England hold off Argentina fightback to earn 11th straight win

Quilter Nations Series

England (17) 27

Ojomoh, Feyi-Waboso, and Slade are the attempts that Ford dropped.

Argentina (3) 23

England almost thrashed Argentina in the second half as Max Ojomoh’s eye-catching Twickenham debut extended their winning streak to 11 Tests in a row.

As England jumped out to a 17-3 lead at the break, Ojomoh scored one try and added another with a crossfield kick.

If hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie had not suffered a try penalty on the final play of the first half, their advantage might have been even greater.

However, Argentina were unable to reclaim the lead after coming back from 21 points down to defeat Scotland last weekend.

Justo Piccardo scored before Tomas Albornoz and Santiago Carreras both converted penalties, cutting the deficit to 17-16 at the hour.

England appeared to have just the right timing to regain the momentum.

Henry Slade walked in under the posts after Alex Coles’ big break saw him set up a platform that Ojomoh climbed out of.

England finished 11 points clear before Rodrigo Isgro’s converted try in the dying seconds set up a grandstand last play.

A small but loud crowd of fans in the stands cheered the Pumas as they fought back after a last try to win the game.

Ojomoh collected the player of the match champagne as England fans ducked for breath after an unexpectedly tense finale.

The 25-year-old immediately sported his familiarity with England’s midfield debate as he made his second appearance since making his summer debut against the United States.

Fraser Dingwall’s injury to the All Blacks prevented the Bath centre from scoring at the same time as he had scored against Leicester in the Prem final in June. He only had ten minutes to score.

With full-back Juan Cruz Mallia scooping a loose ball off the floor, the Argentina back three had a rough time getting it to Ojomoh, who had anticipated well and stood in unimpeded.

Perhaps more impressive was his assistance to Immanuel Feyi-Waboso.

Ojomoh provided his fly-half with an escape route after Ford threatened to vanish down a blind-side cul-de-sac, accepting a pass, switching play, and allowing his wing to score perfectly across field for his wing to score 17-0 on 27 minutes.

Up until then, Argentina only had glimmers. Carreras hit a penalty on the post after a forward thrust from Cowan-Dickie, and Matias Moroni carved through the middle before attempting to score a try-scoring pass in Ford’s face.

The workload appeared to be burdening their squad, the majority of whom played for clubs in England and France, giving them a nearly 12-month season as the Pumas near the end of their international campaign.

They were only able to credit Albornoz for his efforts.

England did not respond to a kick at goal until the second half when Cowan-Dickie burrowed over from the resulting driven line-out, which appeared to put the end on the game.

The hosts’ lead would have been extended to 22-3 with a try, but Cowan-Dickie’s video official picked up on a slight knock-on as he grounded, causing the score to be slashed.

A few dollars apiece.

Four minutes after the restart, Piccardo completed a move that had begun with his own break to make it 17-10. Argentina resurrected the spirit they had displayed at Murrayfield.

Guy Pepper appeared to have made enough of a turnover after clamping down over the top of a breakdown six minutes later, but Maro Itoje missed out on the tackled man.

Albornoz added three more for visitors.

In an effort to stem the tide, England’s head coach Steve Borthwick replaced Will Stuart, Fin Baxter, Tom Curry, and Henry Pollock, but Argentina remained in the lead.

Carreras added a penalty before reducing England’s lead, which had already been sorely needed, to a point.

Twickenham sprang into a sudden twitching. Fans responded to the contest that was playing in front of them, which increased the atmosphere with the danger, though.

Coles galloped deep into Pumas territory as a result of Mitchell’s off-the-ball change and Ford’s sharp inside ball, which quickly increased the tempo.

When Pollock claimed at the back of the line-out, Ojomoh waded through a hit from club team-mate Carreras and flipped an offload out of his hand for a waiting Slade to saunter in, England chose to go for the corner rather than the posts.

Argentina’s second wind wasn’t completely blown out yet, despite the apparent safety of a 72nd-minute penalty. With the clock ticking and England’s defense stretched thin, the visitors had Rodrigo Isgro cross and were trailing by four points.

Dan, Baxter, Stuart, Ewels, T Curry, Pollock, Mitchell, and M Smith are the replacements.

Argentina: Mallia (vc), Moroni, Moroni, Piccardo, Delgado, Gallo, Montoya (c), Delgado, Petti, Rubiolo, Gonzalez, Kremer, S Grondona, Moroni, Moroni, Piccardo, Delguy, Albornoz, Benitez Cruz, Gallo, Montoya (c), Petti, Rubiolo, Gonzalez, Rubiolo, Gonzalez, Kremer, S Grondona