Hearty congratulations to Argentina on a fine win. It may make little difference come next year’s World Cup, but as their coach Michael Cheika said, it won’t do any harm from a confidence point of view. Thanks for reading and see you next time.
Gerard Meagher’s match report is here:
Jones (continued): “We didn’t finish well. It was a lack of cohesion. The way teams defend now, you’ve got to play through them … there was a development in our game that was positive but it’s not good enough, and we realise it’s not good enough.”
Is he a carrot or a stick man, asks Mark Durden-Smith, as to how Jones will deal with his players? “It’s all vegetarian in there, mate.”
And off he goes.
Eddie Jones speaking Amazon Prime (continued): “It’s one of those games you can’t put your finger on what went wrong. Structurally we had control of the game but we kept on making preliminary and fundamental mistakes, easy defence errors, some kick-off errors, and let them back in the game … congratulations to Argentina, they stuck at it and took their opportunities.
“We’ve got no excuse [with the rain] … they just got the points at the right time and we didn’t.
“That was the first game they’ve played together [this England lineup]. We lacked a bit of cohesion, which always counts.
“The mistakes we made were in the head. They weren’t team, structural issues … I thought we controlled the game really well. Yeah, we could have been a bit squarer in our attack but that’s a big habit to break and we’re working hard on that.
“Coles did really well … I thought he acquitted himself well … They’re no mugs, Argentina … we should have won it well, and we didn’t, and that’s really disappointing.
“Manu’s pulled up a little bit sore so we’ll have to wait and see [for Tuilagi’s fitness next week].”
“We always pick the best 23. Injuries dictate who we pick. Of the 36 we took to Aus 20 are unavailable now … We’d love to have that 36 in camp but we don’t … we’ll get better. Don’t worry. We’ll be right.
“Japan are a different team. They play rugby differently than most of the tier one countries … they’ve got two weeks to prepare for us and they will present some attacking challenges. We’ll have to defend well.”
Updated
Eddie Jones arrives: “Losing always hurt, mate … it’s not so much about Michael. I want to see him to well, but I didn’t want to see him do well today. That’s the way it goes. It was one of those games, three points here, three points here … congratulations to Argentina and Cheik. He’s 50% on the weekend which is not bad, hey?”
Will Cheika gloat to Eddie Jones after his first win over his old mate? “He’s never done that to me. He could have had plenty of opportunities … when you’re friends with someone, when you’re real friends, you're friends with them, you know? You have a bit of cheeky interplay … he was up with us at the [Rugby League] World Cup, he spent a day talking to our coaches … he’s a good fella. Every coach hurts when their team loses, I’m the worst I reckon. He’ll be back. Japan next week, obviously, it’ll be a big game for him … he wants to win more than anyone.”
The Argentina coach Michael Cheika speaks to Amazon Prime: “It was tough going out there. It was pretty physical, it was pretty “willing”. England are very good at a physical game. The boys made a full commitment to the way we wanted to play … they showed that through their physical engagement and also their control.”
Is he surprised England brought so little in attack? “Mate, I’m not agreeing with that … England came with a lot of threats around Marcus [Smith] and Ben Youngs. It’s about defending to try and neutralise that … I think it’s a bit harsh to say that they didn’t come with anything. I suppose I can only analyse our fellas in defence.”
What was he saying to his team in the final minutes? “I’m trying to do more for my own development in working the individual message … I’m trying to get an individual pointed message to someone … [they were] some points about how we were defending in certain spots of the field.”
Where does this rank in his achievements? “It’s up there. It’s great. The Rugby League World Cup was one of the best sporting experiences of my life … it gave me a whole lot of energy … I felt really good coming here. I said to the boys I might take two or three days off every week, if we’re going to keep getting a scoreline like this.
“I’m really happy for the lads. I don’t think any one of our players has every won against England … it was a “first” we needed to have … not that it’s going to mean anything when that [World Cup] game comes. Because every game’s a new game. But it will mean something to us from a confidence point of view.
“Boffelli is a top guy. He’s loving it up in Scotland. They’ve improved his goal-kicking out of sight … He’s just a good fella and I’m enjoying being around him.”
Updated
Montoya, the Argentina captain, speaks: “Really proud. I just want to say thank you to all the people in Argentina and all the people who came here [to watch].
“Really proud of the team, of the union … we are working really hard … there is no magic, it’s just hard work. We need to keep on working and keep grinding and that’s the only way you can improve.
“Michael is a world-class coach … he’s part of this process … I’m very proud to wear these colours … we are speaking about being resilient and being comfortable when we are uncomfortable.
