Rugby World Cup: “At the Stade de France, I don’t really get encouraged,” laughs Owen Farrell

Owen Farrell (England captain, after the 26–23 victory over Argentina in the World Cup third place match)

"I'm not surprised. It's generally like this here: when we play against France in the Six Nations Tournament, I don't really get cheered. When a striker launches his run to score, it's a little different here compared to England. It’s like that, it’s not a problem.”

“It was difficult, very difficult. We started the match very well, taking a lead quite quickly and making a few incursions, but in the end, the match turned out differently. It was certain that Argentina was going to play an important role in this match, and it was very close afterwards. But we did what we had to do to get the victory.”

“We wanted to show that this team fights every minute of every game. In such a hard-fought match, we proved it once again. Last week, it came very close, so we wanted to finish this competition in style. It’s a big chapter in our journey which is closing and we really wanted to end on a good note.”

“At the start of the Six Nations Tournament, we tried to lay the foundations of the game we wanted to play. Along the way, we didn't get the expected results, and it was the same thing for the preparation matches. But once we arrived here, we had the feeling of progressing more and more, of building something throughout this competition. This team has a bright future and Steve is at its head. Well done to everyone involved.”

remarks collected at a press conference