England survive Argentine comeback for 27-23 win
LONDON :Max Ojomoh had a day to remember on Sunday when he scored a try and expertly set up two others as England survived a thrilling Argentina comeback in a 27-23 victory for their 11th successive win and a clean sweep of all four Autumn Series matches.
The match was followed by controversy as Argentina coach Felipe Contepomi slammed England flanker Tom Curry for a "reckless tackle" and accused him of shoving him in the tunnel.
That will not concern Bath centre Ojomoh, a late call-up for his second cap on Friday, who got the first try and set up the second for Immanuel Feyi-Waboso as England led 17-3 at halftime.
Argentina, who came back from 21-0 down to beat Scotland 33-24 last week, fought back again to get within a point, only for Ojomoh to send Henry Slade over.
Rodrigo Isgro scored for the Pumas in the 79th minute to set up a grandstand finish, only for England to mess up a Puma lineout on their own five-metre line and escape.
The game lacked the electric charge of last week's victory over the All Blacks with relentless kicking and few cohesive attacks, but it certainly provided late drama.
"It was a tough arm wrestle against an Argentina team who effectively were 'get to halfway line, kick it as far as they could, or kick it contestable'," coach Steve Borthwick said.
"We know they are very dangerous, but the players found a way."
England drew first blood with a George Ford drop goal and soon moved 10-0 ahead when Argentina failed to deal with a high Ben Spencer kick and Ojomoh grabbed the loose ball and gleefully galloped over.
Ojomoh, son of former England flanker Steve, then turned provider with a perfect cross-field kick into the arms of Feyi-Waboso.
ARGENTINA GIVE ENGLAND SCARE
England struggled to build any rhythm after that, though were denied a third try when Luke Cowan-Dickie was ruled to have lost possession with the last play of the first half.
Argentina had shown precious little in attack, persisting with an aerial assault that England largely dealt with without too much trouble and the Pumas’ only first-half points came from a long Tomas Albornoz penalty.
Some poor England defence opened the way for Justo Piccardo to score Argentina's first try four minutes into the second half. Another Albornoz penalty cut the gap to four points after 50 minutes and they closed to within one with a Santi Carreras penalty.
England finally entered the Argentina 22 for the first time in the half in the 63rd minute and claimed a superb third try when Ojomoh somehow got a pass away off the floor for his midfield partner Slade to score.
Joaquin Oviedo had a try ruled out by the TMO with two minutes to go but Argentina came again as Isgro cut through in the 79th minute, with just enough time for the restart.
They kept probing and eventually forced a lineout on the England five-metre line, only for Charlie Ewels to disrupt it. Ben Earl gathered the loose ball and it was hoofed off the pitch to a roar of relief.
It was a frustrating end of a generally successful year for Argentina boss Contepomi. Defeat was further soured by Curry's tackle on Juan Cruz Mallia that Contepomi called reckless and said left the fullback with a suspected ACL injury
"I would call it reckless. We ended up with 14, they ended up with 15, and it wasn’t even checked out," he said.
Contepomi also accused Curry of giving him a "little smack" in the tunnel. "It is probably part of his nature to bully people," he said. "How old is he, 27, strong and I am 48 and he comes and just hit me."
England's Borthwick said he did not see the tunnel incident but dismissed the bully accusation. "I think that anybody in this room who has had any contact with Tom Curry knows the character of the man," he said. "His character is impeccable."
