be keen to finish with a victory <\/p>\n Argentina have their own old guard potentially laying down their shields. Their record cap-holder Agustin Creevy has what seems like an Andean permanency but may decide that, at 38, this is it. The hooker could make one last cameo from the bench, where he is accompanied by another veteran and 100-capper in Nicolas Sanchez.<\/p>\n The opening encounter between these two feels a dim and distant memory now, partly due to this elongated tournament and partly due to how much the perception of each side has changed across the seven weeks since. No doubt, though, Argentina will be desperate to give a more accurate account of their talents after what was a slow and sloppy start to the tournament.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is the most important game of the year,\u201d captain Julian Montoya emphasised. \u201c[We are] playing for third and fourth place with this shirt, and the last game of this group because it is almost impossible for all of us to be together again.\u201d<\/p>\n Argentina hooker Agustin Creevy could play his final game for the Pumas <\/p>\n It will be a long while before either side is in international action again: England\u2019s next business is a Six Nations trip to Rome; Argentina are unlikely to play before the Rugby Championship. Neither would much like to carry the feeling of back-to-back defeats with them through those fallow periods. Even if the Stade de France will give this occasion a stage it probably does not deserve, the players will find a way to enjoy their World Cup curtain call.<\/p>\n Source: Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"![](\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/2023\/10\/21\/22\/1748942089.jpg\")
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