Sir Clive Woodward says: “You have to pick your time to throw tea cups,
and this is one of those times. They were really poor in that second half. I
would want to ask why, why, why did that happen. I would want to chuck a few
things around in that changing room.”
Good performances from Dylan Hartley, who was named man of the match, and
Courtney Lawes, though, before they were removed. And also another
Northampton Saints player: Lee Dickson had a good first half.
Here’s England skipper Chris Robshaw:
It was the opposite of last week. We came out all guns blazing this week.
Argentina came out with a lot more impetus in the second half and made it
hard for us to keep our shape. It’ll be an exciting week now ahead of the
All Blacks match. I’m not sure why we can’t play well for 80 minutes. We
will have to stay focused. We are looking forward to the game next week.
Hopefully it will be a good week.
Juan Manuel Leguizamon says that the Pumas fancied themselves as
victors in that second half:
The first half was pretty rough for us. We could not put on the pitch what
we had been doing in the week. We showed character in the second half. We
thought we could definitely win it in the second half. We put a lot of
pressure on England. But we lost many balls. We will have to work hard to
play Wales next week.
A quick email to add. Here is John Van der Vord, who is reasonably
happy, it seems. Will he still be happy next week?
It’s not about style. It’s all about the points on the board.
And that, my friends, is all I have time for. Join me for the All Blacks game
next weekend, and see whether or not England can manage their first clean
sweep in an autumn series since 2002. Same time, same place. Have a good
weekend all, and thanks for joining me.
—
80min Suddenly look like they have found their verve again. Less
constipated now. The lineout on the left is good, and the ball is shipped
out right, with Foden found by a delightful long pass from Goode. England
are making great ground now. Can they score once more? No, with the ball
underneath their own posts the Argentina side concede the defeat and boot
the ball out behind them.
78min ENGLAND 31-12 ARGENTINA Ben Morgan breaks the dam. England’s lineout
fires well, and with quick ball the Gloucester No8 bounces through a couple
of tackles in the middle. And his brute force carries him over from about 15
metres out. Flood adds the two extra points.
76min Alex Goode comes on for Mike Brown. And a really interesting
stat: England had 58 per cent possession in the first half and the Pumas
have had 66 in the second! They are making it really tough for the hosts.
Dylan Hartley is named man of the match. That’s fair enough. And with Tom
Youngs missing his lineouts has the Saint done enough to earn himself a
place in the starting XV against his homeland next Saturday?
Meanwhile, after a lengthy break for an injury, England have a scrum. They win
it. And win a penalty, which is kicked for the line. Youngs has a lineout on
the 22.
74min Really good from left winger Cordero again there. He collects
well in his own 22 and wrong foots Brown before making great yards. Very
confident from the young debutant. Poor defensive shape from England there
though. Good counter attack.
72min A long way out, and straight. Argentina make the call to go for
the posts. But Bosch is wide left with his effort. He winces, knowing that
was the wrong call. Too late for them now?
70min Tom Youngs is woefully long on the lineout which came from the
penalty kick. And Argentina flood though again. Shortly afterwards Santiago
Cordero is almost through. He’s just scragged by Morgan. Oh, lucky. Warning
bells ringing for England. And Wood is penalised at the breakdown.
69min Lucky from England. Argentina are within hitting distance of the
line, and they knock on. A score there would have really punctured the home
team’s confidence. From the scrum Argentina are powerful again, and it
turns. But the whistle is blown in favour of the English. Penalty to them,
but they were lucky on the replay.
Not a full-house today, but decent crowd: 76,304 at Twickenham.
68min Argentina are able to clear their lines well now, and a huge kick
has Foden back peddling. He watches it out and the Pumas are up near to
England’s five metre line.
66min Ambrosino’s left boot misses the penalty touch. How frustrating
for his team. And more lateral passing from England gains next to no ground.
And then Farrell misses touch with his penalty. Sloppy, sloppy play.
65min Better from England now, as Youngs’ first lineout finds his club
teammate Parling. The ball finds Flood on the right, and he wades into the
Argentina 22. But he is whistled for holding on.
