Owen Farrell: England captain dismisses head injury fears

England captain Owen Farrell says he "feels fine" after being on the receiving end of a dangerous tackle for the second time in this World Cup.

Argentina lock Tomas Lavanini was sent off for the challenge as England sealed a quarter-final place with a 39-10 win.

Farrell did not leave the pitch for a head injury assessment, and played the full 80 minutes.

"A concussion is the worry but I didn't get hit anywhere near the top of the head," said the 28-year-old centre.

"Your jaw gets a bit sore but I was fine. There was no need for a head injury assessment."

Farrell missed England's first conversion and continued to be uncharacteristically inaccurate from the tee after being struck by Lavanini's shoulder, failing to convert another two tries. He was successful with three conversions and a penalty in the second half.

The Saracens player was also hit by a high shoulder charge in England's win over the United States on 26 September.

Dangerous tackles and their consequences have been a big talking point since the opening weekend of the World Cup, when Australia's Reece Hodge was banned for three games for a challenge on Fiji's Peceli Yato.

The first red card of the tournament was also the result of a tackle on Farrell, when United StatesA flanker John Quill was dismissed for a shoulder charge on the England back.

Fly-half George Ford, who captained England against the USA, said: "The rules are crystal clear. It's a red-hot topic at the minute, so we've got to make sure we stay on top of it and keep our discipline squeaky clean."

• Will Jones keep faith with Ford or switch back to Farrell?

'We psychologically dropped off'

England head coach Eddie Jones said playing against 14 men actually gave Argentina a lift and created a "difficult situation" for his side.

After a fast start from Argentina, England had a 12-point lead at half-time thanks to tries from Jonny May, Elliot Daly and Ben Youngs.

Ford, Luke Cowan-Dickie and Jack Nowell - playing for the first time this World Cup since recovering from appendicitis and an ankle injury - all crossed after the break to seal a third bonus-point victory. And it was these second-half scores that Jones particularly enjoyed.

"The team that has the man advantage tends to psychologically drop off a bit because they think it's going to come," the Australian told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"We did that in the first half but in the second half we got back to what we needed to do, played a simple game and ended up winning the game easily."

What's the beef with Billy?

The only injury concern to come out of the game for England was the absence of starting number eight Billy Vunipola in the second half.

Vunipola had twisted his ankle in the first half, but Jones did not seem worried, joking that the forward had to come off early because he had "spent too much time at the Kobe beef bar".

With no number eight specialist on the bench, World Cup bolter Lewis Ludlam came on as Vunipola's replacement, but Newcastle back row Mark Wilson is also waiting in the wings.

'We worry about one day at a time'

While England are now guaranteed a place in the knockout stages, defeat means Argentina are out of the World Cup at the group stage for the first time in 16 years.

England face France in their final pool game on 12 October, with the quarter-finals taking place a week later.

Victory against France would leave England top of Pool C, making Australia their most likely opponents in the last eight, while defeat could mean a quarter-final against Wales.

Jones refused to look beyond the France game, but admitted things were "going to get tougher".

"The emphasis is just on getting better each game," he added. "We don't want to look too far ahead. We just worry about one day at a time."

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