New Zealand 40 Canada 10 England 26 Argentina 10 England threw down the gauntlet to five-time champions New Zealand after a workmanlike defeat of Argentina on day one of the World Rugby Classic at National Sports Club yesterday.

While the All Blacks were more impressive in their 40-10 trouncing of tournament newcomers Canada in the opening match, England were forced to battle for long periods before breaking the game open with two tries in four minutes late in the first half.

Argentina, tenacious in the mauls, were otherwise short on ideas and England comfortably matched their straight-ahead approach before tiring in the second half.

"We've come here to try and win this tournament,'' proclaimed manager Mike Coley. "In the past we've enjoyed your hospitality too much. So we're trying to stop the hospitality and win a few games of rugby.'' An early casualty was Peter Winterbottom, England's most capped flanker, who left the match in the first half with a head wound that needed four stitches.

"It's not serious, he's got a hard skull,'' quipped Coley.

But it appears the England approach is serious this year, especially since the tournament draw clearly ranks them behind the likes of New Zealand and Celtic Barbarians, the only other side to win a Classic in the six years the Kiwis have competed.

The opening exchanges with Argentina were all about tactics and field position; there was more kicking in the first 10 minutes than in the entire New Zealand-Canada match.

But England broke through after 11 minutes after a superb move in which out-half Peter Williams sold the opposition a Michael Jordan-style, one-hand fake before passing to centre Frank Clough who was left the simple task of finding Simon Langford to score on the right.

Full-back Langford made his own conversion for a 7-0 lead.

England maintained the territorial advantage but were stopped at every turn by a hard-tackling Argentine outfit, centre Alejandro Travaglini particularly impressive.

But just as Argentina appeared to be ready to mount a serious assault, sloppy handling led to England's second score after 22 minutes.

A sweeping move metres inside the Argentina half was ended by a misdirected pass and England quickly pounced with Rob Lozowski scoring in the left corner.

Langford's conversion attempt hit the left upright.

And when wing Mike Harrison scored from a Mark Rigby pass after 26 minutes and Langford made good on his conversion, England were in full control.

England made it 24-0 four minutes into the second half with a try that went three-quarters the length of the pitch after a pacy, two-man move.

Lozowski exposed an imbalanced Argentine defence, outrunning four players before passing over his left shoulder to wing Simon Hogg who touched down under the posts. Hogg would then make the easiest conversion of the day to complete England's scoring at 26-0.

Argentina promised to go down fighting and no one in the 2,000 strong crowd would deny them their successes later in the half.

Flanker Ricardo de Vedia scored the first try after positive running by Martin Yanguela, their best player. Then, Yanguela himself added the second three minutes from time, pouncing on an error by Langford.

Argentina will hope that kicking conversions will not be paramount to their survival in the Plate competition as Gonzalo Beccar Varela missed both in miserable fashion.

Wade Dooley, England's second most capped player with 55, said afterwards: "I just wish somebody would switch some of this heat down.'' But he knows that they will have to be on fire for Wednesday night's semi-final showdown with New Zealand.

"We probably blew up a bit. That's because most of us are probably a little bit lost for match fitness,'' he admitted. "But we need to tighten things up for the next one. We know that's going to be hard against the All Blacks.'' Dooley is right to expect a more searching examination from the defending champions.

The All Blacks offset a number of uncharacteristic errors before confirming the gulf between themselves and Canada.

No. 8 Andy Earle was the beneficiary of a forceful ruck for the first try after six minutes and you would have thought the rout was on.

But the hard-working Canadians defended well, restricting the All Blacks to just two more tries in the half, by out-half John Boe and speedy wing Joe Leota.

The All Blacks, as is their tradition in this tournament, refuse to kick conversions.

Canada had rarely ventured into New Zealand territory and when they did, having been awarded a five-yard scrum, they looked lost in their passing movements.

Boe went over for his second try two minutes upon resumption after another scintillating All Blacks move down the left and then Canada fans were given reason to cheer for the first time.

Fred Asselin, hardly a veteran at age 22, was rewarded for his spirited play with a try on 40 minutes after breaking through the heart of the All Blacks defence. And, though they could hardly afford it, Canada too chose to defer on conversions.

New Zealand's sheer power in the forwards was beginning to show and there was virtually no resistance to scrum-half Dave Loveridge when he made it 25-5 in the 46th minute.

Canada's plight was soon after summed up by Doug Tate's indecision with an open field ahead of him. The ensuing tackle was crunching and, led by Terry Wright and Robbie Deans, New Zealand marched up the field with Alan Dawson presented a gift of a try.

Canada hit back through Rob Frame to make the score 30-10 but the All Blacks closed it out in style with Leota notching his second try -- having received a dynamite touch pass from Boe -- and Bruce Middleton going over assisted by Kieran Crowley.

Player-manager Andy Haden feels there is indeed room for improvement.

"All-round there were a lot of mistakes in our side,'' he said, "a lot of knock-ons, a lot of balls dropped. We've got to tidy that up if we're going to go on in the tournament.'' IN YOUR FACE -- New Zealand hooker Bruce Hemara fends off Mark O'Reagan, the Canadian out-half, during the All Blacks' 40-10 victory yesterday.