- Without their 13 Lions, England have sealed a 2-0 series win over Argentina
- Steve Borthwick’s side claimed the second Test in San Juan in thrilling fashion
- They did so without key man Jamie George after he was summoned to Australia
Jack van Poortvliet sent Jamie George off to Australia with a song in his heart after snatching the late try which won England a third consecutive series in Argentina.
The Leicester scrum-half was sent on to try and break the deadlock in a game England were forced to play without their captain and senior player after George was called up by the Lions.
He responded with a last-gasp score to shatter the brave Pumas and send England’s few travelling fans inside Estadio San Juan del Bicentenario into raptures.
‘We found a way in the end,’ said skipper George Ford, who had seen his side hammer at the home try line all evening but only have two first-half tries to show for it.
‘We had quite a few opportunities in the Argentina 22 and we could not execute, but I am proud of the boys and their effort.
‘To go back-to-back in consecutive weeks against a brilliant team in Argentina is a great effort. I like our fight, togetherness, the way we are playing for each other. There was some great attacking stuff, although we probably should have scored more tonight. I like the attitude of this group.’
England celebrate after their second Test win over Argentina sealed a 2-0 series success
Jack van Poortvliet came up with the match-winning try for Steve Borthwick’s side in San Juan
Ford has had a magical two Tests against the Pumas, delivering some outstanding rugby
Victory was England’s sixth in a row, their best run of results under Steve Borthwick and their longest unbeaten sequence since 2020.
And they did it despite the late, late loss of George which caused such disruption to the line-out that, in truth, it never recovered.
Theo Dan struggled at the set-piece and went off injured soon after half time.
While George prepared to jet to Australia, a laborious three-stopper covering the 10,000 miles from San Juan to Brisbane via Buenos Aires and Dubai, Ford took control of matters closer to hand.
His vision and distribution made early tries for Seb Atkinson and Freddie Steward before Ben Curry’s yellow card for shoulder to head contact let the home side back into the game.
The Pumas took full advantage to lead at half time, despite a fortuitous try on the stroke of the break after Santi Carreras’ overcooked kick riocheted off an upright away from Steward and into the path of Ignacio Mendy.
Argentina legend Federico Mendez had warned beforehand that his old side, despite changing half their team, would be up to 40 per cent better than seven days ago.
It did not look that way in attack but in defence they were magnificent, frustrating England at every turn.
England defeating Argentina 2-0 is particularly impressive given their Lions players are absent
A delighted England head coach Steve Borthwick praises his players in the changing rooms
England had to make do without senior figure Jamie George after his call-up by the Lions
England tried to respond but first Joe Heyes spilled the ball over the line, then Tom Roebuck had a dose of the butterfingers under pressure from Matias Moroni.
The game drifted into the doldrums, with Felipe Contepomi’s side pinned in their own half and England’s attack as effective as a chocolate teapot.
Ford, finally, kicked a penalty to level the scores but any hope it would open the floodgates was dashed as, despite Borthwick sending on five replacements at once and the Pumas giving up Pablo Matera to the sin bin on the day he became his country’s most-capped player, the stalemate remained.
Just when hope seemed lost, England worked the ball to Guy Pepper in space on the right, Van Poortvliet appeared inside and the Pumas, to their horror, realised the back door had been left open.
The scrum-half went over, the win belonged to England and George headed off to Australia with a welcome boost.
