Steve Borthwick insists England are determined to deliver more triumphant nights at the World Cup after George Ford kicked them to a stunning 27-10 victory over Argentina in Marseille.

England defied the third minute red card shown to Tom Curry for a dangerous challenge to put one foot in the knockout phase at the expense of their closest rivals in Pool D.

Ford emerged as the architect of the Pumas’ death by a thousand cuts by kicking six penalties and three drop-goals, as well as providing the generalship needed to overcome Curry’s absence.

“I’m really pleased for the supporters around that stadium too – they were absolutely magnificent,” head coach Borthwick said.

“There are tens of thousands of England supporters in France and they are going to follow us around and spend a lot of money to do that.

“We want to make sure they have nights to remember and I think they’ll remember this one.

“All the people back home in their living rooms on their sofas and in the pubs, I hope they had a good night. We hope they’ll have another good night against Japan next Sunday.”

There were heroes across the field and none more so than Ford, who provided the leadership as England threatened to be engulfed by the crisis presented by a fourth red card in six Tests.

The fightback was given impetus through Ford’s early drop-goals and the Sale fly-half believes they can make a difference over the coming weeks.

“It’s a great weapon for us. We know how important and big drop-goals can be at World Cups,” Ford said.

“Just the way the game unfolded, we went a man down quite early but it was greasy, it was difficult to hold the ball for many phases.

“In our heads we wanted to be clinical in terms of coming away with points when we had good field position. But it’s incredibly hard to attack when they’ve got a lot of numbers in the line.”

Argentina boss Michael Cheika admitted it was a frustrating evening for his Pumas, who were shambolic for most of the match.

“Pretty much everything that could go wrong did go wrong. We let the play get too stop-start. England played the circumstances very well and full credit to them,” Cheika said.

“There was almost no play. There were so many stoppages. The play we did get we didn’t master very well. That was by design by the other team. They did it very well.

“They put us in that corner. We’ll take what we need from it and get on with the next game.”

“The World Cup is not over. We still have work to do to qualify. Our players will take a lot from this experience.”

The Los Angeles Rams placed Cooper Kupp on injured reserve Saturday, keeping their star wide receiver out at least through the first four games of the season.

Kupp, who missed the final eight games of last season with an ankle injury, injured his hamstring during training camp in early August. He then suffered a setback with his hamstring late last month and travelled to Minnesota to see a specialist last weekend.

“(Kupp) wants to be out there with his teammates, and he puts so much into it,” Rams coach Sean McVay told reporters. “It’s so unfortunate. It’s been frustrating.

“Really not much more information,” McVay said. “Just dealing with some soft-tissue stuff, just trying to get him to feel back to normal. When that ends up occurring, we'll have him back, but in the meantime, he will not be playing for us.”

Kupp, 30, has been a productive player since his rookie season, but his numbers exploded when he was paired with quarterback Matthew Stafford two years ago.

Kupp made 145 catches for 1,947 yards and 16 touchdowns in 2021, then added six scores during the Rams’ playoff run that ended with a title and Kupp being named Super Bowl 56 MVP.

Kupp began last season on a torrid pace again, catching 75 passes in the Rams’ first nine games before his campaign ended abruptly.

“I know he's going to do everything he can to be as good as he possibly can, as quick as he can,” Stafford said. “He's as good of a professional as I've ever been around when it comes to taking care of his body and trying to get himself right, so I know it's disappointing for him to not be out there.”

A third-round pick out of Eastern Washington in 2017, Kupp has 508 career receptions for 6,329 yards and 46 touchdowns.

The Rams open their 2023 season on the road Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks.

The Royal Marines told England boss Gareth Southgate that Harry Kane would make the perfect captain, the striker has revealed.

The Bayern Munich player heads back to Scotland for a friendly at Hampden Park, where he first skippered the national team, on Tuesday.

Six years ago Southgate took his squad for a surprise weekend at the Commando Training Centre Royal Marines in Devon.

They camped, hiked and were dunked in the feared sheep dip as the Marines tested their physical and mental strength during a boding exercise which helped Southgate decide his skipper.

