Famous Fixtures: England v Argentina
Ahead of England's RWC Bronze Medal match against Argentina we look back at famous fixtures between the sides.
1990: ENG 51-0 ARG
England’s largest winning margin against the Pumas came at Twickenham back in 1990 as Will Carling captained the side to a resounding 51-0 victory on home turf.
Tries from Jon Hall and Richard Hill, as well as a Jeremy Guscott brace and a hat-trick courtesy of Rory Underwood made for a thrilling game in front of a rapturous home crowd.
For many, the game will forever be remembered for one incident which saw 18-year-old prop Fredrico Mendez red-carded for a hit on Paul Ackford.
The young Argentine emerged from a collapsed scrum and struck the hooker, who was a serving police officer at the time. After serving a four-week ban Mendez went on to win 73 caps for the Pumas.
The fixture allowed Simon Hodgkinson to make a record-breaking performance at full-back. His points total of 23 eclipsed the England record set in 1911 when Dan Lambert scored 23 points kicking seven conversions and three penalties successfully.
2009: ARG 24-22 ENG
Argentina claimed a slim 24-22 victory at Estadio Padre Ernesto Martearena in Salta to level the series 1-1 after Martin Johnson’s men had beaten Argentina at Old Trafford a week earlier.
Juan Manuel Leguizamon scored early courtesy of a wayward English line-out that was punished with a Pumas' try shortly after kick-off. Three penalties from Juan Martin Hernandez followed, with an Andy Goode effort in response, leaving England trailing 14-3 at half time.
Argentina opened the second half in similar fashion to the first when they hit the English defence at pace through Horacio Agulla, who brushed off Goode to feed into Gonzalo Camacho on the wing racing home to score inside the opening three minutes
England responded through Goode as he slotted four penalties in 20 minutes to close the gap to 21-15, however, a drop goal by Hernandez in the 70th minute put the score out of reach for England despite Matt Banahan crossing for the only English try of the afternoon.
2011: ENG 13-9 ARG
Expectations and anticipation were high as Martin Johnson prepared his men for their opening bout of the 2011 Rugby World Cup against Felipe Contepomi’s Pumas.
If England were to secure a path out of the group stages and safe passage to the quarter finals, it was vital they got off to a positive start against the third ranked seeds Argentina.
What unfolded was a desperately tight encounter. Johnson's side were 3-9 down with 13 minutes left to play when replacement Ben Youngs turned the tide and scooted under the posts from close range.
The Pumas missed a staggering six penalties and a drop goal in the fixture with Wilkinson also suffering an off-day with the boot missing five penalties.
The start of the second half saw ill-discipline from both sides allowing both to capitalise on the low score through penalties, however, accuracy was seeming to be an issue which convinced Wilkinson to kick to the corner and go for the win.
The change in strategy paid off, the line-out from five metres allowed the English forwards to put pressure on the Pumas putting scrum-half Youngs through as he darted over the line closing the gap to one point.
Wilkinson found his form again and converted the try and added the extras through a penalty kick minutes later to close the fixture at 13-9.
2017: ENG 21-8 ARG
A man of the match performance from Mako Vunipola and a first Test try for Nathan Hughes are just two of the stand-out moments from this memorable fixture against the Pumas.
This was England’s third win over the Pumas in six months, and despite a slow first 20 minutes, they found momentum and George Ford’s long pass found Hughes who claimed the ball one handed under his arm and thundered through the Argentine defence to the corner taking the score to 14-3 at the interval.
Argentina had chances to close the gap through penalty kicks in the first half but they flew wide from the boot of returning fly-half Juan Martin Hernandez.
Semesa Rokoduguni scored England’s second in the 65th minute after a break from centre Alex Lozowski that took him onto the Argentine five-metre line allowing Henry Slade to spot Rokoduguni alone on the right wing who dove over to make it 19-3.
Argentina deserved Nicolas Sanchez's late try, coming after a sustained period of forward pressure in the 78th minute but it came too little too late as 81,000 Twickenham fans applauded yet another England victory on home soil.
2019: ENG 39-10 ARG
England secured their quarter-final spot in the 2019 Rugby World Cup after an emphatic victory over Argentina in Tokyo scoring six tries against a 14-man team, after Tomas Lavanini was dismissed early for a high tackle on captain Owen Farrell.
Jonny May picked up England’s first points of the game shortly after a converted Argentine penalty. The Pumas defence committed to fly-half George Ford leaving space on the left for May to scramble through to the corner.
In the 17th minute Argentina were dealt an early blow when Tomas Lavanini was sent off for a reckless hit on Farrell charging in with his shoulder raised.
Elliot Daly and the team capitalised on the advantage presented when he broke away down the left side sending May deep into the Argentine 22. After multiple breakdowns Ford flung the ball out wide back into the hands of Daly who accelerated past the opposition and over the line.
Ben Youngs joined in the scoring moments later, picking up from the back of the ruck to dive over after 20 phases, closing the half at 15-3. England started the second half in strong fashion when Manu Tuilagi took on three defenders before passing onto his Sale Sharks teammate Ford who spotted a gap in the defence and touched down. Farrell converted to bring the score to 22-3.
Argentina’s single try of the game came 10 minutes from the final whistle and was scored by Matias Moroni under the posts. The consolation lasted all of three minutes as Jack Nowell ensured England finished with a flourish dive into the corner.
Luke Cowan-Dickie got in on the action in the final minute with Farrell converting, making it 39-10.
2023: ENG 27-10 ARG
Steve Borthwick’s side last faced Argentina in their first Pool D game of the 2023 Rugby World cup. A magical solo performance from George Ford saw him score all 27 points for England in a hard-fought 27-10 win over Los Pumas in Marseille.
Ford's three drop goals and six penalties at Stade de Marseille proved too much for Argentina, whose points came via a Rodrigo Bruni converted try and an Emiliano Boffelli penalty.
Tom Curry was shown a yellow card inside the opening three minutes for a high tackle on Juan Cruz Mallía, resulting in a head clash. Boffelli fired the resulting penalty over from halfway, and a bunker review later upgraded Curry's yellow to a red.
Santiago Carreras was sent to the sin bin moments later as he collided into Ford, after he had hoisted a kick into the air. Referee Mathieu Raynal awarded a penalty where the ball landed, and Ford duly sent it over to level the match.
The Sale Sharks man slotted two 50-metre drop goals in the space of four minutes, as England took the lead for the first time in the match, and the fly-half was on hand again three minutes from the break to fire over another effort from inside the Argentine 22, making it 12-3.
The half time stats showed a competitive affair, with England boasting more possession (55%), making just one more carry, beating one more defender, and completing two more offloads than Los Pumas. An area Steve Borthwick's men out performed Argentina was making 61 more metres, with Ford topping the charts in that area.
