Key events
Jeremy Boyce wrote in before kick-off.
Here’s what he had to say:
In your totally made up north v south nonsense you forgot to mention that Chile put up a decent showing yesterday against a pretty sturdy Italian team. Chile were a joy at the last World Cup and they need more game time against the bigger boys. As for Argentina, I love them, especially as I had the joy (as an England man) of spending the opening evening of the 2007 rugby world cup at a local club on the Paris outskirts, when Argentina spoiled the hosts’ opening party with their surprise and well-deserved victory. More Ole Ole than Allez Allez. I’ve never seen so many long faces in my life before and it was hard not to titter openly. As you say, scalping England at Twickers is surely on their bucket list, but they might have to wait a little longer for that one given how well England are going just now.
Half-timeL England 17-3 Argentina
Dominance from the home side without getting out of second gear.
Not very impressive from the tourists who looked one dimensional, inaccurate and short of ideas beyond hoofing away possession.
Credit, though, to England, especially Ojomoh who scored a poacher’s try and a set up another with a magnificent cross-field assist.
Back in a bit.
40+ min: Cowan-Dickie is over! That looked far too easy but I tell you what, that is some finish. The maul got a great shove on before fracturing. The England hooker rode a challenge and wriggled his body to reach out and score.
But did he lose it before grounding? Looks like it. They need another look at this.
NO TRY!
40 min: A ton of kick tennis. Both teams don’t want the ball. It ends with. Argentina straying off-side. Kremer grabbed a bouncing ball after not getting back on-side. So that means Ford has the option to shoot at goal or nudge to the corner. He goes for the latter and England will get a line-out about eight metres out on the left.
39 min: Ford misses, pushing it across the face of the uprights.
38 min: England win a penalty within range as Daly chases a high kick and chooses not to compete. But he times the challenge to perfection and gets over the ball, forcing Albornoz to hold on as he’s grounded. Argentina are playing the game England want them to play. Or maybe England are forcing Argentina into a box. Credit and blame should be shared across this one as Ford lines up a shot at goal from the left.
37 min: Both teams trade kicks. The final one is from Ford who has to mop up a loose ball in the backfield. He steadies himself and drills it to halfway.
Penalty! England 17-3 Argentina (Albornoz, 35)
Pumas on the board! That wasn’t an easy kick. He gave it everything and just about cleared the cross-bar. But it’s over from 45 metres.
34 min: England have a scrum and set up Ojomoh for a midfield run. But Argentina read the play like an open book and pick him off on the floor to win a penalty. As they’d look at the poles they’re just to the right about 45 metres out.
32 min: Oh wow! What’s happened here? I’ll give it a go. Mallia makes a break and then Moroni does the same. The second one is a scything run that almost breaks England open. He needs help. He has it to his right and tries to play a pass but it’s knocked backwards by the covering England defender. There’s a penalty before as Earl took a player out off the ball. Better from Argentina. More direct and more aggressive to the line. No penalty advantage though? Seems so. Moroni’s pass was kicked ahead by an Argentine boot so England get the goal-line drop out.
Hope that makes sense. There was quite a lot going on.
30 min: Another Argentine kick is too long. Steward gathers an easy mark. Not sure I understand the strategy from the Pumas here. They need to try something different. They try running it from halfway but England’s rush defence is more than equal to it. The home side is dominating this.
28 min: Argentina need to pull their fingers out. They’ve not been clinical. Cruz kicks a ball away and meekly hands possession back from the back of a line-out. England hoist a high kick back. It bounces out so Argentina get another throw to the line from inside their own half.
TRY! England 17-0 Argentina (Feyi-Waboso, 25)
On a sixpence! Ojomoh has unfurled a perfect cross-field assist for Feyi-Waboso and the winger flies in across the line. What a kick from the England centre! It came off the back of a scrum that fractured. Ford went one way so Ojomoh deputised at first receiver. He saw his mate in acres of space and landed the kick right where it needed to be on the right wing. Ford squeezes the conversion on the right side of the post.
24 min: England don’t do anything with their possession. Ford lifts a very high kick that is taken after a bounce by Argentina. They kick back. The ball bounces awkwardly so England have to mop up in their own patch under pressure. More kick tennis ends with a scrum for England just over halfway. Not exactly a thrill a minute, this one.
22 min: Now Argentina give away a soft penalty as Feyi-Waboso is obstructed by Gonzalez as he chases after a hanging high kick. Was that soft? Did the England winger milk it? Either way, Cowan-Dickie finds his jumper at the line-out and now England are building an attack inside Argentina’s half.
21 min: Carreras has missed a very gettable penalty from the 22! That’s a poor kick to be honest. He crunches the left upright as he’s looking at them and Itoje catches it after a juggle. Ford them thumps it upfield before Itoje steals Argentina’s line-out. The Pumas are not executing some basic skills.
