Eddie Jones called England’s first defeat by Argentina at Twickenham in 16 years “not good enough” with his players set to hold “uncomfortable conversations” this week.
The Argentina wing Emiliano Boffelli registered 25 points in his side’s 30-29 triumph, including a dazzling second-half try, as the Pumas handed Michael Cheika a first win over Jones in eight attempts and condemned England to a fifth defeat of the year.
Jones’s side have a quick turnaround before Saturday’s match against Japan – who gave New Zealand an almighty scare in their most recent outing – with the All Blacks and South Africa also due at Twickenham this month. Jones sought to blame “silly” individual mistakes rather than deeper structural issues but their inability to hang on to the lead is a concern for the head coach.
So too is how England have lost their opening match of the Six Nations, the tour of Australia and their autumn internationals campaign this year. Boffelli capitalised on the home side’s indiscipline, landing six penalties including the decisive kick 10 minutes from time.
“We need to address [those] areas and why they were happening and have those slightly uncomfortable conversations with each other and just own it,” said England’s loosehead prop and vice-captain Ellis Genge. “Let’s not shy away from it. We will try to ignore all the noise from the outside and focus on us, Japan is not an easy fixture either. They were within seven points of New Zealand and you saw how good New Zealand were [against Wales].”
England led 16-12 at half-time before quickfire tries from Boffelli and Santiago Carreras, who seized on Owen Farrell’s loose pass before streaking clear. The incident was checked by the referee Andrew Brace for a potential knock-on by Argentina’s Thomas Gallo in the tackle and though Jones stopped short of criticising the official, he evidently disagreed with the decision.
“When you throw a pass and it goes that far behind, the best players in the world generally don’t do that so probably something else has happened,” said Jones. “It was a frustrating game. It’s not good enough – we realise it’s not good enough.
“I thought at times we played really well and then we made some elementary mistakes, some individual mistakes, and we kept on inviting them back into the game. It’s a great opportunity for us now because we’re under the pump a bit, which is good, and I think we’ll respond really well and I’m looking forward to it.”
Manu Tuilagi made his first England appearance in 12 months but gingerly made way in the second half and Jones revealed afterwards he was hampered by a blister. He is set to be assessed before a decision is made on his availability to face Japan. “He had a blister so that affected his gait a little bit,” added Jones. “He’s a bit sore from the blister. We’re not overly concerned at this stage but we may be tomorrow.”