“Perfection doesn’t exist, not in rugby, you can see there’s lots of mistakes. It’s how you bounce back from mistakes and keep going. I’m really proud of the team.”
Updated
The player of the match Boffelli, who scored 25 points including a try, speaks: “Very happy. We are very happy … but tomorrow we will think about Wales. But yes, we are happy.
“We spoke that we must try stay close in the score at half-time.
“Michael Cheika is very important for us. He has experience in international rugby. He is confident in us.
“I’m happy with that [the 25 points] but the whole team played a good game.”
He was exceptional. Metronomic off the kicking tee.
Updated
Owen Farrell speaks to Sonja McLaughlan on Amazon Prime: “We talked about some issues that we had on the field [in the post-match huddle] that we didn’t quite manage to address … we need to make sure we don’t drop any confidence from this.”
What were those issues? “Obvious ones from the game. There were scrappy parts of the game … the discipline, we need to make sure we address it properly. We were talking about it on the field, but it wasn’t quite happening.
“We played the game we thought we needed … both teams didn’t really move the ball too well.
“There was some good bits … it felt like it was coming … but we didn’t do the things we needed to do to get in front, and stay in front.”
Updated
Montoya, the Argentina captain, is pictured having a chat with his players. And the England captain, Owen Farrell, is now doing the same. There are some depressed-looking faces among the England players. Jack Nowell has his head in his hands.
Marcus Smith had a quiet game at fly-half and in truth England’s attack never really got going. That is Cheika’s first win against Eddie Jones, his old mate from Randwick, in their head-to-head battles across their coaching careers. I think it was 7-0 to Jones before that.
Slade, who knocked the ball on with England looking for a last-minute score, looks intensely annoyed.
Reaction from Jones, Cheika and all coming up, fingers crossed.
Updated
Full time! England 29-30 Argentina
The Pumas’ first win against England at Twickenham since 2006 and the first win, home or away, since 2009 – and it was entirely deserved, too.
England showed bright moments in a tight game but, overall, it was a lacklustre effort.
Updated
79 min: Slade knocks on trying to burst on to a pass in midfield … Argentina will have a scrum at least, they are surely home with a one-point win?
78 min: There are 90 seconds left as the players pack down for this scrum … and England win a free-kick! They try to run it from their 22.
Updated
78 min: England now get the scrum put-in but they are pinned back a couple of metres from their own line. Time is running out.
76 min: Heyes is penalised at the latest scrum. Interestingly, Argentina kick for the corner. Boffelli would surely have nailed the penalty … but perhaps they want to eat up more time.
Updated
74 min: The fly-half Carreras attempts an outrageous drop-goal and it smacks straight into (I think) Joe Heyes, another England replacement. Argentina will have the scrum again.
75 min: Argentina get a scrum, then get a penalty at that scrum. They kick for the left corner. Jack Willis is on for England, one of the unfortunate players who has lost his job after the collapse of Wasps.
74 min: It feels unlikely, somehow, that either team is going to add another try. A penalty would win it for England … or indeed a drop goal. Another penalty for Boffelli and Argentina would surely be safe.
Updated
71 min: Henry Slade and Mako Vunipola are on for England now. Ruiz and Orlando on for the Pumas. England attack into the opposition 22 but are penalised for crossing and Argentina can clear.
Updated
Penalty! 70 min: England 29-30 Argentina (Boffelli)
That was never in doubt, Boffelli starts the ball outside the right-hand post and draws it back in with precision.
68 min: Sinckler is penalised for going off his feet and not rolling away in the tackle area. Boffelli will have another kick at the posts. Eddie Jones is pictured up in the stand while Michael Cheika is shown walking down the stairs, presumably heading for the touchline.
Penalty! 66 min: England 29-27 Argentina (Farrell)
Argentina stray offside and Farrell punishes them off the kicking tee yet again. As we approach the final 10 minutes, England lead, but we look to have a nervous finish on our hands. Of course, it not being the actual World Cup, Eddie Jones will say it didn’t matter anyway should England lose.
Updated
Penalty! 63 min: England 26-27 Argentina (Boffelli)
It’s from 40metres or so, but Boffelli strikes the ball confidently and through the sticks. The wing has 22 of Argentina’s 27 points at this stage. He’s striking the ball beautifully off the tee.
62 min: Now it’s Cowan-Dickie’s turn to have a rush of blood. He charges into an off-the-ball tackle and Boffelli can kick to restore a one-point lead for Argentina.
