Player Ratings: England vs Argentina
England got their autumn off to a victorious start at Twickenham earlier today, defeating Argentina, 21-8, in a resilient but rusty performance.
Eddie Jones’ men were far from their best and lacked the chemistry they will need to triumph against Australia next week, but it was also a game that England never looked like losing or even under threat.
We’ve assessed all 23 of England’s players and ranked their performance in the autumnal opener.
- Mike Brown – 6
Brown didn’t have time to have a major impact on the game, leaving the field midway through the first half due to a head knock, but his fearlessness and reliability under the high ball – arguably his point of difference versus other English full-backs – was on display several times in the first quarter.
- Anthony Watson – 7
Watson was the highlight of a quiet back three performance from England, with his jinking runs about as much threat as England could muster out wide for the majority of the game. He also coped well with the transition to full-back after Brown left the field with injury.
- Jonathan Joseph – 6
Chances to shine were few and far between for Joseph. Henry Slade didn’t provide the carrying threat that Farrell often does in the 12 jersey and the Argentine defence was able to fan out with the ball and didn’t give him any obvious one-on-one opportunities to make the most of.
- Henry Slade – 6
A performance full of promise and potential, but little tangible effect until his move to 13 later in the game. As the game went on, he showcased his comfort with a rugby ball and his speed of thought to collect the ball and turn it into a pass or deft kick in one motion was evident.
- Elliot Daly – 6
Not too much of note to say here. Daly did his defensive duties well but he was feeding on scraps in attack.
- George Ford – 7
A couple of missed kicks take a small bit of gloss off a classy outing from Ford. The fly-half pulled the strings well, not least so with his looped pass to Nathan Hughes for the back rower to score England’s first try.
- Ben Youngs – 6
Provided as much tempo as his pack gave him for the 60 minutes he spent on the pitch. The Argentine defensive line didn’t give him much space around the fringes. Box-kicking was solid and most left the Argentine back three with very little time before the chase met them.
- Mako Vunipola – 8
Vunipola had a very solid game, constantly testing the fringes and putting width on the ball when Argentina dedicated more defenders to stop his rumbling forays around the fringes. His line speed also stood out in a very effective defensive performance.
- Dylan Hartley – 6
A knock-on in an England maul just metres from the Argentinean try line hurt Hartley’s stock, but he did step up as a communicator around the ruck, marshalling the defence, as well as maintaining a 100% record at the lineout.
- Dan Cole – 6
A solid, if unspectacular performance. The tighthead came under pressure in his first couple of scrums but responded well as the game went on, as well as contributing at the contact area on attacking ball.
- Courtney Lawes – 6
A quieter performance by Lawes’ recent standards and having the ball ripped by Juan Martin Hernández will not sit well with the Northampton man. Nevertheless, he carried and tackled hard for 80 minutes and won a late turnover with Argentina threatening the England try line.
- George Kruis – 7
Kruis ran the lineout well and lead the defensive line from the guard position at the rucks. It was a good nuts and bolts performance from the lock.
- Chris Robshaw – 6
Robshaw’s performance will get overshadowed by those of his fellow back rowers, but just like the one turned in by Kruis, it did the nuts and bolts well. The blindside hit plenty of rucks, helping secure attacking ball for England.
- Sam Underhill – 8
Despite winning just his second cap, Underhill looked like a seasoned veteran against Argentina. He scythed down Argentinean ball-carriers with his flawless tackling technique and was one of England’s best chasers, rarely allowing the Argentine back three any space to counter-attack into.
- Nathan Hughes – 8
A couple of knock-ons blighted an otherwise very impressive performance from Hughes. The No 8 dominated the gain-line at Twickenham, not only as a proficient carrier, but also rocking Argentinean carriers back with thunderous tackles. Capped his performance, fittingly, with his first try for England.
Replacements
- Jamie George – 6
Came on with 20 minutes to go but didn’t have many opportunities to make an impact.
- Ellis Genge – 6
A couple of powerful carries, but like George, his chances to impact the game were limited.
- Harry Williams – 6
Helped England see out the game for the final 10 minutes, with manful defence and efficient tackling.
- Joe Launchbury – 6
Got as busy as he could for the short time he was on the pitch. Would have made a much better impact if he was starting.
- Sam Simmonds – 6
Similarly to many of the impact players, Simmonds did not have much of a chance to make a real mark on this game. Some solid defence portrayed his potential.
- Danny Care – 6
Brought good tempo for England’s second try but, again, England had taken their foot off the gas and were soaking up pressure for most of his time on the pitch.
- Alex Lozowski – 7
Brought immediate impact, threatening the line as a carrier – which Slade had not done – and his big break up the field laid the foundations for England’s second try.
- Semesa Rokoduguni – 7
Had longer on the pitch to affect the game than the other replacements and played a role in both of England’s tries. He held his position well to create space for Hughes to go over in the first half and finished the second off well himself.
Comments on RugbyPass
If Havili can play anywhere in the back line, why not first 5. #10.
11 Go to commentsThe dressing room had already left for their summer break before they ran out in Dublin that year, and that’s on the coach. Franco Smith has undoubtedly made progress, particularly their maul, developing squad players and increasing squad depth. And against a very tight budget too. That said they were too lightweight last year and got found out against both Toulon and Munster in consecutive games. Better this season so far but they’ve developed something of a slow start habit occasionally, most notably losing at home to Northampton who played them at their own game. Play offs will ultimately show whether there has been tangible progress on last year, or not…!
