England player ratings vs Argentina
In the first real test of England’s Rugby World Cup campaign, they looked professional against Argentina in racking up a bonus point win and a 39-10 scoreline, even if it could have been an even larger margin.
Los Pumas lost Tomas Lavanini to a red card early in the first half and although England were able to get the four tries they wanted, they struggled to expose the South American side and make the most of their numerical advantage, save for a five minute flourish at the death.
Check out our England player ratings versus Argentina below.
- Elliot Daly – 7.5
It was the first game of the Rugby World Cup where an opponent really attempted to test Daly defensively and he passed with flying colours. He was proficient in the air and positionally, whilst his handling and counter-attacks facilitated plenty of positives for England, including his own try.
https://twitter.com/ITVRugby/status/1180405867067236352?s=20
- Anthony Watson – 6.5
The Bath flier had a couple of incisive runs that evaded a number of tackles, but the ball very rarely seemed to find its way out to him, as England prospered more regularly when they moved it to the left. He was good in the air, too, when tested.
- Manu Tuilagi – 6
A relatively quiet start from Tuilagi in terms of carrying and he was lucky not to see a yellow card for his challenge on Emiliano Boffeli in the air. He began to carry more as the game went on, although it was not quite the influential impact he offered against Tonga.
- Owen Farrell – 5.5
It was far from Farrell’s best performance in an England jersey, not least so for his wayward kicking at goal, where he was successful on just four of his eight attempts. His tackling and kicking from hand were more effective, however.
- Jonny May – 7
An effective and balanced outing from May, who was as adept defensively as he was offensively. He kept his depth and width well for his try, as well as proving elusive when he came off his wing looking for work.
- George Ford – 8
A strong show of playmaking from the fly-half who not only drew men and provided the scoring passes for the tries of May and Daly, he also grabbed one of his own in the second half. He kicked into space well, too, as Argentina tired.
- Ben Youngs – 7.5
One kick out on the full aside, Youngs’ box-kicking was very effective. He also brought tempo and energy to the play, something which clearly began to tire Argentina following their reduction to 14 men. He deserved his try at the end of the first half.
https://twitter.com/ITVRugby/status/1180407182346600448?s=20
- Joe Marler – 7
The loosehead seemed to be finding his feet at the first couple of scrums, before going on to put Juan Figallo under repeated pressure at the set-piece. Helped provide quick ball for Youngs to work with.
- Jamie George – 6.5
The Saracens hooker uncharacteristically missed a throw against Argentina, although he was successful on his other 10 attempts. It was one of his quieter performances in the loose for England, despite being highly proficient at the set-piece.
- Kyle Sinckler – 7
Sinckler was lucky to avoid a card early in the game for a no arms tackle, though he worked hard to redeem himself. His scrummaging was strong and his playmaking at first receiver, with cut-back and pop passes, helped England’s pack get over the gain-line.
- Maro Itoje – 7.5
Although the scoreline suggests a one-sided game in which England dominated in attack, it was defensively where Itoje stood out. His line-speed and physicality of his tackles were crucial for England. He also won five lineouts, stole an Argentine throw and forced a rip in the contact.
- George Kruis – 6
A quieter game from Kruis who, despite being successfully targeted at three lineouts, didn’t have his usual influence in the loose. He was still an important defensive communicator and organiser in the line, though.
- Tom Curry – 6.5
The flanker provided England with their third lineout option and was a physical tackler throughout. He moved over to No 8 after Billy Vunipola left the field and did a decent job of controlling the game from there.
- Sam Underhill – 6.5
Underhill’s chasing of kicks and chop tackling were his points of difference in the first half, before he became a more prominent carrying option in the second half.
- Billy Vunipola – 5.5
The No 8 struggled to win the physical contest that he usually excels at and that was illustrated by his two knock-ons in the first half. He got through a solid amount of work but was replaced at half time by Lewis Ludlam due to a possible ankle injury.
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Replacements
- Luke Cowan-Dickie – 6
The hooker connected with his only lineout after coming on and it led to a try for the Exeter Chief, who dotted down from the subsequent maul.
- Mako Vunipola – 5.5
Vunipola coughed up a scrum penalty just after coming on and missed a tackle that led to Argentina’s late try in his first appearance since his injury.
- Dan Cole – 6
Scrummaged well after coming on, although he didn’t have too much else to do with the game already won.
- Courtney Lawes – 6.5
The lock brought his physicality to bear after coming on in the second half, forcing a knock-on and tackling with ferocity.
- Lewis Ludlam – 7
The Northampton Saint offered plenty of impact from the bench, particularly with his carrying, when his strong leg drives in contact brought England gain-line success.
- Willi Heinz – 6
Kept the tempo up following Youngs’ departure as the game moved away from tactical kicking and England attempted to stretch Argentina.
- Henry Slade – n/a
Only had the opportunity to make one pass after replacing Ford and will be hopeful of having more of an impact in subsequent games.
- Jack Nowell – 7
Dazzled with his footwork after coming off the bench and powered his way out of contact and over the try line to add some gloss to the England score line.
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Comments on RugbyPass
Wasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
3 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
30 Go to comments