Kamikaze Kids in unison once again

OK, it wasn’t a cracker but nor was this playoff game a dud. In a tournament marked by a handful of games for the ages and too many complete blow outs, this was a compelling contest between two battle-weary but still hungry teams who manifestly considered finishing third in the world better than fourth.

- BRENDAN GALLAGHER

Bronze medals are much better than no medal at all and some very good teams indeed exited this World Cup two weeks ago or more with shattered dreams and broken hearts. England’s squad will have a trinket to show their grandchildren in years to come. An 80,000 Friday night crowd were well entertained and you sensed would have more than welcomed extra time if the Pumas could have just got their act together in the final exchanges.

Both sides became scrappy in the latter stages but let’s get real. When the two teams ran out Tom Curry was still bandaged from that torrid encounter with the Boks just six days earlier and the Pumas reeling from a proper pasting at the hands of New Zealand. The guys are humans, not robots.

And even at this late stage of RWC2023 there were some significant performances to digest. Sam Underhill, the forgotten hero of English rugby was the stand-out MOM for his 80-minute tackling and grappling stint at the coal face and it was heartening to see him reunited with fellow Kamikaze kid Curry. Injuries have played a part since 2019 but I wonder if England stopped that experiment a little prematurely.

It lifted the spirits to see them hunt down ball carriers as a pair with entirely legal tackles that cause so much damage to opponents but no alarm among officials, while Ben Earl, such a deserving try scorer in this game, is also that ilk.

You would imagine that at some stage a captain sensible type voice amidst the England coaching staff will pipe up “but we need a line out operator in the backrow” and the search will be on again for a bigger, taller six with different qualities. Courtney Lawes is bowing out so