Penalty! 60 min: England 26-24 Argentina (Farrell)
Kodelo off, Bello on for Argentina. England have the ball at a ruck, and a senseless challenge from Gallo coughs up a penalty for England in front of the posts that Farrell converts. Silly from Argentina, that.
58 min: Jack van Poortlviet was on the field for less than 30 seconds before scoring that try. Hashtag impact.
57 min: Sam Simmonds is now on for B Vunipola, for England. Lavanini has gone off for Argentina, with Facundo Isa on in his place.
Updated
Try! 55 min: England 23-24 Argentina (Jack van Poortlviet)
He came on for Youngs seconds earlier, and I didn’t have time to write the update about the replacement before he scores a try.
England make inroads towards the Argentina 22. Van Poortlviet, the Leicester Tigers man, sees a glimpse of space in behind and makes a sprint for the try-line. There are two defenders converging on him as he nears the line, one from either side, but neither can stop him and that’s a fantastic opportunistic try by the 21-year-old scrum-half. Farrell converts and it’s back to a one-point game.
Updated
Try! 50 min: England 16-24 Argentina (Santiago Carreras)
There is a long TMO check after Gallo attempts to tackle Farrell and the ball goes loose … Farrell is arguing for a knock-on by Gallo, after Carreras runs the ball in for a solo try from near halfway, outpacing Steward in a straight sprint.
There are several replays of the previous tackle on Farrell, and one angle suggests Gallo may have got a small nick on the ball with his left knuckle. But the officials decide it’s not conclusive and award the try, which looks the right decision from here. Boffelli converts and Argentina have an eight-point lead.
Updated
49 min: Warming up a bit now. Cokanasiga storms into the Argentina 22 and finds Smith, who is scragged as he makes a dart for the posts. The pitch is still wet but there is no rain in the air and the players can play a bit of rugby.
Try! 46 min: England 16-17 Argentina (Boffelli)
A stunning score. Argentina achieve some field position following the scrum penalty and they sweep down the left wing. After a brilliant pop pass by Moroni in midfield, Carreras, the No 10, fizzes a lovely pass to Boffelli, who runs straight and hard for the corner and touches down. He misses the conversion attempt but that was a superb try and Argentina lead.
Updated
44 min: Argentina win a penalty at the latest scrum. They celebrate. Genge is angry about something, perhaps something that was said, or was it pushing and shoving? The referee has a word with Lavanani. “We don’t need that,” he says. I guess he was trying to provoke Genge after the penalty.
42 min: Jonny Hill spoils Argentina’s lineout ball. Itoje looks happy with that. In the next phase, Steward does brilliantly to dive and catch an Argentina clearing kick, and offload to Cokanasiga while sliding along the turf in one smooth movement.
Updated
41 min: Youngs tries an early kick over the top down the right wing. De La Fuente, the No 12, grabs it and clears, although his kick is half-charged down.
Second half kick-off!
We are back under way.
Here come the teams. Four points in it. When will Jones turn to his “finishers” off the bench?
Half-time! England 16-12 Argentina
On the plus side, the rain has stopped, but the conditions have not made for a very pretty match at Twickenham. It’s certainly been physical, and the England wing Cokanasiga has the only try. The hosts have looked sharp at times, but will hope for a little more cohesion [Eddie’s favourite word] after the break.
Here’s some half-time reading from Robert Kitson, who is in New Zealand for the women’s Rugby World Cup:
Updated
Penalty! 40 min: England 16-12 Argentina (Farrell)
With the clock in the red, England get well on top in the last scrum of the first half. Argentina go into reverse. Genge gets on his feet and celebrates the resulting penalty as if he’s scored a try. Farrell nails the kick and that’s an upbeat end to the first half for Jones’s men.
Updated
Penalty! 38 min: England 13-12 Argentina (Boffelli)
England are offside now – this time it’s Cowan-Dickie who is penalised – and Boffelli does the rest.
This isn’t a particularly pretty match, but it looks like it’s going to be tight on the scoreboard, which is something.
Updated
Penalty! 35 min: England 13-9 Argentina (Farrell)
A late hit by the Argentina captain Montoya is penalised with England in the opposition’s half and Farrell kicks the penalty confidently, as he usually does.
Updated
Penalty! 32 min: Engand 10-9 Argentina (Boffelli)
Another fine strike off the kicking tee from the Argentina wing, from about 30 metres out, and Cheika’s men are just a point behind despite only having around 30% possession. The Australian coach is pictured smiling with one of his team in the stand. Could this be his first win against Jones in their coaching careers?
