England extend streak over Argentina amid controversy

England were 31-24 winners over Argentina on Saturday. The match had plenty of drama with players from both teams involved in and causing scuffles. The tension was constant including after the final whistle was blown.

Referee Angus Gardner did not award a try in the final play of the match. The disallowed try frustrated Los Pumas and with good reason. It involved a high tackle which is in contrast to the laws of the game. According to World Rugby Law 8.3, a penalty try must be awarded if a team commits any foul play—including a high tackle—that prevents a probable try from being scored.

The play in question saw Noah Caluori missing a tackle on Bautista Delguy in which he made contact with Delguy’s neck. Then, Henry Slade made contact with Delguy’s head as he tackled the Puma into the corner flag while the Argentine downed the ball.

The teams were very similar in terms of battles in the first-half. Yet, there was a critical difference as Steve Borthwick’s England turned opportunities into points while Felipe Contepomi’s Argentina failed to do so.

England held a 19-3 lead at half-time. It was centered on three tries, the first of which came the first time that England got inside the opposition’s 22. With advantage given, Fin Smith put-up a cross-kick for Tommy Freeman who out-jumped Santiago Carreras to catch the ball and score.

The second try came twenty minutes later. After a break from Welshman Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, Ben Earl was out in the clear and had the strength to get the ball down while Tomás Albornoz attempted a departed covering tackle.

Los Pumas were 12-0 down and it got worse with Mateo Carreras yellow carded for head contact during a tackle. The one-man disadvantage saw Julián Montoya opting for points as he called for the posts five minutes later. Tomás Albornoz’s 29th minute penalty would be the only Pumas’ points of the first-half.

Both teams had been winning scrum penalties but it boiled-over with English dominance on 32 minutes. Ben Earl scored a push-over try after Los Pumas‘ scrum was obliterated. Fin Smith converted both of Earl’s scores for a 19-3 lead.

The second-half started like the first with a try being scored in the third minute. This time it was Argentina scoring with Mateo Carreras going over, with the support of Santiago Grondona, one phase after a lineout to maul attack.

The Pumas try brought life back to the spectators at the Estadio Único Madre de Ciudades. They got louder twelve minutes later when Argentina scored their second try. It was a penalty try with Alex Coles shown a yellow card after knocking down a pass from Tomás Albornoz who had broken the line to be stopped inches short.

Jack van Poortvliet had been yellow carded minutes earlier; however, any numerical advantage was temporary as Angus Gardner yellow carded both Joaquín Oviedo and Santiago Carreras within two minutes of each other. Santiago Carreras’s yellow carding came from the pass leading to Marcus Smith’s 62 minute score for England.

England returned to 15 men while Argentina were still playing with 13. It proved effective for Welshman Immanuel Feyi-Waboso to slice the defense open and score. His 69th minute score was England’s last try and made it a 31-17 scoreline.

England finished with two men down, though as replacements Henry Pollock and Emmanuel Iyogun were both yellow carded in the final ten minutes. Both men were shown yellow carded while defending on their own try line.

Argentina went for scrums but could not capitalize. Then, with under two minutes remaining, Justo Piccardo burst through a double tackle to run 35 meters and score. Tomás Albornoz converted to make it a seven point deficit.

As was the case in the previous match between the teams from November 2025 in London, Argentina were behind but had a late opportunity to comeback. This time it meant to snatch a draw. Bautista Delguy thought he had scored. After breaking tackles from Noah Caluori and Henry Slade he kicked the ball high in celebration. The try was not given with it ruled to have made contact with the sideline and try line simultaneously. Be that as it may, neither tackle was legal.

The result was a hard one for the home side and a great achievement for the visitors. The Argentina vs England rugby rivalry will long continue but the refereeing in Santiago del Estero will require substantial. scrutiny.

• Los Pumas suffered their first defeat in Santiago del Estero. Argentina defeated Scotland in 2022 and South Africa in 2024 at the Estadio Único Madre de Ciudades.
• England has won six in-a-row against Argentina. Los Pumas last defeated England in 2022.
• Prop Emmanuel Iyogun debuted for England.
• The attendance was 22,225.

ARGENTINA (24)
TRY – M Carreras (42′), Penalty Try (55′), J Piccardo (79′)
CON – T Albornoz 2 (43′, 79′), No Kick (55′)
PEN – T Albornoz (29′)
YC – M Carreras (24′), J Oviedo (60′), S Carreras (62′)

ENGLAND (31)
TRY – T Freeman (3′), B Earl 2 (23′, 32′), M Smith (61′), I Feyi-Waboso (68′)
CON – F Smith 3 (24′, 32′, 62′)
YC – J van Poortvliet (50′), A Coles (55′), H Pollock (73′), I Iyogun (76′)

ARGENTINA
1 Mayco Vivas, 2 Julián Montoya (capt.), 3 Tomás Rapetti, 4 Guido Petti, 5 Matías Alemanno, 6 Santiago Grondona, 7 Marcos Kremer, 8 Joaquín Oviedo, 9 Gonzalo García, 10 Tomás Albornoz, 11 Mateo Carreras, 12 Justo Piccardo, 13 Matías Moroni, 14 Bautista Delguy, 15 Santiago Carreras

Replacements: 16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Boris Wenger, 18 Pedro Delgado, 19 Efraín Elías, 20 Pablo Matera, 21 Joaquin Moro, 22 Simón Benítez Cruz, 23 Lucio Cinti

ENGLAND
1 Ellis Genge, 2 Jamie George (capt.), 3 Joe Heyes, 4 Alex Coles, 5 George Martin, 6 Ollie Chessum, 7 Guy Pepper, 8 Ben Earl, 9 Jack van Poortvliet, 10 Fin Smith, 11 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 12 Seb Atkinson, 13 Henry Slade, 14 Tommy Freeman, 15 Marcus Smith

Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Emmanuel Iyogun, 18 Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 19 Tom Curry, 20 Henry Pollock, 21 Ben Spencer, 22 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 23 Noah Caluori

Referee: Angus Gardner (Australia)
Assistants: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia), Paul Williams (New Zealand)
TMO: Brett Cronan (Australia)
Foul Play Review Officer (FPRO): Eric Gauzins (France)