A few days later, Kane was handed the armband and scored a last-gasp leveller in the 2-2 draw in Glasgow.

“I remember that trip very clearly,” he said. “We had a fantastic time and I think Gareth did use that to see who stood out in terms of leadership.

“Leadership comes in many ways. It isn’t just the guy in the front shooting the paintball. Maybe the way I got on with the Marines and the way I handled certain situations.

“I know that Gareth asked some of the Marines afterwards who they thought were natural leaders, who were approachable and who other players were leaning towards to talk to. Things like that.

“I think that might have helped in me becoming captain. It was a fantastic few days. Some great memories that will be with me forever.

“It helped the whole squad get to know each other. We had no phones for three days, we were camping in the woods. That helped us, not just as a team. It helped us become closer.

“We did a camping thing where we learned to put up our own tents and had the rations the Marine guys have when they’re going to war.

“We woke up at sunrise and did a trek with all the stuff on our backs. Then we did an obstacle course. That was fun, although I think they left out some of the tougher parts.

“We had to follow the Marines. Whenever they shouted ‘down’ we had to crawl in the mud, though stones and the sheep dip.

“So we were all soaking wet, with sand and mud everywhere, and we thought we were going to get in a car and go back to camp, until they told us we were walking back – which was another hour on the road. That was probably the hardest part, it was mentally tough.

“Then we got back to the place we were staying. I was looking forward to a nice, hot shower and it was just a bit of water dripping out. It was just brutal.”

Kane returns to Hampden as England’s record-breaking skipper with 58 goals in 84 caps.

Back in 2017, Kane scored just his sixth international goal with a close-range volley from Raheem Sterling’s inch-perfect pass and remembers the World Cup qualifying draw well.

“First of all I was extremely proud to be leading the boys out and I thought it was an amazing atmosphere, even from the national anthems,” said the 30-year-old.

“The noise at Hampden Park is still one of the best atmosphere’s I’ve been a part of. The game was OK. We got ahead and then they quickly turned it around with two great free-kicks and then you’re thinking about being an Englishman losing to Scotland.

“That isn’t the most ideal situation – especially when it’s your first game as captain, so it was nice to score in the last minute.

“To be honest, I don’t think I realised how important the goal was until after the game, then I heard all the talk around it. For me, not to lose my first game as captain was important and it’s a nice memory.”

Kane has linked up with England for the first time since his £100million move from Tottenham to Bayern.

He has scored three goals in his first three starts and slotted into life in Germany, including a club photoshoot while dressed in Lederhosen and posing with fake beer.

He said: “It was alright actually. The shorts were a bit heavier than I thought. It wasn’t even real beer – it was just to look good.

“We have a day when all the players and staff go to Oktoberfest. I don’t know when that will be, but I’ve heard it’s really good.”

Neco Williams has backed his former Nottingham Forest team-mate Brennan Johnson to thrive at Tottenham and keep Wales in the race for Euro 2024 qualification.

Johnson completed a £47.5million transfer to Spurs in the final minutes of deadline day and has not yet played for his new club.

But Williams said the 22-year-old forward celebrated the move by taking several of his Wales team-mates out to dinner in London and picking up the tab.

Johnson is, perhaps unfairly, considered the direct replacement for record Spurs goalscorer Harry Kane and the man to fill the boots of retired Wales great Gareth Bale at international level.

“A lot fans will say that, but at the same time Brennan is not Gareth Bale or Harry Kane,” Forest full-back Williams said ahead of Wales’ vital Euro 2024 qualifier in Latvia on Monday.

“He’s his own player and he has got his own style. He wouldn’t want to be compared to them or be seen as their replacements to step in.

“He has got the potential to reach the highest of levels. But at the same time he’s only 22 and still very young.

“He has proven it in the Premier League and now he has to prove it at what you’d say is a top-six team and do it in the Premier League again.

“He’s got a move for big money and you can see that his confidence has taken him to the next level.

“Hopefully he can take that with him into this Wales camp and win us some games.”

