England plumbing record depths

Argentina conquer Twickenham and leave England rock bottom

Argentina made their most emphatic statement yet that they should be competing in meaningful competition after beating England 25-18 at Twickenham on Saturday.

While the Pumas were in seventh heaven, England's seventh consecutive defeat heaps the pressure on Andy Robinson, who marched tight-lipped to the dressing room as the final whistle blew with boos ringing in his ears, and the knowledge that England must beat the Springboks next week to avoid overseeing England's worst ever run weighing on his mind.

The sounds of Twickenham were interesting.  There was an early silence as people remembered the war dead, for these two countries, no doubt, those involved in the Falklands/Malvinhas War.  Then there was the singing of the anthems, Land of Hope and Glory and Sweet Chariot.  And then there was a long period of desultory noise, growing quieter as the Pumas put pressure on England.

Much of the match was played to a mutter.  And then at the end, there was booing.  Surely it is rugby's ugliest sound, made even more ugly when local folk boo their own players.

There were also two contrasting faces -- the grim visage of Andy Robinson and the glittering glee on the face and in the eyes of Agustín Pichot as his victorious troops made a circle around him - victorious in the arena of Twickenham for the first time ever.

It was not a match to make a great noise about except for Paul Sackey's moment of genius, a jewel set off all the brighter by the dull foil around it.

It was a match of many, many errors -- mainly by England.  The Pumas dominated the early part of the match, enjoying the better of possession and territory, but the only try they got, well into the second half, came from an interception of a novice's pass.

Against the All Blacks, novice Anthony Allen gave the pass that Joe Rokocoko intercepted.  This time it was Toby Flood's pass that set sartorially elegant Federico Todeschini running 60 metres or so for a try -- the try that sank England.

It was not the slender Todeschini's only contribution.  He also kicked penalties, and England conceded several of them.  He was brought on early for Gonzalo Tiesi with Felipe Contepomi shifting to inside centre.  Todeschini's goal kicking was as impeccable as the creases in his shorts.  Mind you, the creases did not last, the kickking did.

England actually scored first when Charlie Hodgson kicked a penalty after just three minutes for a tackle infringement, but Hodgson did not last the game.  With the Pumas leading 12-10 early in the second half he was replaced by Flood, the lanky 21-year-old from Newcastle Falcons.

It was a big call -- a hard one for the young man who gave the wonky pass not long afterwards and then with the score at 19-18 hooked the conversion which could have given England the lead.  It was hard for the young man.

The first break of the match was by centre Miguel Avramovic and probably should have led to a try.  It did yield a penalty against Allen for being off-side and gave Contepomi an easy kick to level the scores.

England were spreading the ball but to little effect.  The Pumas played it closer but were sharper.  Juan Martín Hernández, with a chip and gather, produced a situation which could also have led to a try.

Then England started to get more and more into the match.  A break by Allen down the right should have produced a try but the young centre entirely ignored Ben Cohen open on his outside.  Jamie Noon had a promising moment but grubbered harmlessly into the in-goal.

Then came the try as England countered left and then went right where Paul Sackey was in an outside centre position.  He sped ahead, took the outside gap past Pichot, came back inside and then left Hernández sprawling on the deck as he sped past him for his first try for England in his second official Test.

It was a jewel of a moment.

England led 10-3 with seven minutes to half-time, but in that time Todeschini goaled two penalties and England led just 10-9 at the break.  Just one point and not a convincing one either, but it did have the glory of Sackey's try.

When Lewis Moody was penalised for going in at the side of a tackle/ruck, Todeschini goaled from far out and near touch.  Argentina led 12-10.  They never lost that lead.

They went 19-10 up when Todeschini intercepted, but England looked to be about to score when Pat Sanderson broke and fed Cohen but the big wing was caught from behind by new cap Esteban Lozada.  But there was a penalty soon afterwards and Flood kicked his first points for England.  19-13 with 21 minutes to go.