20 min: Great. steal from Montoya as Steward runs it back from inside his own 22. Daly gathered a long kick and flung a pass back infield that hung in the air a long time. That gave Argentina the opportunity ti canter up and hit Steward before his mates could help. Within range.
19 min: Spencer thwacks a box kick and finds touch on halfway. Solid D from the English. Among the many things that have clicked this autumn, their defence has been impressive.
18 min: Held up! Cowan-Dickie makes a big tackle on Gallo under his own poles. Three phases on that move. It looked like it was working, as they maintained options off the ball, but a solid hit from the England hooker means England survive.
17 min: Penalty scrum for Argentina. Will they pack down again? Nope. Tap and go this time…
16 min: Ford’s clearing kick from inside his own goal area is charged down! Feyi-Waboso mops up, but because the ball was taken back by Spencer it means Argentina have another five metres scrum. Can they make this one count?
14 min: Argentina look slick off the back of the scrum. Cruz has it zipping and is picking the right pass, he creates a hole in midfield as Ojomoh shoots out but the big prop Gallo can’t hold on, spilling the ball before contact. That’s about two metres from the line. If he caught it he’d surely be scoring.
12 min: Penalty for Argentina, against Itoje for straying off-side. Albornoz is off the field for Carreras. Not sure why. HIA maybe? Either way, the new fella kicks a raking kick and it lands close to England’s line, where the penalty will take place and they’re going to pack down for a scrum. Big opportunity here to strike. Small blind down the right. Loads of options left.
TRY! England 10-0 Argentina (Ojomoh, 10)
A point a minute so far! From nothing! A high contestable kick causes a mess in Argentina’s backfield. They can’t control it and pressure from the chasing Pepper sees the ball spill loose and move backwards. Before anyone in blue and white can react, Ojomoh pounces and canters home from about 40 metes out. Ford slots a simple penalty and England are thrumming.
Drop-goal! England 3-0 Argentina (Ford, 9)
England strike first! Cowan-Dickie combines with Underhill at a slick line-out and Underhill is charging upfield. he makes 20 odd metres before he’s hauled down. The ball goes wide to Ojomoh who is nailed but they recycle. They go back right where Feyi-Waboso puts Delguy on his backside with a stiff hand-off. England keep moving until Ford pulls the trigger and sticks the landing with a perfect drop.
7 min: Penalty to England in the scrum. Two scrums. Two penalties. Slade has the ball and will clear from his 22, finding touch between halfway and the 10 metre line.
6 min: Yet again Argentina cough up possession at the line-out. How frustrating for the visitors. Not straight again. England choose to scrum again, this time five out from their own line.
5 min: Argentina win the penalty at the scrum. Not driving straight from the English. Genge isn’t happy (is he ver?). Albornoz hoofs it from halfway to inside England’s 22 for a line-out.
4 min: England challenge at a line-out and Montoya throws skew, which means England get the ball and can choose a scrum or line-out themselves. Itoje celebrates. Libbok was penalised for celebrating a knock-on. Are we going anything similar moving forward?
3 min: Daly climbs high to take a high ball cross-kick but is beaten to it by Mallia. Argentina kick it back but too long and Ford takes an easy mark. I hope those in the front rows have a massage booked this week. They’ll be staring up a lot this afternoon.
1 min: Ojomoh takes the kick-off and Spencer hoofs it out of touch from the box. Pumas line-out on halfway. England attack it but Argentina come away with the ball. Albornoz hoists it high and Feyi-Waboso runs it back. Early probes.
Argentina in blue and white, England in navy blue.
Not sure how I feel about the home team having to change kit, but there you go.
Anthems now. Argentina might have the longest one in tier 1 rugby (maybe South Africa?). England surely with the shortest.
Not sure if anyone else in the world finds that interesting.
The players are heading out the tunnel as a remix of Coolio’s Gangster’s Paradise plays out.
England are ranked third in the world. Argentina are ranked sixth.
Both teams are unbeaten this autumn.
Should be a proper game.
This is Argentina’s third and final game of the autumn.
They spanked Wales by a record score and, as we’ve said multiple times, did the business as they came from behind to stun Scotland.
But this is the big one. This could be one of their biggest wins in their history. England are a mighty fine team. They’ll take some beating.
Not long to go now.
Scotland beat Tonga 56-0 to sign off their autumn in style.
Other results from the weekend:
In the totally made up and not-to-be-taken-seriously rivalry between north and south, we’re at 3-2 in favour of the northerners.
Here’s some words from England’s skipper, Maro Itoje:
Argentina are a quality side – I play with a number of them, they are extremely talented.
We have seen what they have done in the Rugby Championship and they beat us here a couple of years ago [2022’s 30-29 defeat].
