Mick Cleary: where did this new England come from?

Steve Borthwick's side were down to 14 men early on but made light of the fact against the Pumas.

KICKING ON: England's George Ford scores a drop-goal.

Who were these (14) guys in blue? The same hag-ridden, trauma-afflicted, downbeat lot in white who had slogged through a miserable August shorn of hope and purpose? Well, yes, give or take, this is that mob of last-chance-salooners with the exception of those who had drawn the ire of the headmaster and been banished to the sidelines for their indiscretions. But more of Owen Farrell later.

Perhaps England should elect to play in their change strip for the rest of the tournament. The change, of course, has come from within not from without. The transformation is one of heart and soul as much as it was also of muscle and bone on a sweaty night in Marseille. (Or a sweary night in Marseille if you were Pumas’ coach, Michael Cheika for his team were quite simply dreadful). England found the grit and gumption and togetherness that has eluded them for so long. They also found a fly-half with a deadly boot. But more of George Ford later.

Is this then the slate wiped clean for England? Yes, it is. Never mind any reservations about their limited game plan which, to be fair, served them well at the Stade Velodrome. Never mind, too, their continuing inability to get their tackle height right and avoid red cards. You might argue that the shock yellow card (actually, is it any longer a shock to see an England player dismissed for this was their fourth sending-off since Freddie Steward copped an equally unfair one against Ireland in March?) initially handed out to Tom Curry within three minutes and then upgraded actually galvanised England and rattled Argentina. All these issues and talking points have legitimacy.

But as far as England’s prospects are concerned the awfulness of their warm-up programme of matches is now an irrelevance. This is tournament sport. It is all about the winning. It is all about progression. It is all about getting the job done. It is all about the next stage. England did a number on Argentina and that is all that matters. They are now in the box seats in Pool D, favoured to progress to the quarter-finals as group winners. Sure, performance has a bearing on things but nowhere near as much as if might at other times. Getting through to fight another day is the sine qua non of tournaments.

Steve Borthwick had remained steadfast in the eye of the storm that has swirled around him, although such is his unblinking face to the world the head coach would have comfortably won auditions for a rendition of Kipling’s ‘If’. Triumph on Saturday night was treated in just the same low-key, stoic manner as the disasters of the last nine months.

Borthwick had pleaded the case for his men ‘not to be written off,’ too soon. You would expect any manager in sport to defend his players but it was evident from the blasting energy of England right from first whistle that there has been no split in the ranks, no divide between player and coach. The dressing-room still belonged to Borthwick as much as it did to his players. They remain on the same page.

So, what made the difference? Apart from the unexpected lethargy and brain-numbness of Argentina, part-self-inflicted, part induced by the relentlessness of England, selection played a significant part in England’s resurgent game. Alex Mitchell at scrum-half, a player who did not even make the original 33-man squad, injected much-needed zip and cleverness, sparking a sense of possibility and keeping the opposition on their toes.

Of course the hero of the night was Ford. Borthwick’s hand was forced into putting his trust in his former charge at Leicester due to the suspension being served by Farrell. That conundrum (and Borthwick will embrace the fact that this is one of those nice selection headaches to have, a change from the angst-laden choices he has had to make during the depressing times) will not come to the fore until after next Sunday’s game against Japan in Nice when Farrell’s four-match ban comes to an end.

It is not a new debate – from Tony Ward and Ollie Campbell in the dim and distant through Rob Andrew and Stuart Barnes – as there has often been a surfeit of talent at fly-half in certain teams. It is not just a stylistic matter but also one of knock-on effects. Farrell to inside centre, for example. There is no way that Ford should now be consigned to the bench. For me, he has always been a considerable asset, so assured, so aware, a man to see the field before others and to gauge the options. That is exactly what he did on Saturday. Man down after Curry clattered into a descending Juan Cruz Mallia, Ford knew that every point would be more valuable than ever with the prospect of England eventually tiring due to being under-resourced. Three drop goals in the space of nine first half minutes, two soaring efforts from deep, set the tone.

His teammates responded. Even Maro Itoje, the much-hyped early-years star, looked something of his old self with notable contributions alongside from Ben Earl and the impressive England leader, Courtney Lawes. Manu Tuilagi also did a job for England when packing down in the scrum not to mention when felling Argentina centre, Santiago Chocobares, with a thunderclap tackle. Old warhorse, Dan Cole, helped England’s scrum get on top, too.

Argentina looked shell-shocked. They could barely lay a finger on the ball and when they did they frittered away their chances until finally scoring the only try of the match through Rodrigo Bruni in the 79th minute.

By then the England fans were in tumult. They had suffered the dismal August build-up, then horrible hassles at even getting into the stadium, and they all thoroughly deserved, player and supporter alike, their moment of mutual acclaim.