Johnson met up with some of his Wales colleagues in London after joining Tottenham before arriving for international duty.

“We celebrated with a little drink and some nice food,” said 22-year-old Williams.

“It was a little meet up and a chance to say congratulations to Brennan on his move. To be fair, he got the bill as well.

“Everyone was buzzing for him. It was last minute but we are all very pleased for him.

“I’m just not looking forward to seeing him come back to the City Ground!”

Johnson and Williams both started on Thursday as Wales drew 0-0 with South Korea in a Cardiff friendly.

But the Latvia game represents the important part of the September double-header as Wales attempt to revive their Euro 2024 qualification bid.

Defeats to Armenia and Turkey in June have left Wales playing catch-up in Group D and there is no margin for error in Riga.

Williams said: “When we look back on it, the goals we conceded, we know we can do so much better than that.

“As a team, that just wasn’t us. You can pinpoint so many things.

“The gaps were too big from the strikers to the defenders, it just wasn’t a good performance all-round.

“We’ve got top teams in our group and knew it wasn’t going to be easy from the start.

“But we’ve got plenty of games to put that right and get as many points as possible to qualify.”

North Macedonia fought back to draw 1-1 with Italy in their Euro 2024 Group C qualifier and deny new Azzurri boss Luciano Spalletti a win in his first match in charge.

Spalletti took over following the sudden resignation of Roberto Mancini last month and inherited a side which had already lost to England in their opening fixture.

Ciro Immobile broke the deadlock two minutes into the second half when he headed in a rebound after Nicolo Barella’s volley struck the crossbar.

North Macedonia – who beat Italy in the 2022 World Cup play-offs – got back on level terms with nine minutes left through a fine free-kick from captain Enis Bardhi.

The draw left Italy third in the group, but having played only three matches so far because of their Nations League campaign.

Earlier, leaders England were held to a 1-1 draw by Ukraine in Wroclaw, Poland.

Arsenal midfielder Oleksandr Zinchenko opened the scoring in the 26th minute, sparking wild celebrations from the estimated 40,000 Ukraine fans at the Tarczynski Arena.

England equalised just before the break when captain Harry Kane picked out Kyle Walker on the overlap down the right for the Manchester City defender to score a first international goal in his 77th appearance.

Belgium won 1-0 in Azerbaijan to move top of Group F.

Yannick Carrasco deflected a long-range shot from Johan Bakayoko past the wrong-footed Azerbaijan goalkeeper in the 38th minute, which proved enough for all three points to put the Red Devils above Austria on goal difference.

Newcastle forward Alexander Isak was among the scorers as Sweden ran out 5-0 winners in Estonia to sit four points off the top two.

Switzerland missed the chance to extend their lead at the top of Group I after Kosovo fought back to draw 2-2 in Pristina

Bologna midfielder Remo Freuler put the Swiss ahead in the 14th minute, before Vedat Muriqi equalised midway through the second half.

Freuler looked to have secured three points when his deflected effort went in off defender Amir Rrahmani with 11 minutes left, but Mallorca forward Muriqi struck again in added time.

Romania remain second, two points off Switzerland, after Israel came from behind to draw 1-1 in Bucharest, while it finished goalless between Andorra and Belarus.

George Ford masterminded a remarkable England victory forged in adversity after Argentina were toppled 27-10 in their World Cup opener despite Tom Curry being sent off in the third minute.

Ford led England out of a crisis created by Curry’s dangerous challenge on Juan Cruz Mallia that resulted in the Sale flanker’s yellow card being upgraded to red by the bunker review system.

Taking command, Ford landed three drop-goals and six penalties as Argentina were kicked into oblivion on a warm night at the Stade Velodrome in what was one of the nation’s greatest acts of defiance on a rugby field.

While the outstanding Sale fly-half was busy steering England around the pitch and keeping the scoreboard ticking over, his team-mates fought themselves to a standstill with Ben Earl and Courtney Lawes magnificent.

