Pumas lump misery on England
By Ben Blackmore
Last Updated: 29/07/24 7:23am
England crashed to their first ever home defeat to Argentina, losing 25-18.
International Test, England v Argentina, Twickenham, Saturday November 11, 2.30pm, Sky Sports 2
England crashed to a 25-18 defeat to Argentina to record their worst set of results in the professional era.
For the first time in 34 years, England have slumped to seven straight losses, courtesy of their first ever home defeat to the Pumas.
Wonderful solo efforts from Paul Sackey and Iain Balshaw provided brief moments of elation in an otherwise abject performance that will raise serious questions about the direction of English rugby.
Replacement stand-off Federico Todeschini did the damage with 22 of Argentina's points, confirming their status as an established force in international rugby.
For coach Andy Robinson, a testing seven days awaits as he picks the bones out of a performance that started with individual mistakes, and ended with a desperate lack of ideas.
Sporting one change (Perry Freshwater) from the team that lost to New Zealand a week ago, England opened the scoring - Charlie Hodgson making no mistake with a fourth-minute penalty.
The Pumas' major tactical decision came at fly-half, where Felipe Contepomi was preferred to metronomic kicker Todeschini, and the Leinster man quickly levelled with one of two penalty opportunities as England lost their discipline.
Martin Corry was one of the men at fault, sloppily caught offside as Hodgson kicked ahead, and the England skipper's performance set the tone for a poor display from the hosts.
Todeschini did not have to wait long to see a piece of the action, replacing Gonzalo Tiesi on 24 minutes in what became the decisive moment of the match. With Contepomi switching to 12 to strengthen the Pumas' midfield, Argentina now had the half-back combination in Todeschini and Agustin Pichot to leap on England's generosity in the penalty count.
Try-scoring opportunities were a rare luxury in the first quarter, with long distance breaks from Juan Martin Hernandez and Shaun Perry the only brief moments of exhilaration.
It took 25 minutes for Robinson's men to truly raise the pulse, and it was rookie centre Anthony Allen showing a super dummy, before naively ignoring Ben Cohen who was unopposed out wide.
Hodgson then missed a penalty as England continued to struggle, but Sackey suddenly took the game by the scruff of its neck on 32 minutes with a splendid solo score.
Picking the ball up 35 yards out, the Wasps man showed superb balance to dissect two Argentinean tacklers before standing up full-back Hernandez, creating the room to accelerate past into the right-hand corner.
It was the big winger's first try in an England jersey, and it was a moment not in-keeping with a poor quality first half, which ended 10-9 as replacement Todeschini punished two more errors before the break.
The Pumas will have been pleased going into the interval, their game plan working as things remained messy, allowing them to counter from frequent turnovers.
Argentina pressed ahead 12-10 thanks to another Todeschini kick early in second period, forcing Robinson into panic changes as England failed to rise from their slumber.
On came Peter Richards, Tom Palmer and Josh Lewsey, replacing Perry, Danny Grewcock and Sackey.
Perhaps the most significant introduction was that of 21-year-old debutant Toby Flood though, brought on for the ineffectual Hodgson.
Robinson no doubt had Wales' inspiration James Hook on his mind as Flood came into the contest, but the Newcastle man suffered a horrific first five minutes, telegraphing a pass directly into Todeschini's grateful arms for 19-10 to the Pumas.
Suddenly, an air of desperation filtered around the ground with defeat a distinct possibility, and it took a moment of fortune to get England back into the match.
With full-back Hernandez out of action at one end of the pitch, Richards had the awareness to run a penalty inside his own half, before Balshaw exploded past Miguel Avramovic and the out-of-position Todeschini for the try.
Flood's afternoon was not getting any better though, and a missed conversion saw two crucial points and - ultimately - the match go begging with 20 minutes remaining.
The slim one-point deficit soon got extended to four points as Pat Sanderson committed yet another elementary error inside his own 22, running straight into a cul-de-sac before being penalised for not releasing.
Moments later it was Julian White caught offside, the faultless Todeschini punishing both errors for 25-18.
England summoned one last attack to save the contest, but in truth, even a draw would have been flattering for Robinson's men.
