England's brilliant winning run under Eddie Jones has continued, despite playing nearly the whole match against Argentina at Twickenham on Saturday (November 26th) with 14 men.
Just six minutes into the match, Elliot Daly was shown a red card for tackling a player in the air and England were up against it. The 2015 Rugby World Cup semi-finalists must have thought they had a chance to inflict a first defeat on the home side in 13 games.
Instead, England defended doggedly, took their chances when they arose and made the most of Argentine indiscipline as Owen Farrell kicked a succession of penalties.
His bootl put the home side nine points ahead before a penalty try extended the advantage. Facundo Isa crossed the line to cut the lead to 16-7 at the break, and Santiago Cordero scored another try early in the second half. With both tries being converted, the lead was down to two points.
However, Farrell kicked two more penalties and Jonny May marked his return to the side with a try to seal the win, with the Pumas losing Enrique Pieretto to a red card while Joe Marler was sin-binned.
The 27-14 victory means England have now won 13 matches in a row. Fans booking corporate hospitality for the match against Australia on December 3rd could be witness to history, as a further victory would equal England's best ever winning run of 14 in 2002-03.
England will have to beat the Wallabies without Billy Vunipola, who faces eight weeks out with a cartilage injury. However, Jones said the team should cope.
He remarked: "We've had five or six front line players missing throughout the series so I’ve no doubt we’ll adapt and work that little bit harder this week. I’m sure the players will respond to this by going up a level and peak for this game."
Australia will be going into the game on the back of a loss as Ireland claimed another southern hemisphere scalp on Saturday as they defeated the Wallabies 27-24.
It means the Irish have now beaten Australia, South Africa and New Zealand this autumn, suggesting they will be England's main rivals in the Six Nations.