63min Two Leicester men come in the front row: Dan Cole and Tom Youngs
are on for Dylan Hartley and David Wilson. Disappointing from the home side,
and it calls for another rendition of Sweet Chariot.
61min Toby Flood is on for Twelvetrees who, despite his try, has had
another under-par game. Perhaps Flood can play himself into a starting berth
next week? Can he provide England with the shape they are currently lacking?
Is Lancaster protecting Twelvetrees with next week in mind?
60min Just 20 minutes of the game left now. And Stuart Lancaster will
be concerned that Argentina have had a lot of possession in this second
half. Next week, against the All Blacks, ceding that kind of ball will be
punished. And punished hard.
58min With a penalty shot for England now, Owen Farrell almost
scores his team’s first points of the half, but his scruffy kick from the
left shaves the right-hand post and it bounces wide. Poor. From the fly-half
and England. It’s 6-0 to Argentina in this third quarter. England are
looking a little lateral now, and their tempo has dropped.
Meanwhile here is an amusing comparison for England’s current scrum-half and
Brad Pitt:
Danny Care v Brad Pitt in Inglorious Basterds
56min ENGLAND 24-12 ARGENTINA Yes, well done Sanchez, who lands a
long-range penalty. That was close to the half-way line. Here comes Parling
on for Lawes. He has had a good game. Surely Lawes will start next week? And
Morgan is on for Billy Vunipola. Argentina chipping away at England. Two
converted scores behind now. Good from them.
55min England have not got going in this half yet. The biggest (and
only) cheer of the second period came when David Beckham flashed up on the
big screen. Can Geoff Parling and Ben Morgan inject some tempo? Looks like
they are coming on.
52min Argentina don’t roll away from a tackle and England have another
penalty. Farrell shunts it to the corner. Hartley hits again and Argentina
make it easy by not jumping. The ball goes right, but it breaks down as
Twelvetree’s no-look pass goes to ground, and Argentina can hack clear. It’s
collected by Farrell, who ships to Foden, and the winger finds touch.
51min Better again from Argentina. They are looking much more up for
this. They win another penalty and tap it quickly. Huge hit from Lawes on
Sanchez. And again shortly afterwards. Ooph! England have a penalty and
Farrell lumps it to the right-hand touchline, just outside the Argentina 22.
That’s after Danny Care comes on for Lee Dickson.
50min David Beckham is in the crowd, with his sons. The cameras have
just picked him out and he is being projected on the big screen. He’s
wearing an England rugby shirt, and a flat cap. When the crowd cheers for
him he sheepishly waves. Ah, good ol’ Becks.
49min And a good run from David Wilson, the Bathe prop, now. But he
knocks on in the tackle. Argentina have been able to get to the England
scrum-half Lee Dickson in this second half. He needs more protection.
48min Good hands from the England forwards. Robshaw to Launchbury and
then inside to Foden in the tackle.
47min ENGLAND 24-9 ARGENTINA Yes, Sanchez lands his effort from the
left neatly. First blood to the visitors in the second half.
44min Better from Argentina there. Ambrosino comes in to the line and
makes ground. He’s nippy, and too hot for Billy Twelvetrees. It results in a
lineout for Argentina. Good one for them, on the 22. They look to drive the
maul, and it’s decent. They have the penalty, but put up a Garry Owen. Mike
Brown catches, so play is pulled back for the three-point shot.
41min And England get the second half under way. Marler, who collected
a knock at the end of the first half, is replaced by Alex Corbisiero. Ben
Foden has a decent run along the right there, but play is hauled back as
England were offside there.
HALF TIME: ENGLAND 24-6 ARGENTINA
The two players with probably the most pressure on them to perform going in to
the match, Chris Ashton and Billy Twelvetrees, responded with first-half
tries. Joe Launchbury, the Wasps lock, got the ball rolling after 12 minutes
with his first-ever five pointer in white in what has been a good first 40
for the home side. Argentina already look ready to wave the white flag. Owen
Farrell has hit all his kicks, and Dylan Hartley, Lee Dickson and Countney
Lawes are going well, in particular.
Some emails now. Guy Perry is “enjoying the reporting as I’m in
Kerala and no-one here has the rugby on TV. In India they’re obsessed at the
moment with Sachin Tendulkar’s swansong. Wrong priorities. Come on, England!”
