England made a disastrous start to the autumn after Emiliano Boffelli inspired Argentina to only their second ever victory at Twickenham with a 30-29 win. Two tries in quick succession by Boffelli and Santiago Carreras catapulted the Pumas into a 24-16 lead with 30 minutes to go as they looked to end a 10-Test losing run in the fixture.
But 29 seconds after coming on as a replacement for Ben Youngs, scrum-half Jack van Poortvliet raced clear from a ruck to slide over the line and, with Owen Farrell kicking a penalty, England appeared to have emerged from the crisis. Boffelli had other ideas, however, as he kept hitting the target in an individual 25-point haul that gives Argentina a pyscological edge ahead of their group clash at next year’s World Cup.
It was an encouraging afternoon for giant wing Joe Cokanasiga, who was a far greater threat than in the July series opener against Australia after which he was dropped, but otherwise it was a dismal display from the hosts as the Pumas emulated their breakthrough in 2006 by storming Twickenham.
