Nations Championship – round three
Argentina (3) 24
Tries: Carreras, penalty try, Piccardo Cons: Albornoz 2 Pen: Albornoz
England (19) 31
Tries: Freeman, Earl 2, M Smith, Feyi-Waboso Cons: F Smith 3
England held on to beat Argentina in a chaotic match in the Nations Championship after the hosts had a last-gasp try controversially ruled out in Santiago del Estero.
With 13-man England leading 31-24, Argentina wing Bautista Delguy scored in the corner with the final play – leaving a difficult conversion to secure a draw.
Referee Angus Gardner had awarded the try on field, but television match official Brett Cronan insisted Delguy was in touch.
While Gardner repeatedly suggested there was no clear evidence to overturn his original on-field call, the try was eventually chalked off.
Henry Slade’s covering tackle on Delguy proved to be the decisive moment, with Gardner surrounded by frustrated Argentina players at full-time.
The late officiating decision in the visitors’ favour came just three days after England’s football team suffered a heart-breaking defeat by Argentina in the World Cup semi-finals.
A combined seven yellow cards were shown in Saturday’s action-packed thriller, with England receiving four in the second half and twice being down to 13 players.
Steve Borthwick’s side looked set for back-to-back Nations Championship wins after Tommy Freeman’s try and two scores from Ben Earl gave them a 16-point half-time lead.
The Pumas, who wore replicas of the football team’s 1986 World Cup kit for the match, scored next before taking advantage of two England yellow cards, but their own ill-discipline prevented them punishing the visitors further.
Marcus Smith’s try in the corner came with number eight Joaquin Oviedo in the sin-bin, before Santiago Carreras joined his team-mate on the sidelines for 10 minutes.
An individual try from Immanuel Feyi-Waboso then silenced the passionate home crowd.
However, England replacements Henry Pollock and Emmanuel Iyogun were next to be sent to the sin-bin, making for a nervy finish.
Justo Piccardo’s late try and Argentina’s subsequent break had 13-man England scrambling, only for a combination of Noah Caluori and Slade to do just enough to deny Delguy in the final play.
Having gained the backing of the Rugby Football Union after just one win in this year’s Six Nations – England’s worst performance since the tournament’s expansion from the Five Nations in 2000 – this summer’s fixtures were pivotal for Borthwick’s future.
Discipline was one area the RFU wanted to see improvement in, with England now up to 14 yellows and one red card shown in the past eight matches.
A tough defeat at Ellis Park against world champion South Africa was expected, but wins over Fiji and Argentina have set England up well for November’s Nations Championship games.