A rather harsh raysings writes:
Looks like the selection of the biggest bellies in England is not paying
off against a team ranked 10th. It’s more of the same old same old roly-poly
rugby. No flair in the back line. The All Black’s won’t be losing sleep
between now and next week.
And in response to Ron’s earlier email (10 mins) Andrew Robinson, with
tongue firmly in cheek, comments:
I guess the kiwis have never selected Samoans, Tongans etc for the All
Blacks…
40min And that’s the half.
39min And Argentina break the line for the first time, through Nicolas
Sanchez. The fly-half slips a tackle in the England 22 and sniffs for the
line, but he is pulled back. There was obstruction. Not too dissimilar to
last week’s Owen Farrell try, when Hartley was in the way.
37min Now Bosch has a chance to win his side another three points with
a kick inside his own half. It’s 53 metres out! Courtney Lawes had been
naughty in a ruck. Bosch hoofs it, and it just fades to the left. I think it
had the legs, but it wasn’t quite straight enough. Quite desperate for them
to go for that, though. For them half time can’t come soon enough.
35min ENGLAND 24-6 ARGENTINA And Ashton has scored now, after the
ball breaks blind. Found by his Saracens teammate Farrell he had a simple
finish and slides in on the right. Farrell knocks over the extras, and Sweet
Chariot rings out. Can the Pumas bite back?
33min Hartley, who has started well, finds his man again at the line
and the forwards bustle and bundle towards the tryline once more, through
Chris Robshaw.
32min Just as Argentina make a rare foray into the England half they
are penalised at the ruck. Farrell eyes the touchline and finds it with a
lovely kick. Were you watching Mr Bosch? Meanwhile Juan Imhoff is hobbling
off. On comes debutant winger Santiago Cordero.
29min Brown is getting his hands on the ball a decent amount again, as
he did last week. But he runs out of space on the left, and has to ship
inside not once but twice. Dickson found him initially with a delicious
ball. But the pressure is eased as England are penalised at the breakdown.
Oh no, Bosch’s big boot fails to make touch. Bad miss.
27min Good scrum from the visitors once again. And scrum-half Tomas
Cubelli punt clear is almost charged down by his opposite man, Dickson.
25min Lineout to England now. They have won them all so far, and
Hartley finds Saints clubmate Courtney Lawes in the middle. England’s backs
take it up again. They are really easily getting over the gainline. Hartley,
Wood and then Marler take it in, and as the ball comes left Tomkins, under
pressure of a would-be tackle, tries to flick it on. But it’s behind Brown,
who scrambles back. It’s knocked on. Scrum to the Pumas 10 metres from their
line.
22min ENGLAND 17-6 ARGENTINA Billy Twelvetrees powers over and
scores after lots of Pumas were sucked in by Joel Tomkins’ decoy run, but in
truth Argentina’s defense was woeful. Far too easy for England there.
Farrell converts. Good for Twelvetrees, though, after last week’s stinker.
20min Better scrum from England there, and another the ball is sloppily
fed out to the backs …
19min Good catch by last week’s man of the match Mike Brown there. He
manages to spin out of the tackle, too, and finds Robshaw with a neat pass
out of the back of his hand. And a couple of phases later Brown, on the
right, plays in Ashton, who looks like he must score. But he cuts inside and
slips. He fails to get it down and it’s a five metre scrum for England.
18min ENGLAND 10-6 ARGENTINA Yes, having been called over for the
long-range kick, the new Saracens centre Marcelo Bosch strokes it
over. Great effort.
16min First scrum now, on about the halfway line. Wow, that’s great
from the visitors on their ball. England buckle, and the Pumas have a
penalty. It’s 48 metres out for Marcelo Bosch.
12min ENGLAND 10-3 ARGENTINA Once more the penalty was because of
Leguizamon. And again Farrell shunts the ball for a lineout. They win it
again and this time their maul is much more direct. Big statement of intent
there. Joe Launchbury is the man who dots down. It is the lock’s
first international try. Farrell adds the extras.
