Guy Pepper added to Borthwick’s embarrassment of back-row riches as his late try sealed a stunning series victory over Los Pumas and England appear to be on a path to greater things
Eight years ago an England team travelled to Argentina and achieved a 2-0 series victory against the odds before going onto reach the Rugby World Cup final.
There is still a long way to go before Steve Borthwick’s side can dream of emulating the class of 2019, but Jack van Poortvliet’s late try ensured that they ticked off the first of those objectives.
The Leicester Tigers scrum half came off the bench in San Juan to snatch a 22-17 win over Los Pumas, after being brilliantly set up by a fellow replacement, Bath’s Guy Pepper.
How Borthwick manages his back-row riches is anyone’s guess, with the recent Premiership champion showing that he needs to be in the conversation alongside Sam Underhill, the Curry brothers, Ben Earl and Henry Pollock – and those are just the openside flankers.
In 2017, it was Underhill and Tom Curry who debuted against Los Pumas and went onto spearhead England’s charge to the World Cup final in Japan two years later.
On this evidence, there will be several international-class players who will not even make it onto the plane to Australia in 2027.
England did not have it all their own way in San Juan, but had the game finished in a draw, as looked likely heading into the final minutes, there would have been regrets.
The second half was played almost exclusively in Argentina territory with just one George Ford penalty to show for it before Van Poortvliet’s late score.
Ford, who was captaining England on his own after co-captain Jamie George’s late withdrawal after his call-up by the Lions, admitted as much.
He said: “We found a way in the end. We had a lot of opportunities in the 22 but couldn't get over the line, I'm proud of the boys. I like our fight, our togetherness, showing how much we care. There was some great stuff, we should have scored more tries but the attitude of the group is great.”
England had made two changes to the team that triumphed 35-12 in La Plata, with Luke Northmore given a debut in place of the injured Henry Slade at outside centre, and Theo Dan promoted to starting hooker duty late on for George, with Curtis Langdon coming onto the bench for his first cap in four years.
That disruption did not seem to affect them as Seb Atkinson scored a first Test try after just four minutes. A Ford cross-kick to Tom Roebuck created the chance. He found Northmore who fed his midfield partner and England were ahead.
Santiago Carreras knocked over a long-range penalty from 45 metres on the angle to get the home side on the board, before Ben Curry was shown a yellow card for a shoulder to the head of Pablo Matera – winning his 111th cap to become Argentina’s most capped player.
In Curry's absence, Argentina scored one and it could have been more, busy scrum-half Simon Benitez Cruz putting in Lucio Cinti as he caught the eye on his first Test start.
Curry’s return coincided with England regaining control, Ford and Will Muir combining to put Freddie Steward over for their second try.
But right on half-time, Argentina regained the lead, a speculative chip kick from Carreras got a kind bounce and with the aid of the post, Ignacio Mendy dotted down. They led 17-14 as a result.
Having done real damage at scrum-time in the first half, it was England’s maul that allowed them to control the second, but time and again, they missed chances to break the game open.
A Ford penalty drew them level but it was scant reward, such was their level of dominance. Even when Matera went to the sin-bin after the latest maul penalty, England could not capitalise.
That was until Pepper collected a ball near halfway and raced down the left, handing off tacklers before feeding Van Poortvliet to seal victory.
The decisions start now for Borthwick, with another chance to give his youngsters international game time in Washington DC next weekend against the USA.
When everyone is available in November, however, he will have the most agreeable of selection dilemmas on his hands.
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Category: General Sports
