England captain Owen Farrell said his side survived a "scrappy game" on Friday to beat Argentina 26-23 to claim third place at the Rugby World Cup.

England finished third in the tournament for the first time after Nicolas Sanchez' unsuccessful late penalty for the Pumas that would have drawn the sides level in the closing minutes.

Farrell kicked 16 points as No 8 Ben Earl and hooker Theo Dan crossed for the 2003 winners.

"I thought we started really well. It was a scrappy game after that," the Saracens fly-half said.

"On the back of another six-day turnaround and a narrow loss last week, it was great to win tonight.

"You have to be able to play rugby a few ways and we are developing that and hopefully it will keep improving. I know we will improve," Farrell said.

Farrell's half-back partner Ben Youngs ended his Test career on his 129th international appearance.

"The game has given me so much," scrum-half Youngs said.

"I have got huge friendships and bonds not just in this England team, but people I have played against for years.

"I have a bucketload of memories and I am very grateful, so thank you everyone.

"I will have a beer and enjoy myself with the boys tonight," the 34-year-old added.

England reacted well to last Saturday's dramatic 16-15 loss to South Africa in the semi-final.

Their next game will be February's Six Nations trip to Italy in Steve Borthwick's second year as head coach.

"It is something we spoke about in the group. We are still heartbroken from last weekend," try-scorer Dan said.

"The performance was something we were proud of and we want to build momentum and grind out a result, today we achieved that."

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