A late try by north Norfolk rugby star Ben Youngs has today saved England from an opening World Cup defeat.

Leicester Tigers' scrum-half Youngs, 22, whose family live near Aylsham, saved the day for the national team which came from six points behind to beat Argentina 13-9 at today's opening World Cup Pool B match in Dunedin, New Zealand.

Born in Cawston, Youngs was educated at Gresham's School, Holt, he played for North Walsham before joining Leicester.

Youngs came off the bench to score the only try of the match after 68 minutes and Jonny Wilkinson's conversion nudged England into the lead for the first time.

England's discipline was poor and they were second best for much of the game. Had the Pumas not missed a total of six penalty shots and a drop-goal they could have been out of touch.

Argentina's points came from two Martin Rodriguez penalties and one from Felipe Contepomi, the influential fly-half who was forced off injured in the first half.

Wilkinson was equally poor in front of goal, sending five penalty shots wide, four of them in the second half as England sought a way back into the game.

But it was Youngs who provided England's `get out of jail free` card.

The Leicester scrum-half, making his first appearance since undergoing keyhole knee surgery in June, scampered over from the base of a ruck to seal England the win.

After the match Youngs tweeted: 'Hard game but great win, really pleased to have got on and knee felt great. Thanks for all the support 1 game down!! Time for a beer.'

Relieved skipper Mike Tindall paid tribute to the impact made by Youngs, a second-half replacement for Richard Wigglesworth.

'Youngsy came on and turned the game for us,' Tindall told ITV. 'We got our tempo going and we got a try on the back of it.

'The one thing I am going to give the team credit for is the way we stuck to our task.

'We got a win but there is a lot to work on.'

Argentina dominated the first-half and England had no answer.

'We were under no illusions about what Argentina can bring,' said Tindall. 'For the first 20 minutes it is hard to play rugby when you don't touch the ball or see it.

'We know how good their pack is and they kept the ball really well. They squeezed and squeezed and they won their penalties.

'We gave away three easy penalties away and from then on it makes it hard work for you.'

Tindall acknowledged that England will have to work hard on improving their discipline ahead of their remaining Pool B matches.

'You've got to play to what you are getting away with and we were not squeaky clean enough. It is something to go away and look at.'