England 39 – 10 Argentina: 2019 Rugby World Cup Pool C
October 5th 2019 – Tokyo Stadium, Chofu
Prior to France, the latest Rugby World Cup meeting between England and Argentina took place just four years ago, with England taking the victory as the sides met in Japan. The soon to be Rugby World Cup finalists ran out a resounding 39-10 victory over Los Pumas, in what was a difficult day for the otherwise revolutionary Argentina Head Coach Mario Ledesma.
What was then Eddie Jones’ side crossed over for six tries, with Gloucester winger Jonny May getting the scoring underway after just nine minutes of action. First half tries followed through Elliot Daly and Ben Youngs (more about him shortly), yet Owen Farrell missed his first three attempts at the posts. The Saracen swapped over his shooting boots at half-time, and went on to slot the following three conversion attempts.
Farrell added the extras for George Ford, Jack Nowell and Luke Cowan-Dickie’s tries, as England hit top gear against their South American opponents. A consolation try from Pumas winger Matias Moroni was a slight saving grace, yet it would not be enough for their progression out of the Pool, following an earlier defeat to France. Les Bleus joined England in the knock-out stages, with Argentina hopeful of righting those wrongs with a spot in the quarter-final more than achievable this time around.
Argentina 9 – 13 England: 2011 Rugby World Cup Pool C
September 10th 2011 – Otago Stadium, Dunedin
We rewind further into the history of this fixture, with England and Argentina once again clashing in Pool C of the Rugby World Cup. This match is best remembered for the Rugby World Cup debut of one Ben Youngs, as his match-winning try salvaged a match taht looked to be heading towards an upset defeat in New Zealand. With the scores deadlocked at 9-6 in favour of Argentina, England Head Coach Martin Johnson brought on Youngs for Richard Wigglesworth, to make his maiden World Cup appearance 50 minutes into the match.
The stalemate remained for most of the second half, and with little over 10 minutes remaining, time was running out for England in their 2011 Rugby World Cup opener. That was until Youngs saw a gap in the exhausted Argentina defence, and slipped his way through to score in a style that has since become customary with England’s all-time appearance holder. Jonny Wilkinson slotted the subsequent conversion, and added a follow-up penalty to ensure the victory over Argentina.
Both England and Argentina went on to progress out of the pool stage back in 2011, with England topping the group and Los Pumas in runners-up. History could well be repeated in just a few weeks time, with the all-important match in Pool D being the first fixture on the cards. However, neither England or Argentina progressed any further than the quarter-finals back in 2011, with Martin Johnson’s men beaten by France, and Los Pumas dumped out rather unceremoniously by the All Blacks.