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Solomona snatches stunning victory for England over Pumas

Denny Solomona scores a match-winning try on his England debut

Denny Solomona went from zero to hero by marking his international rugby union debut with a stunning 79th-minute try that earned an experimental England side a thrilling 38-34 victory over Argentina in San Juan.

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With many of his leading players unavailable due to British and Irish Lions duty, England coach Eddie Jones selected four debutants on Saturday, while Solomona was among a number of new caps brought on from the bench.

The tourists were behind on four occasions and former rugby league star Solomona was guilty of two missed tackles that led to Argentina tries in quick succession following his second-half introduction.

However, with his side three points down as the final whistle loomed and seemingly destined for defeat, Solomona sensationally cut in off the right touchline and surged under the posts for a wonderful solo try that proved decisive.

England were on the back foot initially and could have few complaints at falling behind as Argentina debutant Emiliano Boffelli touched down a precise grubber kick from Nicolas Sanchez, who duly converted.

Two penalties from the hugely impressive George Ford and a Marland Yarde try in the right corner edged England ahead, only for Argentina to regain the upper hand prior to the break through Tomas Lavanini’s close-range try and a Sanchez penalty.

A frenetic second half began with Ford splitting the posts for a three-pointer before a delightful inside step and kick from Henry Slade left Jonny May with the easiest of finishes.

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Solomona was introduced with England six points to the good, but an early slip from the Sale Sharks wing helped create a gap for Martin Landajo, who surged clear and put the supporting Jeronimo de la Fuente under the posts.

Sanchez’s conversion put Argentina in front once more and he was able to convert again after a stunning length-of-the-field move was rounded off by Joaquin Tuculet, with Solomona again guilty of a missed tackle.

England would not lie down, though, and Ford followed his sixth successful kick at goal with a match-levelling score, the fly-half collecting a loose ball and exchanging passes with replacement Piers Francis on his way to the try-line.

Ford could not convert from the touchline and England looked to be beaten when Juan Martin Hernandez pinged over a late drop goal.

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However, Argentina’s decision to take three points rather than push for a try, with referee Nigel Owens playing advantage, proved misguided as England clinically made the most of a last chance to attack through Solomona.

 

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fl 1 hour ago
‘Props are awesome…so why don’t they win prizes?’

“The reason most props don’t last the whole game is that they expend proportionally more effort than players outside the front row. Should they be penalised for that?”

No, they don’t last the whole game because they are less fit than players outside the front row. I’d be interested to know if you’d apply this logic to other positions; do PSDT and Itoje regularly last longer than other players in their positions because they put in less effort?

None of this is about “penalising” props, its about being realistic about their impact on a game.


“While scrums are a small part of the game in terms of time spent in them, they have disproportionate impact. Dominant scrums win games; feeble ones lose them.”

Strength at the breakdown wins games. Good kicking wins games. Good handling wins games. Strong defence wins games. Good lineouts win games. Ultimately, I think that of all these things, the scrum is probably the least important, because it demonstrably doesn’t correlate very well with winning games. I don’t think Rugbypass will allow me to link articles, but if you google “HG Rugby Crowning the Best Scrum in Club Rugby” you’ll get a pretty convincing analysis that ranks Toulouse and Bordeaux outside of the 10 best club sides in the scrum - and ranks Leinster outside of the top 30.


“Or there’s Joe Marler’s epic performance in the Bristol v Quins 2021 Premiership Semi-Final, in which he finally left the pitch 15 minutes into extra time having signed off with a try saving tackle.”

Yeah - that’s a good example actually, but it kind of disproves your point. Marler played 95 minutes, which is unheard of for a prop.


“Maybe we need a dedicated Hall of Fame with entry only for props, and voted for only by props.”

Well we have the World Rugby XV of the year. Its only been going for a few years, but in time it’ll be a pretty good record of who are perceived as best props - although the lack of interest most people have in scrums means that perception of who the best props are doesn’t always match reality (e.g. Tadgh Furlong was great in 2018 - but was he really the best tighthead in the world in 2021, 2022, & 2023?).

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