FORD HAS FIESTA

George puts the boot into Pumas in thrilling victory

- NEIL SQUIRES 

MAYBE it was all the practice England have had at playing with 14 men lately. 

But against all odds after the early dismissal of Tom Curry, they found it within themselves to deliver an extraordinary backs-to-the-wall victory over Argentina in Marseille.

Curry’s sending off was England’s third red card in four matches but it prompted a stunningly resilient performance which banished the clouds and put them in pole position to qualify from Pool A.

It needed brawn to tackle the beefy Pumas to a standstill and, led by their ageless captain Courtney Lawes and a resurgent Manu Tuilagi, England were not short in that department.

But it also needed brains and in George Ford they had the man with the plan to pilot England to their win.

Ford kicked all 27 points nine of them in a remarkable run of drop-goals in the second quarter.