England score second Test win over Argentina with dramatic last-minute try from Jack van Poortvliet
Updated 12/07/2025 at 23:43 GMT+1
England won their second summer Test against Argentina after a last-minute try from scrum-half Jack van Poortvliet clinched a plucky win for Steve Borthwick's side. England had to weather a sin-bin period in the first half and struggled to break through a tough Argentine defence across 80 minutes, but held firm and found a way to win in the end. George Ford won his 101st cap for his country
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Video credit: TNT Sports
England clinched a dramatic late win in their second Test against Argentina after Jack van Poortvliet scored in the 79th minute in San Juan.
It concluded a 2-0 series win for Steve Borthwick's side after a 35-12 win over the Pumas in La Plata.
The match was heading towards a draw at the Estadio Bicentenario with the sides stuck at 17-17 for 25 minutes, but it was a sublime piece of skill from Guy Pepper that gave Van Poortvliet the chance to score.
Pepper charged through a gap in an Argentina defence that had stood firm all evening and passed the ball brilliantly inside to the Leicester scrum-half, who raced into the corner for the win.
George Ford, on his 101st appearance for England, fittingly booted the ball out to bring the match to a close, and the stand-in captain praised his team-mates after the win.
"I like our fight, our togetherness, the way we're playing for each other," the captain said. "Showing how much we care. Some great stuff attack-wise, we probably should have scored a few more tries tonight, but overall just the attitude of the group. How they go out there together to get the result."
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England opened the scoring early with a stunning move started by Ford, whose crossfield kick was plucked out of the air by Sale colleague Tom Roebuck. The imposing winger offloaded inside to Luke Northmore, who in turn passed to Seb Atkinson to score.
The first Test saw England have to deal with two yellow cards and did so brilliantly, and the first half in the second game forced them to deal with another yellow as Ben Curry was sent to the sin-bin for a hit on Pablo Matera.
"We found a way in the end, didn't we?" Ford said. "We had a lot of pressure [in the] second half. We seemed to have quite a few opportunities in the 22, but we just couldn't execute, but we found a way in the end.
"I'm proud of the effort, I'm proud of the boys. To go back-to-back in two weeks against a brilliant team like Argentina is a great effort."
England fought hard in the sin-bin period, but Argentina scored to take the lead after a loose ball created the slightest of gaps in England's backline for scrum-half Simon Benitez Cruz to speed through and find Lucio Cinti on his outside.
Borthwick's side hit back through Freddie Steward scoring in the corner, only for the Pumas to throw a sucker-punch on the stroke of half-time when Santiago Carreras' chip fooled Steward and hit the post, allowing Ignacio Mendy to steal it back and score.
A penalty just over 10 minutes into the second half tied the score up at 17-17, and Argentina's incredible defence stood strong for almost the remainder of the second half until Van Poortvliet's late-game dagger.
Argentina captain Julian Montoya, devastated to have lost two in a row to England, admitted his side were "not good enough."
"We were not good enough," the hooker said. "We need to be honest with ourselves. Thank you to our supporters. Congrats to our debutants and Pablo Matera; I am sorry we could not give them the win.
"We gave away too many penalties and they were clinical. We were better than last week but not good enough."
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