Seven minutes into the half, Pete Richards had replaced Shaun Perry at scrum-half after the Bristol man had found Puma pressure hard to deal with -- Puma pressure and Sanderson's difficulty in controlling ball at the back of the scrum.

Richards set England's second try in motion.  He tapped a penalty inside his own half and there was Ian Balshaw cutting inside, brushing aside Pablo Gomez Cora and swerving off down the field on a run of over 60 metres, swerving past Todeschini to score in a good position.  19-18 with 18 minutes to play, but the groans as Flood missed the conversion forebode the disaster to follow.

England became increasingly frantic in those 18 minutes while the Pumas stayed calm and effective.

When Sanderson lost the ball at the back of a pressured scrum and then held on, Todeschini made it 22-18.  When Julian White was penalised for loitering, Todeschini made it 25-18 with seven minutes to go.

England had two penalties in quick succession when the Pumas dropped mauls.  The second gave them a line-out five metres from the Puma line but they forsook the traditional maul to play the ball back to substitute hooker Lee Mears and the Pumas held.

England attacked going right but still the Pumas were there, controlled and strong -- and then England lost the ball at a tackle and Pichot picked it up.  As cool as you like he wandered nonchalantly away from the tackle and then hoofed a long ball down into England territory.  There were the just 34 seconds to go.

When time was up, a hooter sounded -- a first for Twickenham.  When England knocked on, the final whistle went and the Pumas had won.  Also a first for Twickenham.

Man of the Match:  For the Pumas there was the smooth skill of Juan Martín Hernández and the effective boot of Federico Todeschini but it would be proper to name Agustín Pichot, captain of Argentina and marshall of his courageous troops.

Moment of the Match:  There was certainly Paul Sackey's try and the desperate thrill of Federico Todeschini's intercept but our moment of the match was the sight of Agustín Pichot, with the calm of a saint-philosopher as he came away with the ball to kick it miles downfield.

Villain of the Match:  None, but in Rome Brendan Cannon got a yellow card for the sort of temper tantrum that earned Ben Cohen and Mario Ledesma a smile.  There did not seem much to separate the three slaps.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Sackey, Balshaw
Con:  Hodgson
Pens:  Hodgson, Flood

For Argentina:
Try:  Todeschini
Con:  Todeschini
Pens:  Contempomi 2, Todeschini 4

England:  15 Iain Balshaw, 14 Paul Sackey, 13 Jamie Noon,12 Anthony Allen, 11 Ben Cohen,10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Shaun Perry, 8 Pat Sanderson, 7 Lewis Moody, 6 Martin Corry (captain), 5 Ben Kay, 4 Danny Grewcock, 3 Julian White, 2 George Chuter, 1 Perry Freshwater.
Replacements:  16 Lee Mears, 17 Stuart Turner, 18 Tom Palmer, 19 Magnus Lund, 20 Pete Richards, 21 Toby Flood, 22 Josh Lewsey.

Argentina:  15 Juan Martin Hernández, 14 Jose Nuñez Piossek, 13 Miguel Avramovic, 12 Gonzalo Tiesi, 11 Pablo Gomez Cora, 10 Felipe Contepomi, 9 Agustín Pichot (captain), 8 Gonzalo Longo, 7 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 6 Juan Fernandez Lobbe, 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe, 3 Omar Hasan, 2 Mario Ledesma, 1 Marcos Ayerza.
Replacements:  16 Albert Vernet Basualdo, 17 Martin Scelzo, 18 Esteban Lozada, 19 Martin Schusterman, 20 Nicolas Fernandez Miranda, 21 Federico Todeschini, 22 Horacio Agulla.

Referee:  Kelvin Deaker (New Zealand)
Touch judges:  Steve Walsh (New Zealand), Malcolm Changleng (Scotland)
Television match official:  Peter Allan (Scotland)
Assessor:  Dougie Kerr (Scotland)