The Sports Guru
England spent the closing minutes reducing their own margin for error, then survived because Henry Slade found the touchline before Bautista Delguy could quite avoid it. The paperwork was untidy. The win still counts.
England beat Argentina 31-24 in Santiago del Estero after a final-play try for Bautista Delguy was overturned by television match official Brett Cronan, denying the hosts the difficult conversion that could have secured a draw. Steve Borthwick's side finished with 13 men, collected two of the match's seven yellow cards in the closing passage and escaped with the sort of victory that brings both relief and a rather longer Monday review.
One touchline, two readings and no time left
The decisive sequence began with England protecting a seven-point lead and Argentina attacking for the final time. Delguy finished in the corner under Henry Slade's covering tackle, and referee Angus Gardner awarded the try on the field. Argentina were then left with a demanding conversion for the draw.
Cronan saw Delguy's contact with the touchline differently. The TMO insisted that the Argentina wing had gone into touch, while Gardner repeatedly indicated that he could not see clear evidence strong enough to overturn his original decision. The try was eventually removed. Argentina's players surrounded Gardner after the whistle, which was an understandable response to seeing a possible draw pass from the referee's raised arm to a television review and then disappear altogether.
The argument will settle around the available pictures and the standard required to reverse an on-field call. What cannot be disputed is Slade's part in creating the question. His tackle carried Delguy towards the narrowest strip of grass on the pitch, where a boot, a line and the angle of a camera suddenly had more influence than everything that had happened before them. England did not control the ending. Slade made it survivable.
No conversion was guaranteed, especially from the corner, so it would be too neat to say the TMO denied Argentina a draw. It denied them the attempt. That distinction matters, as does Gardner's stated reluctance to change the call. A match can produce five England tries and seven yellow cards, yet still be folded into one small frame at the end, like an entire week's post pushed through the letterbox at once.
England's first-half control became a test of nerve
The finish bore little resemblance to England's first half. Fin Smith's precise cross-field kick gave Tommy Freeman the chance to gather and score, although Ollie Chessum then conceded a penalty from the restart after rushing into a scuffle. England's scramble defence held and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso repeatedly carried a threat in attack, punching holes that Argentina struggled to close.
One Feyi-Waboso break created Ben Earl's first try. Mateo Carreras was then shown a yellow card for a high tackle on Freeman, before England's scrum supplied the platform for Earl to score again. Those two tries, added to Freeman's opener and Fin Smith's conversions, gave the visitors a 16-point half-time lead. The greater comfort came from how England had built it: a kick used accurately, a winger breaking the defensive line and a scrum turning pressure into points.
Argentina responded after the interval and made England pay while the visitors were short of players. The hosts' own discipline then interrupted that recovery. Marcus Smith scored in the corner while number eight Joaquin Oviedo was in the sin-bin, and Santiago Carreras soon joined him on the sidelines for 10 minutes. Feyi-Waboso added England's fifth try with an individual finish that quietened the home crowd.
The scorecard shows five England tries, with Freeman, Earl twice, Marcus Smith and Feyi-Waboso crossing, while Fin Smith kicked three conversions. Argentina's points came through tries for Carreras and Justo Piccardo, a penalty try, two conversions and a penalty from Tomas Albornoz. It was a busy way to reach 31-24, and the cards ensured that the arithmetic never stayed politely in one place for long.
Seven yellow cards tell the less comfortable story
A combined seven yellow cards shaped the match, although the closing damage belonged to England. Replacements Henry Pollock and Emmanuel Iyogun were sent to the sin-bin, leaving 13 defenders to protect the lead. Piccardo's late try reduced the gap, and Argentina broke again to create Delguy's disputed finish.
There is a useful separation to make here. England deserve credit for the scrambling defence that survived the imbalance, with Noah Caluori and Slade doing enough in the final passage to force the review on Delguy. They should not confuse surviving a problem with solving it. A team that finishes with 13 men has turned a tactical contest into an exercise in emergency carpentry, admirable when the shelf stays up, less admirable that the brackets were required.
Argentina have the same disciplinary question from the other side. Their extra men gave them a route back into the match, but Oviedo's and Santiago Carreras' spells in the sin-bin allowed England to restore control and add tries. The Pumas wore replicas of the navy blue shirt used by Argentina's football team at the 1986 World Cup, a choice designed to draw on one of the country's famous victories over England. The colour supplied atmosphere. It could not supply restraint.
Borthwick gets the result his summer required
England came into the summer with Borthwick's position under scrutiny. The Rugby Football Union backed him after a Six Nations campaign that produced one victory, England's worst return since the competition expanded from five teams to six in 2000. Against that background, these fixtures carried significance beyond the usual business of touring and selection.
A defeat at Ellis Park against world champions South Africa was followed by a 73-point performance against Fiji in Liverpool, which ended a five-Test losing sequence. Victory over Argentina now gives England two wins from their first three Nations Championship fixtures and sends them towards November's matches with evidence of attacking range, scrum power and late defensive resolve.
It also sends them home with the match's seven cards requiring careful study, including the two England cards that reduced them to 13 at the point when control mattered most. Borthwick needed wins and has collected them against Fiji and Argentina. The next task is to make the route less dependent on a television official finding a foot where the referee could not.
For Argentina, the disputed call will remain the immediate memory because it came last and carried the possibility of a draw. The more durable frustration may be the 16-point half-time deficit and the periods when their own yellow cards gave England room to score. Gardner's final decision closed the match. Much of the damage had already been entered in the ledger.
Frequently Asked Questions
England beat Argentina 31-24 in the third round of the Nations Championship in Santiago del Estero. England held a 16-point half-time lead and finished the match with 13 players.
Referee Angus Gardner initially awarded Bautista Delguy's try, but TMO Brett Cronan ruled that the Argentina wing had gone into touch under Henry Slade's covering tackle. Gardner had repeatedly indicated that he did not see clear evidence to overturn the on-field call before the try was removed.
Tommy Freeman, Marcus Smith and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso scored once each, while Ben Earl scored twice. Fin Smith added three conversions.
Seven yellow cards were shown across the match. England replacements Henry Pollock and Emmanuel Iyogun were sent to the sin-bin late on, leaving the visitors with 13 men for the final passage.
Source: BBC Sport.