It was an ugly spectacle with neither side functioning in attack, but Steve Borthwick’s men showed the character needed to place one foot in the quarter-finals by taking control of Pool D at the expense of their greatest rivals.

A giant stride forward was taken in plugging their leaky defence, but discipline remains a major concern, with Curry set to join Owen Farrell and Billy Vunipola in being banned for periods of the World Cup.

England will argue that Curry was unfortunate to become the country’s first red card at a World Cup – and the fastest in the tournament’s history – despite the clash of heads that came as a result of his tackle.

And when Santiago Carreras was punished with only a sin-binning for clattering late into Ford early on, they had additional cause for grievance.

Once the initial drama of Curry’s dismissal had subsided, England rolled up their sleeves to withstand a battering on their line by Argentina’s pack, winning a penalty that enabled them to clear their lines.

They have often delivered a spirited response when down on numbers and so it was proving in Marseille as a methodical drive downfield ended with Ford landing a drop-goal.

Ford repeated the trick but this time from the halfway line as a monster kick sailed between the uprights with distance to spare.

The glaring deficiencies in England’s attack were apparent as they butchered a four-on-two overlap, but with Ford landing drop-goals at will – he coolly added a third from short range – it did not seem to matter.

Even with Curry sat watching in the stand they built a 12-3 lead, helped by rattled opponents who were also struggling with the ball in hand.

The intensity was cranked up for the second half, forcing a breakdown penalty that Ford inevitably steered between the uprights, while in reply the Pumas squirted the ball forward to end a rare attack.

Manu Tuilagi cut Santiago Chocobares in half with a wince-inducing tackle and with Ford on target from the kicking tee twice in quick succession, it was starting to look bleak for Argentina.

Over went the fifth and then sixth penalties and although the shambolic Pumas finally crossed through Rodrigo Bruni in the closing moments, their fate was already sealed.

Gareth Southgate focused on England’s important point and a valuable learning experience after admitting his side did not “quite click” in attack in the Euro 2024 qualifying draw against Ukraine.

Having won their first four Group C matches on the road to next summer’s tournament in Germany, Saturday saw them fail to win a European Championship qualifier for just the second time in 23 attempts.

Ukraine, playing on the road due to the ongoing Russian invasion in their homeland, took the lead through skipper Oleksandr Zinchenko to the delight of the partisan crowd in Wroclaw, Poland.

England levelled before half-time through Kyle Walker’s first international goal on his 77th appearance for the national team, but Southgate’s side could not find a winner as they struggled for attacking fluidity and a cutting edge.

“The reality is we’re not going to win every game by fours and sevens as we’ve done in this qualifying campaign,” the England boss said after Saturday’s 1-1 draw.

“That was a really good test – away from home, very passionate atmosphere, quite a few changes forced from the last game.

“For people like Marc Guehi, for instance, his first experience of the game like that with England, which he came through really strongly.

“So, sometimes, especially with attacking play, it doesn’t quite click. We know that the patterns that we worked during the week are what we always do, so it’s not that we approach the game in a different way.

“We tried to refresh things to give them a different sort of problem but today our forward play bar the goal and probably Bukayo’s effort that hit the bar wasn’t at the level that it has been in our previous games.”

The Bukayo Saka attempt that was tipped onto the bar by Ukraine goalkeeper Georgiy Bushchan was the closest England came to a winner on a night where they were often passive in possession and toothless in attack.

“I think what I liked was the control of the game that we had when you come into an intense atmosphere like there was,” Southgate said in the bowels of the Tarczynski Arena.

“I thought we played with real composure up until the final third and then I think by the time we scored the goal we’d had over 70 per cent of the ball but that was our first attempt on target.

“So clearly, most of our attacking play wasn’t at the level that we would have hoped it to be. But I thought given the circumstances and the importance of the point in terms of qualification and coming from behind when the crowd are full and the opposition have something to hang on to.

“It’s a very important point for us and we’ve now played the two best ranked teams away from home and we’ve got four points from those two games.”

Despite the frustrating draw, it still remains a case of when rather than if England qualify for the Euros.

