Up on the scoreboard England have ended their autumn firmly in credit. A first four-Test autumn clean sweep at Twickenham since 2016, a total of 17 tries scored and a winning run that now stretches to 11 Tests. By the time the 2026 Six Nations comes around those will be the primary facts when Steve Borthwick’s team regather with the aim of pushing further onwards and upwards.
Their final game of the year, though, was a curate’s egg with a distinctly sour aftertaste. An angry Felipe Contepomi, the Pumas’ head coach, alleged afterwards he had been shoved and sworn at by Tom Curry in a post-match scuffle in the tunnel and complained the Sale flanker had been guilty of a “reckless” tackle that led to his full-back Juan Cruz Mallía suffering a serious knee injury and reduced Argentina to 14 men late on.
Contepomi even used the word “bully” in his post-match press conference and his tirade ended up eclipsing many of the finer details of the contest itself. It is rare to hear a leading Test coach being as searingly forthright after a match these days, although England declined to throw further fuel on the intensifying diplomatic flames. Borthwick, instead, responded by describing his player’s character as “impeccable”.
On the pitch, however, England could hardly have complained had the Pumas nicked victory in the closing moments. At 17-0 up in the first half there appeared to be only one winner but by the end the hosts were clinging on desperately and in danger of surrendering their dignity. They were ultimately indebted to 12 points from the boot of George Ford and a promising first home start by Max Ojomoh, who scored a sharp early try and also provided assists for further scores by the Exeter duo of Immanuel Feyi-Waboso and Henry lade.
It completed England’s most successful autumn since they beat South Africa, Fiji, Argentina and Australia on successive weekends in the first year of Eddie Jones’s tenure. If an outbreak of pushing and shoving at the final whistle, involving Curry and Henry Pollock, was not the obvious way to celebrate England are unquestionably getting better at finding different ways to win.
To knock them over at home these days you certainly need to take a high proportion of your chances and, ideally, not give them a head start. Argentina could initially do neither but, as Scotland discovered at Murrayfield a week earlier, they can be dangerous if allowed back into a contest. With 15 minutes left there was only one point in it until Slade’s try finally gave his side a decisive edge.
It was certainly not England’s prettiest effort of the autumn, however. Without a number of injured squad members, their gameplan was clear from early on and did not include many, if any, frills. Between them the two sides kicked the ball 78 times, with England responsible for 40 of them.
To be fair the tactics initially worked perfectly, with England going 10-0 ahead in as many minutes on a clear, cool afternoon. A Ford drop goal, rapidly becoming a specialité de la maison, was followed by an opportunist try for Ojomoh, two Pumas succeeding only in knocking the ball back into the Bath centre’s path and giving him a free run to the line.
Argentina, by contrast, were not at their sharpest: their first two lineout throws were called not straight and they were held up over the line with men lurking outside. When Santi Carreras, on temporarily for Tomás Albornoz, saw a penalty attempt crash back off a post it reflected their general inaccuracy.
It felt even more costly when England nailed a second precisely-executed try. With nothing doing down the blindside Ford slipped the ball back inside to Ojomoh who sent a perfect cross kick straight into the arms of the unmarked Feyi-Waboso on the right. If ever there was a good advertisement for having a second playmaker at inside centre this was it.
Albornoz did finally knock over a 45-metre penalty to make it 17-3 but the initiative was still very much with England. Their kicking game was definitely working, to the point where Ford could almost have been wearing a ringmaster’s top hat and tails at times.
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Given Argentina’s ability to score a lot of points quickly, however, the onus was on England to keep pushing forward rather than sitting back. A third try before the interval would have helped but, from a commanding lineout maul, Luke Cowan-Dickie could not quite ground the ball to the French referee’s satisfaction.
It was precisely the encouragement Argentina needed. The second half was only four minutes old when Juan Martín González broke clear in midfield and, with defenders back-pedalling, Justo Piccardo charged over beside the posts. A penalty awarded against Maro Itoje on the floor then made it a four-point ball game and England visibly needed fresh impetus.
Argentina Cruz Mallía; Isgró, Moroni, Piccardo, Delguy; Albornoz (S Carreras 8-21, 50), Benítez Cruz (Moyano 50); Gallo (Wenger 59), Montoya (Ruiz 66), Delgado (Rapetti 55), Petti (Molina 59), Rubiolo, González, Kremer (Matera 45-52, 63), S Grondona (Oviedo 45). Tries Piccardo, Isgro. Cons Albornoz, S Carreras. Pens Albornoz 2, S Carreras.
Referee Pierre Brousset (Fr).
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Quick Guide England 27-23 Argentina teams and scorers
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England Steward; Feyi-Waboso, Slade, Ojomoh, Daly; Ford, Spencer (Mitchell 59); Genge (Baxter 50), Cowan-Dickie (Dan 71, Opoku-Fordjour (Stuart 50), Itoje (capt; Ewels 73), Coles, Pepper (Pollock 50), Underhill (Curry 50), Earl. Replacement M Smith. Tries Ojomoh, Feyi-Waboso, Slade. Cons Ford 3. Pen Ford. Drop goal Ford.
Argentina Cruz Mallía; Isgró, Moroni, Piccardo, Delguy; Albornoz (S Carreras 8-21, 50), Benítez Cruz (Moyano 50); Gallo (Wenger 59), Montoya (Ruiz 66), Delgado (Rapetti 55), Petti (Molina 59), Rubiolo, González, Kremer (Matera 45-52, 63), S Grondona (Oviedo 45). Tries Piccardo, Isgro. Cons Albornoz, S Carreras. Pens Albornoz 2, S Carreras.
Referee Pierre Brousset (Fr).
The Pumas, though, had also stacked their bench and another Carreras penalty closed the gap to a single point. Ford tried to restore some order with another drop-goal but his effort drifted wide and left England to try to locate a different avenue of escape.
This time it came in the form of a try from Slade with 14 minutes left, again courtesy of an Ojomoh offload with England already enjoying an advantage. Another Ford penalty gave his side further breathing space and, this time, the Pumas could not quite wriggle their way out of trouble despite a defiant late try for the Harlequins winger Rodrigo Isgró. The most contentious exchanges of the day, though, were still to come.
