PARIS: England overcame a potentially dangerous Rugby World Cup opener against Argentina on Saturday thanks to the prolific boot of George Ford as Ireland welcomed back their dynamo Johnny Sexton.

England had recorded just four wins in 13 matches heading into the clash in Marseille and Argentina had stunned them in November.

It started badly for the 2003 champions after Tom Curry was red-carded for a clumsy clash of heads with Argentine full-back Juan Cruz Mallia in just the third minute, becoming the first England player in history to be sent off at a World Cup.

But Ford stepped up to take a scrappy game by the scruff of the neck, kicking every single one of England’s points, including three drop-goals and six penalties, in a 27-10 victory to lift the pre-tournament tension in the Red Rose camp.

Ford is standing in for Owen Farrell, who is serving a ban for a dangerous tackle that rules him out of this game and the next against Japan, but on this evidence Farrell will have a fight on his hands to get the No 10 jersey back.

Ireland, the world’s number one ranked side, were able to select Sexton — so often their inspiration — for the first time following a six-month injury absence as they flattened minnows Romania 82-8 in the Pool ‘B’ curtain-raiser.

Sexton grabbed 24 points, including two tries, to become Ireland’s record World Cup points scorer.Like England, Australia have had a rocky build-up to the tournament but coach Eddie Jones earned his first win in six games with a 35-15 bonus-point victory over battling Georgia.

Full-back Ben Donaldson scored 25 points in just his fourth Test appearance to leave former England and Japan coach Jones hailing a “perfect” start for the two-time champions.

In the other game on day two of the marathon seven-week tournament, Italy romped to a 52-8 win against Namibia in host nation France’s Pool ‘A’.

Published in Dawn, September 11th, 2023