Pumas Suffer Agonizing Defeat at Home to England

Los Pumas suffered an agonizing defeat at home to England today, losing 38-34. The result sees Argentina remaining winless against England since 2009.

Played in San Juan, today’s match was a game of intensity. The two teams put on an extremely entertaining match. With the lead switching hands with regularity it went down to the wire. Ultimately England scored a decisive try to snatch a win.

In losing Argentina remain 9th in the world. Argentina will now have 79.58 points when the rankings are updated by World Rugby on Monday. England obtain a gain of +0.34 to rise to 89.87 points. A win in game two next weekend would cancel out today’s loss and see Los Pumas improve in the rankings.

In order to do so the South Americans will need to work on their handling errors, defensive arrangements and the breakdown. These three errors were how England came out on top today.

For much of the match Argentina overpowered England at the scrum. In the first of the match Henrique Pieretto drove Ellie Genge backwards to win a penalty. Taking place in the 4th minute, Nicolás Sánchez lined up a goal but would kick it wide.

The game’s opening points would not come until the 6th minute. Scoring was debutant Emiliano Boffelli. The young flier was well positioned to gather a Sánchez chip kick and score in the left corner. Sánchez added the conversion. England win penalty on second scrum as bajadita falls.

Ten minutes later England got onto the scoreboard. They did so through the first of four penalties from George Ford. The penalty came with Loose Head prop Lucas Noguera Paz penalized for blocking at a ruck. A second one quickly followed, this time with Tomas Lavanini was penalized for holding-on.

England were on top and would add further points. Smart work from prop Ellis Gange ended up in a try to Marland Yarde. Gange won a turnover to end Argentina’s strong advances. He was able to offload and see England advance smartly deep into Pumas territory. Recycling saw Caribbean flier, Marland Yarde, diving over in the right corner. Ford added the conversion.

An immediate response came from Los Pumas. This time Genge was the initial offender. Having knocked-on, Jerónimo de La Fuente gathered and ran, breaking down field. A series of off-loads saw the ball finding its way to Boffelli who cut-through the defense, snipping infield. Tackled meters short the forwards then acted. Raids resulted in Lavanini scoring. Sánchez added the conversion to give Argentina back the lead.

Sánchez made up for his early miss by landing a penalty on the stroke of half time. It gave Los Pumas a 17-13 lead at the interval.

England came out buzzing in the second half. They quickly caught up and overtook Argentina. In the 41st minute Moroni was penalized for being offside at a ruck. Ford turned the indiscretion into points by slotting a long-range penalty.

Naturally a fly half, but capable of playing across the backline, Henry Stade, set up the next points. The Exeter utility defeated Matías Orlando and the Tucumán center’s error was fatal. Stade kicked ahead for the unmarked pairing of Mike Brown and Jonny May to chase. May gladly turned it into five points. With Ford on target the English were six points clear.

Argentina were in danger of being overpowered. Veteran Martín Landajo looked to lift his side. The scrum-half broke clear from the base of a scrum. He timed his run well to having Jerónimo de la Fuente waiting in support. The center gathered Landajo’s pass to score in the 51st minute. Sánchez added the conversion.

de la fuente then set-up the next. Powerful running from the mid-fielder saw him make a half break and off-load in the tackle. He found Matías Orlando who broke clear and passed to Boffelli. The winger then linked with an unmarked Joaquín Tuculet who sprinted in to score in the corner. Sánchez made it a 7 point score with the conversion.

Argentina were now firing and advancing at will. Looking to score further points Sánchez lined up a drop goal in the 57th minute. It missed and he was also off-target in the 62nd minute with an attempted penalty. His opposite, Ford, would make no mistake. A wide attempt from the 49th metre was perfectly struck, cutting the lead to five points.

Ford was then scoring again, but with a try. An advancing Argentine maul looked dangerous. Yet it would be England scoring. A knock-on from de la Fuente was England countering to score a quintessential 14-point try. Ford’s brilliant game came unstuck for the first time as he missed the conversion. It set up a thrilling ending with the scores locked at 31-31.

Trailing in the final ten minutes Argentina gave it their all. England’s ability to read the defense saved them though as advancing Pumas attacks were ended thanks to fetchers Mark Wilson and Tom Curry.

With five minutes remaining Argentina came close. Replacement Ramiro Moyano break following passes from Gonzalo Bertranou and Juan Martín Hernández. Moyano looked to pass to Tuculet only for the fullback to knock-on in the English 22.

Two minutes later an additional Argentina attack saw them again deep into the English 22. With referee Nigel Owens signaling advantage Hernández opted for a drop goal. Making no mistake it gave Argentina a three point lead and, seemingly victory.

A late twist in the match saw Argentina suffering an agonizing defeat. Denny Solomona crossed under the posts, doing so from another Pumas error. It sealed a four point victory in what was a phenomenal contest. Attention will now turn to Santa Fé for game two on Saturday June 17.

 

SCORING

ARGENTINA 34
Tries – E. Boffelli (7’), T. Lavanini (36’), J. de la Fuente (51’), J. Tuculet (53’)
Cons – N. Sánchez 4/4 (8’, 37’, 52’, 54’)
Pens – N. Sánchez 1/3 (40’)
Drop goals – N. Sanchez 0/1, J. Hernández 1/1 (77’)

ENGLAND 38
Tries – M. Yarde (31’), J. May (47’), G. Ford (64’), D. Solomona (78’)
Cons – G. Ford 3/4 (32’, 48’, 79’)
Pens – G. Ford 4/4 (16’, 26’, 43’, 63’)

 

TEAMS

ARGENTINA
1 Lucas Noguera Paz (17 Santiago García Botta 70’), 2 Agustín Creevy (capt.) (16 Julián Montoya 49’), 3 Enrique Pieretto (18 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro 55’), 4 Matías Alemanno, 5 Tomás Lavanini (19 Guido Petti 49’), 6 Pablo Matera, 7 Javier Ortega Desio, 8 Juan Manuel Leguizamón (20 Leonardo Senatore 58’), 9 Martín Landajo (21 Gonzalo Bertranou 68’), 10 Nicolás Sánchez (22 Juan Martín Hernández 62’), 11 Emiliano Boffelli (23 Ramiro Moyano 61’), 12 Jerónimo de la Fuente, 13 Matías Orlando, 14 Matías Moroni, 15 Joaquín Tuculet

ENGLAND
1 Ellis Genge (17 Matt Mullan 55’), 2 Dylan Hartley (capt.), 3 Harry Williams (18 Will Collier 62’), 4 Joe Launchbury, 5 Charlie Ewels (19 Nick Isiekwe 77’), 6 Mark Wilson, 7 Tom Curry (20 Donovan Armand 70’), 8 Nathan Hughes, 9 Danny Care (21 Jack Maunder 78’), 10 George Ford, 11 Jonny May, 12 Alex Lozowski (22 Piers Francis 55’), 13 Henry Slade, 14 Marland Yarde (23 Denny Solomona 50’), 15 Mike Brown

Not used: 16 Jack Singleton

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Nigel Owens (WRU)
Assistants: John Lacey (IRFU) & Egon Seconds (SARU)
TMO: Aaron Paterson (NZRU)