OLIVER HOLT: England didn’t fold… they took the breath away against Argentina, with George Ford the hero of one of most stirring World Cup displays

There is a bronze sculpture near the Vieux Port called Bleu de Chine. It shows a man who has recently arrived in Marseille, with a suitcase in his left hand. Much of his upper body is missing. He has no right arm and no stomach.

England fans walked past it in the afternoon sun before the match on their way to lunch. Some took pictures. Until last night, they might have considered it a symbol of their team, a team that has played like hollow men for too long.

However, that all changed in the cauldron of the Stade Velodrome. That all changed when blindside flanker Tom Curry was sent off just three minutes into England’s opening match against Argentina and the Pumas smelled blood.

It changed because, instead of disappearing, instead of disappearing, an England team that in recent months had stumbled from one misfortune to another, from one controversy to another, from one defeat to another, deeply penetrated himself and discovered a rather magnificent challenge.

Don’t feel like fighting? Nothing could be further from the truth. At least not last night. Although Curry’s dismissal was yet another example of their lack of discipline, they responded with such a display of courage, skill and guile that it was breathtaking.

Tom Curry became the first England player to be dismissed at a Rugby World Cup after an early tackle

Stand-in captain Courtney Lawes was a titan, one of many outstanding players for England

Yes, they were helped by a desperately disappointing performance from Argentina, but that was partly because the Pumas seemed so taken aback by England’s refusal to bow to their adversity and their own recent history of mediocrity.

Instead, England rose. And from all the doubts and criticism that have plagued them in the run-up to this tournament, they have produced something that will go down as one of their most stirring performances at a World Cup.

Their hero was George Ford, who destroyed Argentina in the first half with three drop goals in quick succession and, in the absence of Owen Farrell, played like the general he so often plays in club rugby but is rarely allowed to be for England. .

Should Farrell be reinstated straight away when his suspension expires next weekend after the next match against Japan? Not on this evidence. England looked smarter and freer without him. Ford looked liberated.

Ford was brilliant. He scored all of England’s 27 points. Stand-in skipper Courtney Lawes was also a titan. This also applied to Maro Itoje, and the entire English peloton. This was a victory against all odds.

It was also a victory for beleaguered England coach Steve Borthwick. Borthwick was castigated before this match, characterized as a weak leader who could not motivate his team. This was his moment of truth as England coach. Last night no one could say his players weren’t playing for him. No one could say they didn’t respond to his leadership.

In this cauldron of a stadium, this cauldron of a city, this teeming harbor that is rarely kind to the vulnerable, England stood tall. This won’t change everything. This was not a match played at the same level as France’s victory over New Zealand in Paris on Friday evening.

But it does mean that they will probably win Group D. Further down the line, belief will flow through them as they reach the quarter-finals against likely opponents Wales or Australia.

Curry’s yellow card was upgraded to a red card by the Bunker review early in the first half

The referee showed a yellow card to Argentina’s Santiago Carreras for a bad-looking challenge

Momentum can build quickly on uplifting nights like these, and last night felt like the kind of night that could at least be a platform for improvement.

England got off to the worst possible start when Curry, whose return to the side had been such a source of optimism, smashed his head into Juan Cruz Mallia as Mallia collected a high ball. Initially he received a yellow card. It was soon upgraded to red. Curry is the first English rugby player to be sent off the field at a World Cup.

He also became the first England No.7 to be sent off in a World Cup match against Argentina in France since David Beckham achieved that distinction at Saint-Etienne in 1998. And the third England rugby player to be shown a red card since August. England’s talent for adding to their own misery was beyond doubt.

Even though Curry’s red looked harsh, it was hard not to draw a line between the red and the way England had tried to blame everyone but Farrell during the furor over the England captain’s punishment for a dangerous tackle against Wales last month. That unwillingness to take responsibility for actions has consequences.

Steve Borthwick’s England side found reserves of belief and drive that few knew they had

Ford played like two men and led England’s refusal to fold despite the early setback

However, if everyone expected England to go bankrupt after such a brutal setback, they were surprised. England did not fold. Aided by some sloppy play from their opponents, the Borthwick side found a reserve of belief and drive that few knew they possessed.

From the depths of despair, they made an electrifying comeback. They played as if they had an extra man on the field, and not one less. That was mainly because Ford played as if he were two men.

He led England’s refusal to surrender, scoring three stunning drop goals in ten minutes to put England ahead 12–3. The English pack also played like lions. It was a beautiful display of resistance from England as everything seemed to unravel and Ford seized his moment.

England never hesitated after that and Argentina had no answer. And so, after a day of sweltering heat in a city where visiting English football teams have been greeted by riots and fire twice in the last 25 years, a city with an edge, a city full of Argentine supporters, a city that is not a comfortable place for those who were unprepared or vulnerable, England finally looked like a team made whole again.