Southgate’s men now turn their attention to their friendly away to old foes Scotland on Tuesday, when Ukraine travel to Italy for a key clash in the fight for qualification.

Ukraine head coach Sergey Rebrov said: “The atmosphere was really great – simply amazing. A big thank you to our fans. I thanked my players for their performance, especially in defence.

“It is very difficult to stop such good attacking players as England have, but we did it on many occasions. This is a satisfactory result – another step towards reaching the finals.”

Andy Farrell was delighted to have Johnny Sexton back “firing on all cylinders” following the Ireland captain’s record-breaking return in a 12-try demolition of Romania.

Influential fly-half Sexton shrugged off an absence of almost six months by registering two tries and seven conversions as his side launched their Rugby World Cup campaign with a thumping 82-8 win.

The 38-year-old’s impressive 24-point haul in the blistering heat of Bordeaux moved him on to a total of 102 in the competition, surpassing the 93 registered by former team-mate Ronan O’Gara.

Sexton, who is playing at his fourth World Cup, is now only nine points shy of O’Gara’s national record tally of 1,083, while he also took the title of Ireland’s oldest international from retired prop John Hayes.

Head coach Farrell could not resist poking fun at his veteran skipper as he backed him to make more history in the coming weeks against Tonga, South Africa and Scotland.

“I heard he broke a few records today,” said Farrell. “What was the record, Johnny? The oldest player to play at the tournament, that’s the first one.

“And what was the other one, points scored? Twenty-four points, puts him nine points behind the record for the most points scored for any Irish player.

“So you would think if selected that he’d be able to get that record.

“But the most pleasing point for us was definitely 60-odd minutes under the belt and firing on all cylinders and fit and healthy and ready to go for the rest of the competition.”

An expectant sea of green flooded the stands of Stade de Bordeaux in sweltering conditions before the world’s top-ranked nation delivered in emphatic fashion.

Ireland’s 74-point victory was their biggest in a World Cup fixture and their second greatest in a Test match, behind a 83-3 success over the United States in 2000.

Peter O’Mahony, Bundee Aki and Tadhg Beirne also claimed doubles in a clinical Pool B opener, with further scores coming from Jamison Gibson-Park, Hugo Keenan, Rob Herring and Joe McCarthy.

Sexton was available for the first time since sustaining a groin issue in helping Ireland clinch the Guinness Six Nations Grand Slam against England on March 18.

He missed his country’s three warm-up matches through suspension following “confrontational and aggressive” behaviour towards referee Jaco Peyper.

“(I had) six months thinking about it, obviously part of that was self-inflicted with my mistake,” Sexton, who received a standing ovation when he was replaced 15 minutes from time, said of his long-awaited comeback.

“I’m obviously delighted to be back. I didn’t expect conditions to be like that, it was incredibly hot, in the warm-up in particular.

“I’m delighted to get through some minutes, we got through some good stuff.

“But there’s lots to improve on, both individually and as a team, and we know the challenge next week (Tonga in Nantes) is going to be up a couple of levels.

“We’re very, very happy with five points and a good points difference as well, which could matter at the end of the pool.”

England hit a rare bump on the road to next year’s European Championship as Kyle Walker’s first international goal secured Gareth Southgate’s side a 1-1 draw against Ukraine in Poland.

Having opened Group C with four wins from as many matches, it has long looked a case of when rather than if the Euro 2020 runners-up seal their place at next summer’s tournament in Germany.

England had won 21 of their previous 22 Euros qualifiers but had to make do with a point on Saturday evening having failed to build on Walker brilliantly cancelling out Oleksandr Zinchenko’s opener.

Daniil Medvedev knows he will have to be the “best-ever version” of himself if he is to win a second US Open title.

Medvedev rated himself a 12 out of 10 for his surprise semi-final victory over world number one and defending champion Carlos Alcaraz.

Presumably the Russian third seed will have to crank that up to at least 13 if he is to deny Novak Djokovic a 24th grand-slam title.

“Against Novak, it’s always the same. He is always better than the previous time he plays,” said Medvedev.