Updated
29 min: Steward does well to pat back a garryowen after a good kick-chase into the Argentina half, allowing Tuilagi to absolutely smash an unfortunate Gonzalez, the Pumas No 6, who didn’t see him coming. Ouch.
Updated
Try! 24 min: England 10-6 Argentina (Cokanasiga)
England get go-forward off the latest attacking scrum. Youngs passes inside off his left hand to the on-rushing Cokanasiga, on his right shoulder, who is simply too powerful to keep out from short range. Tuilagi is lurking in close proximity too. Cokanasiga is half-tackled but twists over the try-line and touches down. Farrell strikes the conversion confidently and it’s a seven-point score for England.
Updated
22 min: At the next scrum England win the penalty and kick it out for a lineout. Sinckler thunders into contact from the resulting England possession in the Argentina 22. The ball is switched over to the left wing, as England are attacking. Smith tries to dart on to a kick through to the in-goal area and Argentina concede a five-metre scrum.
19 min: Argentina looked to have the better of England at that scrum. David Flatman on commentary for Amazon Prime reckons Thomas Gallo has the best of Sinckler after it collapses, but the scrum is reset instead.
Updated
17 min: A huge hit by Lavanini on Sinckler. Lavanani, you may remember, was sent off playing against England in the last World Cup.
Now, Cokanasiga has a dart on the left wing for England, and then Steward has a bash on the right. Initially a knock-on by England is seen by the referee but on video review it’s clearly an Argentinian hand that bats the ball … England have a scrum in a promising position.
Penalty! 15 min: England 3-6 Argentina (Boffelli)
Horrid moment for Coles as he spills the restart and knocks it on. Argentina win a penalty after the resulting scrum and Boffelli has the Pumas back into the lead …
Penalty! 12 min: England 3-3 Argentina (Farrell)
Argentina are penalised for slowing England’s ball with Youngs trying to get things moving, and Farrell clips the penalty between the sticks. All square.
Penalty! 9 min: England 0-3 Argentina (Boffelli)
Argentina turn it over around halfway and kick ahead. Smith falls over in trying to mop up the loose ball, and one of the Argentina chasers dives on it. It’s an attractive attacking platform for Cheika’s side, as a result, and they get a penalty advantage for an off-the-ball hit by Coles. Carreras strokes over the penalty and the Pumas are ahead.
Updated
6 min: England win a lineout in the Argentina 22. Itoje claims it, and the hosts then bash through a few phases near the try-line. Some good hands from Sinckler, among others. Nowell also has a dart. But there is no change from the Argentina defence. Smith kicks high for the left wing, but a mark is taken easily by Argentina and the danger passes.
Updated
4 min: There is a ton of kicking but we expected that. Smith fumbles a pass by Sinckler in midfield but eventually gathers and sends a diagonal kick into the Argentina 22. England look sharp with the ball in hand, it is noticeable, but as stated they are putting boot to ball a lot, too.
1 min: Coles and Billy Vunipola start with England’s first carries after Argentina kick off. Ben Youngs then box kicks, Argentina’s No 10, Carreras, puts up a garryowen and Freddie Steward takes a mark comfortably.
First-half kick-off!
Here we go.
A blast of the anthems, now. Argentina first, then a rendition of God Save the King.
Updated
I’m not sure about hammering down the door, but it is definitely hammering down with rain at Twickenham.
The players are waiting in the tunnel.
“I don’t think it’s going to be very pretty today,” says the Amazon Prime pundit Dylan Hartley. “It’s about hammering the door down … it could be boring for us. It’s about finding something that works and sticking to it.”
“There could be a lot of kicking,” agrees his fellow pundit, Topsy Ojo.
There are some big games of rugby this month but Saturday’s World Cup final between the Black Ferns and England is now right up there. Interest has skyrocketed to such an extent over the past 24 hours that a world-record attendance is now assured at Eden Park for a sold-out contest with the potential to launch women’s rugby into another commercial stratosphere.
Eddie Jones has a chat: “We just want to improve every game … there are some specific areas we want to improve, including the cohesion of the team … I’ve been really pleased with the attitude in the past two weeks.
“You need to have an adaptable leadership team … we’ve had some good practice for that over the past couple of weeks.
“Manu gives us some great go-forward, Owen’s a good passer and kicker, and that should free up Marcus to play his expansive brand of rugby.”
On Argentina: “They’re playing with a great deal of passion, which he [Cheika] is very good at generating.”
Michael Cheika speaks to Amazon Prime : “I’m feeling very good, the experience with Lebanon at the Rugby League World Cup was probably one of my best sporting experiences ever … it gave me so much energy, I’ve been flitting between here and there during the week … I really enjoyed it.”