10min England have another penalty within shooting range, after another
Leguizamon transgression. But instead of taking the three points Farrell
kicks for the corner. And his side win the lineout and look to drive for the
line, heaved on by the crowd’s shouts. It collapses on the line, are they
over? No, it seems not. Pascal Gaüzère, the French referee, pulls it back
for another penalty.
An email from Ron Walaron, who doesn’t sound English:
There are so few real Englishmen in your set up now that you might as well
use the New Zealand b team, they might have a better chance than the side
you have at the moment.
8min ENGLAND 3-3 ARGENTINA Nicolas Sanchez levels the scores almost
straightaway. A lock was whistled at the breakdown, but the pressure came
after Lee Dickson’s kick, from the restart, was charged down by Juan Imhoff.
6min ENGLAND 3-0 ARGENTINA He missed three shots last week, but Owen
Farrell starts well, lacing the ball straight through the uprights from
35 metres out.
5min And that pressure begins to tell almost immediately. Argentina
captain and No8 Juan Manuel Leguizamon is penalised at the breakdown,
playing off his feet.
4min Owen Farrell kicks well and catches Juan Imhoff’s return up and
under. England’s fly-half is almost though a gap, but his dummy is not
bought. The home side cranking up the pressure already.
2min Good hands from backs and forwards alike, and England shuffle the
ball from the left to the right of their 22-metre line. It reaches Chris
Ashton and he runs out of space, so he punts up field. Encouraging that the
red rose are willing to pass it from there, though. Great for the neutral,
and the home fans, of course.
1min There are some dodgy ‘mos’ on show. Tom Wood, Dylan Hartley, I’m
looking at you. Nicolas Sanchez, the Pumas’ fly-half, sets us off with a
long kick, which Lee Dickson catches and then humps clear for a lineout,
which the visitors, wearing dark blue, win.
14.30 God Save the Queen now, led by Rebecca Wright wearing a
revealing dress that will surely make her cold. And a zoom in of Joe Marler
once more. That’s some beard that he has. Impressive. Boom, the firewards
are set off. And we are nearly ready to go.
14.29 The whistle goes to end the minute’s silence, coinciding with a
spit from Joe Marler. Nice. And a big cheer. Anthems time now. Argentina
first. It seems that it is one of the few world anthems without any words.
Oh no, my mistake. There is just a really long introduction.
14.28 A minute’s silence now, a day ahead of Remembrance Sunday. Not a
whisper in the 82,000-seater stadium. Quite right, too.
14.25 As punters make their way to their seats, balancing their pints,
here come the teams. Argentina first. And now England, with purple training
tops. Around the stadium there is the signage: #carrymehome
14.20 England are currently third in the world rankings, and Argentina
are 10th. Will that gulf show today? The weather has brightened up at
Twickenham now. It looks lovely, actually.
14.15 OK, I’m back with my lunch and ready to tuck in to this game.
14.00 Half an hour to go until kick off. Grab your pint, unfridge your
tinny, and settle in for what should be another firm step for England on the
road to world domination, right?!
13.50 Big game for Chris Ashton today. He has had a pretty good start
to his Premiership season with Saracens, but he has not done it for a while
in a white shirt. He is lucky, in truth, that both Christian Wade and
Marland Yarde are both injured. Surely they are the future wingmen for
England?
13.40 So the weather is not looking too hot at Twickenham. Slippery
when wet. Expect to see England booting clear more than last week. And lots
of spills. Having checked the forecast just now it does look as though it
could brighten up at about 3pm until 5pm, which should make conditions
better.
13.35 Here’s a good stat for you: Argentina have 415 caps in their
first XV, 128 more than England’s total of 287.
13.30 An hour until kick off now, and the captain’s have tossed the
coin:
Captains Juan Manuel Leguizamon and Chris Robshaw look at the penny on
the floor
13.25 Argentina’s visit to Twickenham is a great excuse to watch
Federico Méndez knocking out Paul Ackford, who had allegedly been squeezing
the teenage debutant’s testicles in the scrums. Here the prop (who was more
at home at hooker) lamps England’s lock and is dismissed for the punch. It’s
a cracker, though.
