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On Saturday Argentina played for the final time in 2016. The South Americans took on England at London’s Twickenham Stadium. It was Los Pumas’ second visit to the stadium this year. Argentina moved its home match against Australia to London during the Rugby Championship.
As had been the case against the Wallabies, Argentina fell short. In doing so Argentina is ranked 9th in the world and faces a virtually certain Pool of Death at Rugby World Cup 2019. Argentina’s only hope now is for France, Ireland, Scotland or Wales to have a poor Six Nations campaign to drop below them.
The match itself saw Argentina fielding a lineup which emphasized how long 2016 has been. Both wing positions had outside centers starting. The fullback position saw a change just hours before the match. At fly half was a player to not have played in the position all year. No specialist second-rower was on the bench.
Injuries forced Daniel Hourcade to adapt. He was also not able to select players from the Aviva Premiership, Top 14 of Guinness Pro 12. These two factors combined to make Argentina’s assignment extremely challenging this month. It proved to be too much for Los Pumas as they lost all three matches in the U.K. It was their worst return since November Internationals began.
For a complete match report click here.
HIGHLIGHTS
FULL MATCH