Asked what is the best piece of advice that Jones has ever given him, Cheika rejects the idea that the England coach is his senior: “It’s not really that kind of relationship. Even when we were playing it was more about a connection … similar sort of backgrounds off the field … there is a bit of an age difference and I am happy to say I am younger. There’s a lot of respect and friendship from way back when, too.”
What are Argentina’s aims for the next year? “I think it’s about growing ourselves in the right way up until the World Cup … we’ve just got to learn more about winning, to believe we can do it … you’re playing against the best teams in the world. Don’t be down about it: Grow, learn and get to the place where we feel we can go out there and win games.”
Updated
A couple of bits of pre-match reading:
Team news
Coming off the back of a summer series win in Australia, England’s back line is looking pretty exciting, with Manu Tuilagi back at No 13 and Marcus Smith at No 10. Ben Youngs is back at scrum-half. Notably, the opposition-ball-ruining Maro Itoje is wearing No 6, with Jonny Hill and Alex Coles making up the second row. Billy Vunipola (No 8) and Tom Curry (No 7) are Itoje’s colleagues in the back row.
England: Freddie Steward, Jack Nowell, Manu Tuilagi, Owen Farrell (captain), Joe Cokanasiga, Marcus Smith, Ben Youngs; Billy Vunipola, Tom Curry, Maro Itoje, Jonny Hill, Alex Coles, Kyle Sinckler, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Ellis Genge. Replacements: Jack Singleton, Mako Vunipola, Joe Heyes, David Ribbans, Sam Simmonds, Jack Willis, Jack van Poortlviet, Henry Slade.
Argentina are led by the irrepressible Leicester hooker, Julian Montoya. Look out for Gloucester’s Santiago Carreras at No 10 and the flying Newcastle wing Mateo Carreras, too. They will undoubtedly bring a strong set-piece, too, something that Eddie Jones just said has improved under their coach Michael Cheika.
Argentina: Juan Cruz Mallia, Mateo Carreras, Matias Moroni, Jeronimo de la Fuente, Emiliano Boffelli, Santiago Carreras, Gonzalo Bertranou; Pablo Matera, Marcos Kremer, Juan Martin Gonzalez, Tomas Lavanini, Matias Alemanno, Francisco Gomez Kodela, Julian Montoya (captain), Thomas Gallo. Replacements: Ignacio Ruiz, Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, Eduardo Bello, Lucas Paulos, Facundo Isa, Eliseo Morales, Tomas Albornoz, Matias Orlando.
𝗔 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲-𝘂𝗽 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆🌹@O2 | #WearTheRose pic.twitter.com/HdIH4rnTXP
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) November 6, 2022
Updated
Last night, Ireland defeated South Africa in Dublin:
And France snuck a brilliant win against Australia thanks to a late Damien Penaud try:
Mark Durden-Smith, on Amazon Prime, has a chat with the England forwards coach Richard Cockerill, who says the following of today: “The young lads have come in, and they will take their opportunity today. We are looking forward to get started.
On Alex Coles, the Northampton second row who will make his debut: “We are looking forward to seeing how he goes.
“Let’s do the basics really well … especially against this team … and then we can build on it for the next three games.”
Eddie Jones has thanked the England cricketer, Jonny Bairstow, for a ‘fantastic’ motivational talk for the players in camp:
Preamble
England will take on Argentina, Japan, New Zealand and South Africa before the end of November in this Autumn Nations Series. Eddie Jones calls it a mini-World Cup, and while that throwaway soundbite has stuck, it is in reality a series of one-off, revenue-boosting ‘friendlies’ that will ultimately have little bearing on next year’s tournament.
That said, Argentina and next weekend’s opposition, Japan, are both in Pool D with England in France, and Jones’s side will kick off their World Cup campaign against Los Pumas in Marseille on 9 September. Jones’s former Randwick clubmate and long-time coaching adversary, Michael Cheika, has hot-footed it back from leading Lebanon at the Rugby League World Cup to take charge of Argentina at Twickenham today. All being well the old Aussie mates will get another crack at each other at Stade Vélodrome next year.
England have returned from Jersey and the training camp that began with Misogi activity, a ‘Japanese Shinto practice of ritual purification’, also known as team bonding. The players have also started to step up their fitness regime with a view to peaking next autumn. In a sense this is the day the official countdown to the 2023 Rugby World Cup begins: Jones and England will be determined to start as they mean to go on.
Kick-off: 2.15pm
