The 30-year-old fly-half landed three drop goals, including one from the halfway line, and dispatched all six of his penalties in a brilliant 27-point haul at Stade Vélodrome in the French city.

England, the 2003 winners, played almost the entire match with a man down after flanker Tom Curry was given his marching orders in the opening three minutes.

Curry was initially shown a yellow card following his head-on-head collision with full-back Juan Cruz Mallia before it was upgraded to red after a review.

Emiliano Boffelli then landed a penalty to give Argentina the lead before England responded superbly thanks to the boot of Ford.

The number 10 grabbed the match by the scruff of the neck, dispatching a penalty before converting three drop goals in the space of 10 minutes.

Steve Borthwick’s men produced a dogged, disciplined performance, putting in countless tackles to keep Argentina at bay.

Ford also made the most of Argentina’s ill-discipline, demonstrating unerring accuracy from the tee to convert five more penalties to give England an unassailable lead.

Rodrigo Bruni crashed over late on, with Boffelli adding the extras but it was too little too late for Argentina in the Pool D clash.

There was chaos before the match as fans faced long queues trying to get inside the Stade Vélodrome.

Videos have emerged of fans climbing over barriers in an effort to access the venue.

The Rugby World Cup is acting as a big test of France’s security before staging next year’s Olympics.

French authorities were heavily criticised for their handling of last year’s UEFA Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid at the Stade de France which saw supporters caught in bottlenecks and crushes outside the ground.

The Stade Vélodrome is set to be used to stage football matches during the Olympics, while the Marseille Marina is due to host the sailing competitions.

In Bordeaux, world number one side Ireland swept aside Romania 82-8 in a 12-try blitz in their Pool B opener.

Romania scored first with a try from Gabriel Rupanu in the opening three minutes but this was the only blip in a dominant display from Ireland.

Tadhg Beirne, Bundee Aki, Johny Sexton and Peter O’Mahony all bagged braces, while Jamison Gibson-Park, Hugo Keenan, Rob Herring and Joe McCarthy also crossed the whitewash at Bordeaux Stadium.

Sexton converted seven of those in a 24-point haul as he marked a superb return to the team after a six-month absence.

There were also big wins for Italy and former champions Australia in their respective Pool A and Pool C matches.

Lorenzo Cannone, Paolo Garbisi, Dino Lamb, Ange Capuozzo, Hame Faiva, Manuel Zuliani and Paolo Odogwu went over as Italy defeated Namibia 52-8 at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in Saint-Étienne.

Full-back Ben Donaldson registered 25 points in Australia’s 35-15 triumph against Georgia at the Stade de France in Paris.

Donaldson scored two second-half tries and dispatched three penalties and three conversions.

Jordan Petaia and Mark Nawaqanitawase went over in the opening 10 minutes as Donaldson steered Australia home.

Competition is due to continue tomorrow with Japan facing Chile, South Africa tackling Scotland and Wales meeting Fiji.