England claimed third place at the Rugby World Cup for the first time after an entertaining, if stop-start, 26-23 victory over Argentina at Stade de France.

Either side of two Owen Farrell penalties, a lovely delayed pass by Marcus Smith put Ben Earl through a gap to score the opening try on nine minutes, which Farrell converted.

The teams exchanged penalty goals before Argentina finally got a proper foothold in the game three minutes before half-time, scrum-half Tomas Cubelli diving over the tryline from close range after Los Pumas stretched the England defence on both wings. Emiliano Boffelli converted.

Santiago Carreras's brilliant solo effort put Argentina in front early in the second half but England hit back straight away, Theo Dan gathering his charge-down of Carreras's kick to score England's second try. This left Farrell with a perfect display from the kicking tee, to see his team home.