Tom Curry was sent off early in the match against Argentina for making contact with an opponent's head. Photo: Sandra Mailer/Shutterstock
England head into what should be a breezy series of pool games thanks to an impressive performance from their midfielder George Ford and a surprisingly comfortable win over Argentina last Saturday night in Marseille. From here on, with their draw favorable, Steve Borthwick's side can look to ease their path to serious form and should be aiming for at least a semi-final place, and then who knows what might happen.
This performance didn't tell us much about England's wider prospects or their potential goal-scoring abilities, but that doesn't matter in the context of this game. It was a vital opening victory, achieved with 14 men for 78 minutes. As England's numbers dwindled, the only thing that mattered was pragmatism, and Ford proved to be the preeminent exponent of that genre. England will not and should not care that Argentina were disappointing, bordering on sad, for most of the match. Some of their poor performances were a result of their own performances, and some were the result of a much improved England defense which rose to the occasion when a man was down and whose line speed maintained a superbly high tempo throughout what must have been a physically and morally exhausting experience.< /p> 
England gave the Argentine runners neither time nor space. Photo: Paul Harding/Getty Images
England's ball retention and error rates have improved significantly since the World Cup warm-up games and their discipline, with the exception of the Tom Curry incident, has also improved significantly. Maintaining a relatively low penalty rate when outnumbered is a difficult task, but England managed to do it without much difficulty for most of the game.
It is perhaps ironic to mention improved discipline as England collected their third. red card in just five games. There are several ways to look at this outbreak of indiscipline, and your view will likely depend on your dedication to your team.
On the one hand, you could argue that the incidents with Curry, Billy Vunipola and Owen Farrell were unfortunate; mistakes made unintentionally and with different referees, deserving of yellow cards and nothing more. There is a kernel of validity in this view, but it quickly disappears when you start applying logic and reality to situations.
Did three different groups of match officials, on and off the field, actually make mistakes in all three incidents? This is starting to sound like a conspiracy theory that, like all such theories, requires no facts to support it. At this point you also have to ask yourself: if this is the result of World Rugby's over-refereeing in the face of a global tournament, why have no other teams been similarly affected?
The unfortunate fact is that England, or its coaches, or its players, or both, must take responsibility for putting officials in the position of having to make these decisions. No other team has had three similar incidents, and there is a common denominator: a simple unwillingness/inability/inability to bend the knees before contact and contact with the opponent's head.
Referee Mathieu Raynal shows Curry a red card after an eight-minute review of the TMO bunker. Photo: Henry Brown/Getty Images
I note that Sir Clive Woodward has insisted that rugby is heading down a bad path if tackles like Curry's on Saturday are enough to warrant a red card. People, including ITV pundits, need to consider the reality of today's rugby, which is a global multi-million pound lawsuit over concussion and ongoing safety trials trying to lower tackle heights to reduce side-to-side contact. Excuses about rugby incidents and England players not being malicious will no longer help. Regardless of whether this is intended or not, the main thing is the reality of personal contact and the risks associated with it.
A recent YouGov poll commissioned by the RFU recorded 62 per cent of respondents being concerned or very concerned about concussion. Given that a large percentage of the stakeholders were parents with children playing rugby, there was no room for excuses if grassroots and age-specific rugby was to survive.
If players don't want umpires making calls that they later challenge, don't let umpires in that position do the same. Yes, these incidents happen quickly, but so does bending the knees, or grabbing with the arms, or turning the head to the correct side of the grab. It's no use pointing your finger anywhere else. Even if it was all bad luck, another red against a stronger team can't win with courage.
Ford's play does bring up one potentially problematic point. Does this mean Borthwick will retain him as the starting midfielder for the now certain England quarter-final match? Owen Farrell will play one or two remaining games in the pool, but will Borthwick be tempted to move Farrell into the middle to accommodate Ford and Farrell? The choice should be a straight shootout for the number 10 shirt, as the two-playmaker option has been tried and tested and has produced nothing of note. It would have been better to let Manu Tuilagi and Joe Marchand try to form a stable and effective partnership in the middle.
Was Curry's challenge on Saturday enough to merit a red card? Join the conversation in the comments section below.
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