England made a hilarious start to their autumn campaign as Argentina shocked a crowd of 80,000 at Twickenham with a gutsy and deserved victory. England led 16-12 at half-time, but Emiliano Boffelli and Santiago Carreras crossed in quick succession to turn the game around. Substitute Jack van Poortvliet scored to repair some of the damage, but Boffelli’s boot proved decisive in the closing stages. It is just Argentina’s second away win over England after a success in 2006. It is the latest landmark win in a successful season for the Pumas, following a first away win in New Zealand earlier in the year. However, Argentina finished bottom of the Southern Hemisphere Rugby League and were expected to ease England into a month of fixtures that culminates with games against the All Blacks and world champions South Africa. England manager Eddie Jones fell off the big screen as his side’s increasingly desperate efforts to salvage victory came to nothing. When substitute Henry Slade burst forward in midfield to end an England drive, Argentina’s bench leapt into the sky in celebration. The two teams will meet in September in their opening game of the Rugby World Cup.
England fall behind on a loose pitch
Owen Farrell captained England after Courtney Laws, who captained the team last year, was ruled out with concussion A saturated Twickenham pitch was no platform for running rugby and for many of the opening exchanges Jones’ “New England” fell back to old strengths. Openings were few and far between and handling errors aplenty before the power of Joe Cokanasiga – a real point of difference between England’s back three – opened up the Pumas’ tight defense on 25 minutes. The Bath wing latched on to an inside pass from Ben Youngs in the 25th minute, shrugging off center Jeronimo de le Fuente and turning through Juan Martin Gonzalez’s tackle to ground the ball home. However, England could not relax. Boffelli’s boot had the Pumas within a point at 13-12 before England’s front row crushed their counterparts in the scrum to give Farrell a penalty just in front to reach the final act of the half. England’s four-point lead disappeared from under four minutes into the second half. First, Matias Moroni’s perfectly timed pass with misplaced football left England’s defence, leaving Steward outnumbered and Boffelli running into the corner. Shortly after Owen Farrell’s pass he fell to the floor as manager Thomas Gallo set fire to the England captain. Argentinian fly-half Santiago Carreras collected and, showing all the pace that made him a winger for Gloucester, ran over from 50 metres. Umpire Andrew Brace called for a review of Gallo’s hit on Farrell, but replays could not detect any hit by Gallo as Farrell took his pass and the score stood. Argentina led 24-16 and danger transformed a calm Twickenham. The increased volume brought more urgency and England mounted a quick counter as substitute Van Poortvliet, just 29 seconds after coming on, burst through a hole and slid under the sticks. Farrell’s penalty on the hour put England back in front 26-24. Boffelli grabbed it back with a kick of his own three minutes later. Farrell answered once more. But it was the man from Edinburgh who had the last word as England ran out of steam and ideas. Argentina’s last-gasp win at Twickenham led to the sacking of England manager Andy Robinson, the hiring of Brian Ashton and a run to the Rugby World Cup final less than a year later. A similar change of leadership is not going to happen for Eddie Jones, who is still England’s most successful manager when measured by win percentage. But the Australian will know things need to improve before he faces old friend and Argentina coach Michael Cheika again in Marseille in 10 months’ time.
Player of the match – Santiago Carreras
Gloucester’s Carrera scored a try and set up another before sealing a famous victory for the Pumas
“We made stupid mistakes” – what they said
“You can’t put your finger on what went wrong. Structurally we were in control of the game but we kept making basic mistakes and easy mistakes. “We have no excuses, the referee, the field was the same for both teams. They got the points at the right time. We lacked cohesion. “After half-time we got our game in place, we were fluid in attack, but then we made mistakes and chased our tails. “We made silly mistakes, but I like the way the team did it. We didn’t finish well, there was that lack of cohesion. “It’s not good enough – we realize it’s not good enough.” Michael Cheika enjoyed a first win over old team-mate Eddie Jones after losing seven matches with him as Australia coach. Argentina coach Michael Cheika: “It was good and it was tense. I really liked the way the guys prepared this week. They had a really good attitude about them. “It was also difficult because nobody in this team had beaten England before, so you have to combine their mental side with their tactical and technical side. “It’s a great feeling and really nice for the kids to have this opportunity to have this experience here.”
Lining up
England: Fighter? Nowell, Tuilagi, Farrell (c), Cokanasiga; Smith, Youngs; Genge, Cowan-Dickie, Sinckler, Coles, Hill, Itoje, Curry, B Vunipola. Subs: Singleton, M Vunipola, Hayes, Ribbans, Simmonds, Willis, Van Portvliet, Slade Argentina: Mallia; M Carreras, Moroni, De la Fuente, Boffelli; S Carreras, Bertranou; Gallo, Montoya, Gomez Kodela, Alemanno, Lavanini, Gonzalez, Kremer, Matera. Substitutes: Ruiz, Tetaz Chaparo, Bello, Paulos, Issa, Morales, Talbornoz, Morlando.
