Northern | US

High drama as England survive stirring Argentina comeback to maintain 100% record


England cross for a try vs Argentina in the winner-takes-all Pool C clash at the 2026 World Rugby Junior World Championship. Photo: World Rugby
Comments
2 Comments

Northampton Saints duo James Pater and Aiden Ainsworth-Cave scored a brace each as England booked their World Rugby Junior World Championship semi-final place with a nail-biting 40-38 win over Argentina in their winner-takes- all Pool C clash.

ADVERTISEMENT

England made Los Pumitas pay for slack discipline, with the South Americans losing Benjamin Ordiz to a 20-minute red card after 16 minutes for a dangerous clear-out on England skipper Connor Treacey.

They then had Bautista Benavides sin-binned after 49 minutes, giving a massive advantage to England and leaving themselves with an uphill fight to claw their way back into the game they had started well, when Tomas Dande scored a fifth-minute try that Federico Serpa converted.

VIDEO

Will Knight crossed the line to pull England level with a 12-minute try that Hugh Shields converted, but four minutes after Ordiz left the pitch Pater scored a try with Shields converting.

Cuneo Camargo reduced England’s lead to two points with a 26th-minute try, but they wrestled back control with two tries in the final five minutes of the first half through Jimmy Staples and Ainsworth-Cave, both of which were converted by Shields.

World Rugby U20 Championship

Pool A
P
W
L
D
PF
PA
PD
BP T
BP-7
BP
Total
1
South Africa U20
2
2
0
0
10
2
Wales U20
2
2
0
0
9
3
Georgia U20
2
0
2
0
2
4
Uruguay U20
2
0
2
0
0
Pool B
P
W
L
D
PF
PA
PD
BP T
BP-7
BP
Total
1
New Zealand U20
3
3
0
0
15
2
Scotland U20
3
2
1
0
11
3
Italy U20
3
1
2
0
7
4
Japan U20
3
0
3
0
1
Pool C
P
W
L
D
PF
PA
PD
BP T
BP-7
BP
Total
1
England U20
3
3
0
0
15
2
Argentina U20
3
2
1
0
12
3
Ireland U20
3
1
2
0
8
4
USA U20
3
0
3
0
1
Pool D
P
W
L
D
PF
PA
PD
BP T
BP-7
BP
Total
1
Australia U20
2
2
0
0
10
2
France U20
2
2
0
0
10
3
Spain U20
2
0
2
0
2
4
Fiji U20
2
0
2
0
0

Ainsworth-Cave scored his second try within a minute of the restart after Shields combined with Lucas Friday before Bautista Lescano dived into the corner with a 45th-minute try.

ADVERTISEMENT

England had Argentina on the ropes four minutes later when Pater scored his second try, and Benavides was sin binned but they couldn’t take advantage. Instead, Simon Pfister collected an inside pass to score, with Federico Serpa drilling over the conversion.

England were reduced to 13 men after Elliot Williams and Knight were picked up yellow cards within three minutes of each other, the second coming in the build-up to Lescano scoring his second try, which Manuel Giannantonio converted.

Argentina fought their way back into the game two minutes from time with Pfister scoring his second try, Giannantonio landing the conversion, but England hung on and survived a last-gasp TMO check for foul play four minutes into added-on time.

Related

Follow your favourites in the RugbyPass App

Your home for rugby. Download the RugbyPass app on the App Store (iOS) and Google Play (Android) now!


Follow your favourite teams, tournaments and players, and get personalised news and Match Centre notifications direct to your device.


From live rugby streams and upcoming fixtures to breaking news, in-depth analysis and live scores, RugbyPass has everything you need to stay connected to the game.

ADVERTISEMENT
Play Video
LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

2 Comments
E
EvilMockingJay 91 days ago

Being incapable to score twice while being at 15 against 13… Seriously ridiculous from Argentina side to call for the TMO after England won the penalty while there was NOTHING.

L
LE 91 days ago

What a great game of rugby to watch, Argentina fearless, England resolute

Some cracking tries and high drama at the end

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Long Reads

Comments on RugbyPass

N
NoLongerARuck 1 hour ago
'Rugby needs to be demystified to attract new fans and fresh investment'

The laws are a major part of the equation and the scrum equation remains a mystery to many supporters, administrators, refs and also players. The referee rewards dominance at the scrum, if he sees one side going forward clearly, but it must be straight and the opposition must cause an offence but thats the biggest problem with the scrum laws. Scrums are not perfect and the laws assume ideal conditions. Props are different heights, have different length arms, have different weights and so on. The same applies to the locks that pack in behind them. This is a matter of physics and wheels, changes in angle and shoving across is always going to happen. The refs are guessing at the physics of the whole thing and they have to make a decision in a second on who to reward. Its absolutely crazy. Penalty advantages from scrums are also getting out of control and are too much of a force multiplier. Its not just in games involving South African teams either. Firstly set a minimum height for the scrum to drastically reduce collapses and make it high enough for that purpose. Create bind friendly jerseys for props with bind points on them with specific materials that make binds easier and wont rip, allow for dynamic engagement such as shoving at angles as long as those angles are not extreme and allow props and hookers to pop up if they are under pressure so they wont break their necks trying to stay in. Allow the scrum to transpose into a maul if the guy at the back picks it up and stays bound, at that point require the props to break their bind so the maul forms. Get rid of the useless break foot. Change the penalty from a scrum infringement to a defined advantage that makes more sense rather than a full arm penalty like give a team 10m and play restarts with a free kick to the side with the advantage. When in the opposition 5m give a free play and if they cannot score come back to a free kick to the attacking side. Stop getting refs to ref the physics. Allow clear and obvious fouls to be penalised like breaking binds, clear collapses etc. Reduce uncertainty by understanding scrums are dynamic and will never be perfect and stop trying to legislate for ideal conditions.

80 Go to comments
Close Panel
Close Panel

Edition & Time Zone

{{current.name}}
Set time zone automatically
{{selectedTimezoneTitle}} (auto)
Choose a different time zone
Close Panel

Editions

Close Panel

Change Time Zone

Close
ADVERTISEMENT
Copied to clipboard

Share Article close