With wins in La Plata and San Juan, England completed a series win over Argentina. The two test victories were very different but the heart of them had a common theme: tactics gave England an edge. Game One saw a stalemate in the first-half turn into a dominant period for England to ultimately win big. Game two was close throughout with England sneaking past Argentina with a try at the death.
Argentina were leading the match at half-time. The 17-14 scoreline saw two first-half tries to each team. Seb Atkinson’s early try was well-taken, exposed Argentina and was an indication of England’s tactics. It came from a precision cross-kick from captain George Ford. Ignacio Mendy misread the kick while Tom Roebuck did not and after two passes Atkinson was over.
England lost Jamie George due to a British & Irish Lions call-up. The loss of Lions’ players saw men standing-up for England. Argentina’s resting to cover for a lack of a global season ahead of the Rugby Championship saw opportunities but shortcomings were apparent, including opposite Ford.
Santiago Carreras was outstanding at fullback in Argentina’s win over the British & Irish Lions. Tomas Albornoz was Man of the Match in that win. Carreras replaced Albornoz for the series against England. What transpired was Argentina did not play with the same fluidity to from the game in Dublin.
Carreras opened the Pumas’ scoring with a penalty. The long-range 9th minute strike was Argentina’s only penalty attempt during the contest. His combination with Simón Benítez Cruz was an improvement to that with Gonzalo Bertranou in La Plata. Benítez Cruz juggled the ball past Tom Willis and Sam Underhill and off-loaded to Lucio Cinti for Argentina’s first try.
The lead was short-lived. England regained possession and put phases together. A good attack saw Pumas defenders caught short defending down the right. Freddie Stewart capitalized as Matías Moroni was marking three men. Ford converted the try from the touchline.
Stewart’s performance turned upside down late in the half. Santiago Carreras kicked over the defense for Ignacio Mendy to chase. Stewart failed to collect the bounce with the posts and the sunlight involved. Mendy gratefully accepted and scored.
Half-time went after Carreras’ converted Mendy’s try. It was 17-14; however, Argentina failed to add to their first-half points. Ford leveled on 53 minutes for a 17-17 scoreline.
England’s domination of possession and territory in the second-half saw 585 meters made compared to 280 by Argentina. The second-half saw Argentina defending well and hold-ing off England raids. This came with Argentina also having discipline concerns as demonstrated by conceding 12 penalties compare to England’s 5.
Control ultimately affected the final result. Argentina were unable to get into English territory and so looked to run the ball out late. With the clock winding down, Benjamín Elizalde was tackled and the ball was not protected. It burst out of the side enabling England to claim a fortunate try and victory after replacements Guy Pepper and Jack van Poortvliet combined.
Felipe Contepomi and his staff will need to adjust. The replacement players were ultimately thin against the depth that England have. The five of Bautista Bernasconi, Pedro Delgado, Benjamín Grondona, Agustín Moyano, and Nicolás Roger are all new blood introduced in the Contepomi era.
The loss has implications for the World Rankings. As a result of losing in La Plata and San Juan to England Argentina have fallen from 5th to 7th. The updated rankings will have Argentina on 82.05 points compared to Australia on 82.52 points and England on 87.64 points. World Rankings at the end of November will be used to seed teams for the draw for Rugby World Cup 2027. Argentina need to return to 6th or higher to get a favorable draw.
Argentina’s quest to string wins together will begin in Salta on Saturday, July 19. Los Pumas play host to Uruguay in their final test match before the Rugby Championship. England will also play again on July 19, they will do so against the USA in Washington, D.C.
| SCORING |
ARGENTINA
TRY – L Cinti (24′); I Mendy (39′)
CON – S Carreras 2 (25′, 40′)
PEN – S Carreras (9′)
YC – P Matera (58′)
ENGLAND
TRY – S Atkinson (4′); F Stewart (31′); J van Poortvliet (79′)
CON – G Ford (5′, 32′)
PEN – G Ford (53′)
YC – B Curry (18′)
| LINE-UPS |
ARGENTINA
1 Thomas Gallo, 2 Julián Montoya (capt.), 3 Francisco Gómez Kodela, 4 Guido Petti, 5 Pedro Rubiolo, 6 Santiago Grondona, 7 Juan Martín González, 8 Pablo Matera, 9 Simón Benítez Cruz, 10 Santiago Carreras, 11 Ignacio Mendy, 12 Justo Piccardo, 13 Lucio Cinti, 14 Matías Moroni, 15 Benjamín Elizalde
Replacements: 16 Bautista Bernasconi, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Pedro Delgado, 19 Lucas Paulos, 20 Facundo Isa, 21 Benjamín Grondona, 22 Agustín Moyano, 23 Nicolás Roger
ENGLAND
1 Fin Baxter, 2 Theo Dan, 3 Joe Heyes, 4 Charlie Ewels, 5 Alex Coles, 6 Ben Curry, 7 Sam Underhill, 8 Tom Willis, 9 Ben Spencer, 10 George Ford (capt.), 11 Will Muir, 12 Seb Atkinson, 13 Luke Northmore, 14 Tom Roebuck, 15 Freddie Steward
Replacements: 16 Curtis Langdon, 17 Bevan Rodd, 18 Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 19 Chandler Cunningham-South, 20 Guy Pepper, 21 Alex Dombrandt, 22 Jack van Poortvliet, 23 Cadan Murley
| MATCH HIGHLIGHTS |
| MATCH OFFICIALS |
Referee: Luc Ramos (France)
Assistant Referees: Angus Gardner (Australia); Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)
TMO: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
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