13.20 OK, want to get your teeth stuck in to some pre-match reading?
Here you go:
– Leicester’s
young Argentine flanker, Pablo Matera, reckons his side’s scrum is better
than England’s
– Mike
Brown, England’s half-empty kind of guy, explains why he was annoyed after
his star turn last weekend
– England
are playing the ‘generation game’ by having legends’ names engraved on newly
erected plaques at Twickenham
– Danny
Care is on the bench in place of Ben Youngs, who has not recovered from his
hip injury
– Lawrence
Dallaglio says England must win big today to stand a chance against the All
Blacks
– Will
Greenwood discusses the importance of England’s silent assassins, Robshaw
and Wood
13.15 Some more facts for you now:
– Lancaster’s team have won five games in a row at Twickenham for the first
time since 2003
– Bruising winger Matt Banahan – remember him? – scored the only try when the
Pumas last came to Twickenham four years ago
– England have won 13 of the 18 meetings, with Argentina recording four
victories. The first meeting, in 1981, was drawn
– Argentina lost all six of their 2013 Rugby Championship fixtures and have
not beaten a top-tier nation since Wales in November 2012
13.10 It’s been a while since England hosted Argentina at HQ – four
years, in fact. And here are their five previous meetings:
June 2013: Argentina 26-51 England, Buenos Aires
June 2013: Argentina 3-32 England, Salta
September 2011: England 13-9 Argentina, Dunedin
November 2009: England 16-9, Twickenham
June 2009: Argentina 24-22 England, Salta
England, without resting captain Robshaw and a host of others who did not make
the British and Irish Lions trip, toured Argentina well in the summer and a
number of young players were blooded. Unfortunately two of the most exciting
players who starred in those games, Christian Wade and Marland Yarde, are
out of today’s game, having be originally pencilled in.
13.00 Hello rugby fans, and welcome to the second of three QBE
Internationals: England against Argentina. Can Stuart Lancaster’s side
manage a clean sweep? Well, after last Saturday’s 20-13 success over the
Wallabies – thanks to an excellent second-half performance and star turns
from man of the match Mike Brown and Chris Robshaw, and Owen Farrell did
pretty well eventually – today’s match against a ragged, undercooked Pumas
team should be much easier.
They are missing their captain and talisman Juan MartÃn Fernández Lobbe and
classy fullback Juan MartÃn Hernández – both out injured. And three weeks
ago Daniel Hourcade was coaching the Argentina Jaguars, the country’s A
side. Now he is looking after another kind of big cat following Santiago
Phelan’s shock departure after a woeful Rugby Championship campaign in which
they lost all six games and conceded a colossal 224 points. Ouch.
Here are the teams:
England:
15. Mike Brown, 14. Chris Ashton, 13. Joel Tomkins, 12. Billy Twelvetrees, 11.
Ben Foden, 10. Owen Farrell, 9. Lee Dickson; 8. Billy Vunipola, 7. Chris
Robshaw (captain), 6. Tom Wood, 5. Courtney Lawes, 4. Joe Launchbury, 3.
David Wilson, 2. Tom Youngs, 1. Joe Marler.
Replacements: 16. Tom Youngs, 17. Alex Corbisiero, 18. Dan Cole, 19.
Geoff Parling, 20. Ben Morgan, 21. Danny Care*, 22. Toby Flood, 23. Alex
Goode.
*In for Ben Youngs, who failed to recover in time from a hip injury
Argentina:
15. Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino, 14. Horacio Agulla, 13. Marcelo Bosch, 12.
Santiago Fernandez, 11. Juan Imhoff, 10. Nicolas Sanchez, 9. Tomas Cubelli;
1. Marcos Ayerza 2. Eusebio Guinazu, 3. Maximiliano Bustos, 4. Mariano
Galarza, 5. Patricio Albacete, 6. Pablo Matera, 7. Julio Farias Cabello, 8.
Juan Manuel Leguizamon (captain).
Replacements: 16. Santiago Iglesias Valdez, 17. Nahuel Lobo, 18. Juan
Pablo Orlandi, 19. Manuel Carizza, 20. Benjamin Macome, 21. Martin Landajo,
22. Gonzalo Tiesi, 23. Santiago Cordero.
Article source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/24508387
England v Argentina: live
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