“For example, I beat him in the US Open final, then he beat me in Bercy in a great match. Carlos beat him at Wimbledon, he beat him in Cincinnati.

“Novak is going to be his best version on Sunday, and I have to be the best-ever version of myself if I want to try to beat him.”

Medvedev’s only grand-slam title to date came in that 2021 Flushing Meadows final, a straight-sets win over Djokovic.

He said: “I think the only way I can do that is, as I say, thinking that Novak, when he loses, he’s never the same after. So he’s different. It’s just a different mentality.

“That’s why he has 23 grand slams, (however many) Masters 1000s, weeks at number one. So I have to use it knowing that he’s going to be 10 times better than he was that day.

“And I have to be, if I want to still beat him, 10 times better than I was that day. That’s what I’m going to try to do.”

Djokovic is bidding to become the oldest New York champion in the Open era, surpassing 35-year-old Ken Rosewall in 1970.

“The fact is that at 36, every grand-slam final could be the last one,” he said.

“So I think that I probably value these occasions and opportunities to win another slam more than maybe 10 years ago, because 10 years ago I felt like I still have quite a few years ahead of me.

“I don’t know how many I have ahead of me now, or I don’t know how many of the years where I play four slams in the whole season I have in front of me.

“So of course I am aware of the occasion. But I try to approach Sunday’s match as basically any other match with intention to win, and I’ll play my opponent.

“Knowing that it’s going to be the toughest challenge, without a doubt, not just because it’s a final but also because of who I’m playing, the last time I faced him in a grand-slam final I lost.”

Virgil van Dijk has revealed he has learned “a hard and expensive lesson” after receiving an extended ban and a £100,000 fine following his dismissal at Newcastle.

The 32-year-old Liverpool defender was this week hit with the punishment after admitting a Football Association charge of acting in an improper manner and using insulting words to a match official after calling referee John Brooks’ decision to send him off for a challenge on Alexander Isak “a f****** joke”.

Van Dijk, who initially refused to leave the pitch at St James’ Park during last month’s Premier League game, said: “It has been a hard and expensive lesson. I can’t really say more about it. I have accepted it and I am happy that there is an end to it.

“I have been punished for it and I don’t think I have been set as an example. Hopefully the money goes to the right people. A good cause is always better.”

Van Dijk sat out last Sunday’s 3-0 win over Aston Villa but will also miss Saturday’s trip to Wolves as a result of his additional one-match suspension.

His comments came as he appeared at the Netherlands’ pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday’s Euro 2024 qualifier against the Republic of Ireland in Dublin.

The game is a must-win affair for Ireland, who trail the Dutch by three points having played a game more, and their hopes of emerging from Group B were dealt a fresh blow this week when 18-year-old striker Evan Ferguson was ruled out of the games against France and the Netherlands by a knee injury just days after scoring a hat-trick against Newcastle.

Asked about the teenager’s absence, Van Dijk said: “If you score a hat-trick just before the international break, then he was definitely going to be in a good shape and full of confidence.

“He looks like he’s a promising striker for Ireland for now and the future, and that’s definitely a big blow for them. But whoever is going to play tomorrow for them, we have to be ready to fight

“I know at home with their fans and their position and the situation that they are in, they will do everything in their power to hopefully make it difficult for us, but we have to be ready and I will be ready.”

Dutch manager Ronald Koeman, who has a doubt over Manchester City defender Nathan Ake, has history with Ireland, having played against them in narrow wins at the 1988 European Championships and the 1994 World Cup finals and a 1-1 draw at Italia ’90, although he admits times have changed since.

Koeman said: “At that time, they were really strong with good strikers – (John) Aldridge, (Frank) Stapleton, I think – and the coach was famous, Jack Charlton.

“That has changed, of course. They have now more younger players – they need time – they don’t have a lot I heard of Irish players playing in the Premier League and that makes it really difficult for the coach.”

However, he added: “Ireland may have its last chance tomorrow. They play with great enthusiasm despite having inferior players. That doesn’t mean it’s easier.”