Rugby World Cup 2019: England captain Owen Farrell hails Argentina win despite 'scrappy' moments
Captain Owen Farrell said England were to blame for letting Argentina back into the match - but praised his side after a dominant 39-10 victory.
Eddie Jones’ side fell behind to an early penalty from Benjamin Urdapilleta before Jonny May, Elliot Daly and Ben Youngs saw them 15-3 ahead in an opening half which saw Tomas Lavanini sent off.
George Ford, Jack Nowell and Luke Cowan-Dickie completed the rout for England but not before Matias Moroni’s try - which ultimately proved consolation.
And Farrell admitted it was not a perfect performance but is pleased with the result, which sees his side out of Pool C and into the quarter-finals.
READ MORE: England confirm quarter-final spot by beating 14-man Argentina with comfort
‘Scrappy at times’
“It was scrappy at times,” the 28-year-old told the broadcasters. “I thought it was a decent amount of control from ourselves but we probably let the game get frantic a couple of times, forced a couple of things and let Argentina into the game at times.
“But I thought our control thereafter was good again and we got back down with some territory and that pressure told in the end.”
Farrell himself seemed uncharacteristically wasteful with set-pieces, missing four kicks in the first half - three of which came after finding himself the victim of Lavanini’s high 16th-minute challenge.
But the Saracens man was back to his clinical form after the interval, converting after tries from Ford, Nowell and Cowan-Dickie, as well as an additional penalty.
As for his own performance with the boot, he added: “I fixed it up a little after half-time but I’ll do some work this week.”
‘Exactly where we want to be’
England’s head coach Jones felt the win - and subsequently qualification - meant his side were on track for a successful tournament.
The Australian added the long break possibly worked against his side as the second half saw a better effort.
"Look, we're exactly where we wanted to be, we're 15 points after three games,” the former Japan coach told BBC. “We've played in front of a fantastic crowd at Tokyo Stadium and it's another great day for the World Cup.
"We just need to simplify our game a little bit. With them having one off we were probably just trying to push the game a little bit too much and we're a bit rusty after two easy games and a long break and that came out a bit. Second half we got a bit better rhythm."
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