We know their danger and quality and they can definitely hurt us.
Reader Rogorn Moradan has a suggestion for World Rugby (and we know you’re following, dear leaders):
Number of Tier 1 rugby teams: 12
Number of test matches played in 2025 by those 12 teams (correct me if I’m wrong):
15 Australia
14 South Africa
13 New Zealand, Argentina
12 England
11 Ireland, France, Wales
10 Italy
9 Scotland
8 Japan
7 Fiji
Come on, World Rugby, join the dots. A 12-team Nations League every year (everybody playing everybody once) except for World Cup years. South Africa v England every year. New Zealand v Ireland every year. Team ending 12th would have to defend their place against the best team from Tier 2. At the same time as that 13th promotion-relegation match happens, teams 1-11 play someone else from Tier 2 to check how good they are and make any adjustments. Regional baubles like the Six Nations title or the Southern Hemisphere equivalent can still be awarded by compiling the relevant results.
Some quick stats for ya:
England’s November wins have been by margins of 18, 20 and 14 points
Argentina have scored 24 or more points in each of their last nine Test matches
England have won their last ten matches including two victories in Argentina
England have won their last 11 matches, so naturally there’s one question on everyone’s lips:
Would they beat the number one side in the world, the South African Springboks if they were in town?
“Be careful what you wish for,” says former England wing, Ugo Monye, in his latest column for the G:
England have won 14 of their last 15 meetings with the Pumas.
Insert exploding head emoji here.
How? Why? Is it mental? Is there something about England’s game that has proved impossible for Argentina to crack?
No really, I’m asking.
While you chew on that, have a squiz at Rob Kitson’s latest:
Argentina team news
A formidable back three of Juan Cruz Mallia, Rodrigo Isgro and Bautista Delugy will look to strike from deep and contest in the air.
It’s a mobile back row with Marcos Kremer starting and the excellent Pablo Matera named on the bench, likely as a response to England’s Pom Squad.
There are three Harlequins players in the group (Isgro, Pedro Delgado and Guido Pett) while Bath’s Santiago Carreras, who sparked the comeback against Scotland, remains on the bench.
Argentina: 15 Juan Cruz Mallia; 14 Rodrigo Isgro, 13 Matias Moroni, 12 Justo Piccardo, 11 Bautista Delguy; 10 Tomas Albornoz, 9 Simon Benitez Cruz; 1 Thomas Gallo, 2 Julian Montoya, 3 Pedro Delgado, 4 Guido Petti, 5 Pedro Rubiolo, 6 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 7 Marcos Kremer, 8 Santiago Grondona.
Replacements: 16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Boris Wenger, 18 Tomas Rapetti, 19 Franco Molina, Pablo Matera, Joaquin Oviedo, Agustin Moyano, Santiago Carreras.
England team news
It’s a new look midfield as Bath’s Max Ojomoh becomes Henry Slade’s 14th partner in midfield.
The original plan was to have Fraser Dingwall, but a side strain means he joins Ollie Lawrence on the list of injured players.
Freedie Steward keeps his spot at fullback, as does George Ford at fly-half, emphasising that coach Steve Borthwick is starting to settle on some key positions.
The Pom Squad makes a return as Tom Curry and Henry Pollock are revved up and ready to unleash chaos off the bench.
England: 15 Freddie Steward; 14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Max Ojomoh, 11 Elliot Daly; 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Spencer; 1 Ellis Genge, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 3 Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 4 Maro Itoje, 5 Alex Coles, 6 Guy Pepper, 7 Sam Underhill, 8 Ben Earl.
Replacements: 16 Theo Dan, 17 Fin Baxter, 18 Will Stuart, 19 Charlie Ewels, 20 Tom Curry, 21 Henry Pollock, 22 Alex Mitchell, 23 Marcus Smith.
Preamble
Daniel Gallan
We’ve had an absolutely bonkers weekend of rugby so far.
Wales pushed the All Blacks and gave them a proper scare. South Africa and Ireland played out a chaotic classic. France and Australia traded blows like two drunk boxers in a bar.
It’s been that sort of autumn. But amidst the madness Steve Borthwick’s England have been composed and efficient and they have a chance of claiming a clean sweep against the visiting southerners this afternoon.
They’ve had the beating of Argentina if all four of their last meetings, including two comfortably triumphs in the 2023 World Cup.
But the Pumas are an improved side and not only pack a punch in the pack but can also strike out wide with some dazzling carriers.
They had to dig deep to overturn a deficit in the comeback win over Scotland last week. Have they emptied the tank? Or have they left enough fuel for one more explosive outing?
We’ll find out soon when things kick-off at 4:10.
We’ll have teams and further updates between then and now.
Any thoughts about this game or any other this weekend? I’d love to hear from you.