2 Go to commentsAustralian Rugby has been a disaster, by not incorporating learning from previous successful campaigns. QLD Reds 2011 - Waratahs 2014. Players, coaches and administrators appoint there representatives for scheduled meetings, organisation’s agreement’s assessments and correspondence. This why a unified Rugby Union under one entity works. Every Rugby nation has taken that path. Was most difficult in the Northern hemisphere with over 100 years of club rugby before the game become professional. Took a lot of humility for those unions to eventually work together.
7 Go to commentsThough Wilson’s sacking was pretty brutal, it wasn’t just down to that Leinster game; Glasgow had a lot of 2nd half collapses that season, in the URC and Europe, and only just scraped into the playoffs. Franco Smith has definitely been an improvement, some players are delivering far more than they did under Wilson.
2 Go to commentsjesus - that front 5!
1 Go to commentsShould be an absolute cracker of a game! Will be great to see DuPont & Ntamack in tandem once again🔥
1 Go to commentsBest team ever…. To have played? These guys are still pressure chokers. Came nowhere when it counted. What a joke
69 Go to commentsMusk defends anonymous terrorism, fascism, threats against individuals and children etc etc But a Rugby club account….lock ‘em up!!!
1 Go to commentsActually the era defining moment came a few years earlier. February 2002 to be precise, when Michael D Higgins as finance minister at the time introduced his sports persons tax relief bill to the dial. As the politicians of the day stated “It seems to be another daft K Club frolic born in Kildare amongst the well-paid professional jockeys with whom the Minister plays golf” and that the scheme represented “a savage uncaring vision of Ireland and one that should be condemned”. The irfu and Leinster would be nowhere near the position they are in today without this key component of the finances.
2 Go to commentsIt is crystal clear that people who make such threats on line should be tried and imprisoned. Those with responsibility in social media companies who don’t facilitate this should be convicted. In real life, I have free speech to approach someone like Reinach and verbally threaten him. I am risking a conviction or a slap but I could do it. In the old days, If someone anonymously threatened someone by letter the police would ask and use evidence from the postal system. Unlike the Post, social media companies have complete instant and legal access to the content in social media. They make money from the data, billions. Yet, they turn a blind eye to terrorism, Nazi-ism and industrial levels of threats against individuals including their address and childrens schools being published online all from ananoymous accounts not real people. They claim free speech. Free speech for anonymous trolls/voilent thugs threatening people under false names? The fault is with the perps but also social media companies who think anonymous personas posting death threats constitutes free speech.
2 Go to commentsSo if this ain’t the best Irish team ever then who exactly is? I don’t remember any other Irish team being this good & winning a series in the Land of the Long White Cloud. Yes I may rip them often for 8 X QF RWC exits & twice not even making it to the QF, but they’re a damn good team who many think can only improve, including me!
69 Go to commentsNot a squeek out of Leinster for weeks about this match. So quiet. The first team have been quitely building for this encounter under Nienaber’s direction. All fresh, all highly motivated. They are expecting a season’s best performance from Northhampton. They will match that. They will be fresher and apparently they will have 80,000 out of the 83,000 shouting for them. I do expect Northhampton to turn up big time. Not to be missed. On a tangent it is evident how the loss of a few Premiership teams has in some respect helped other Premiership teams and England. More quality over less teams makes the teams better, which has a knock on effect on England. Not the only factor contributing to England’s rise but one of them.
2 Go to commentsOur very own monster teddy bear Ox😍💪
17 Go to commentsThis is might be the most generalised, entitled, patronising, out-of-pocket cultural indictment on a group of people you’ll ever see on what is supposedly a sports publication. I can only assume the author is weak like a woman or homosexual. I’m feeling an incredible range of emotions but I am not quite sure how to express them. I might go beat up a hockey player - assuming that’s okay with Duane and the boys? 🙂
9 Go to commentsBest thing the Welsh clubs could do is apply to join Gallagher prem surely be more exciting matches for there support than they have now.
2 Go to commentsRugbyPass writers are useless! you guys should get a real job because you all suck at writing about rugby!!!
9 Go to commentslooking forward to RWC2027 …. Boks on mission impossible for the Three-in-a-row, ABs to prove they being on par, France wishing to crown the “DuPont-era”, Ireland knocking on the Semi-Door ….. until then we’ll probably have to deal with Weird Ben’s fantasy-RWC23 (fun fact is, the drivel always creates a flooding of comments) …..
222 Go to commentsBen Smith you really make some good points in this article, the Springboks were not close to perfect and good still beat the All Blacks, imagine if they were as good as they were against France what a hiding the All Blacks would have gotten… maybe another Twickenham drubbing
222 Go to commentsIt is a good argument to keep the Rebels for one more year but also isnt this just opening the door as well for keeping them beyond 2025. If they can create some sort of financial stability in the next year and if their performances lift as they have this season then how would RA even cull them after that? It might be the most cost effective decision at this stage and perhaps many people are guilty of keeping relationships going because of the cost to decouple but then again when does that ever work out well?
29 Go to commentsDear Ben Smith you are a genius! God please become the next all blacks coach that can take on the mighty BOKS. Your rugby acumen is second to none - imagine your dads sperm bounced as unfortunately as that oval ball did….we would not be blessed with your presence. Just as the all blacks were missing a man you too are missing a chromosome for 80% of your life, so your insights are not only profound but ring true from your own experiences. Just as the TMO interfered with citing an illegal pass I am sure your local authorities interfere with your illegal passes you make on women - How dare they!!! God forbid that rugby be officiated fairly. You are the right man for the job. Next all blacks coach is here ladies and gentlemen Miss Ben Smith (He/She/They/IT)
222 Go to comments