Argentina 24-31 England
England revisited the recurring nightmare of their woeful discipline as they set a national record of four yellow cards in one match, and left current players and former stars agreeing it is a running sore that Steve Borthwick’s side must put a stop to if they are ever going to win a trophy.
Yet with Argentina also losing their heads at key moments in the first ever top-tier Test to feature seven sin-bin offences, England somehow emerged as relieved and in some respects delighted victors in the hostile atmosphere of Santiago del Estero.
Goodness knows what any viewers new to rugby and taking in the live Saturday-night coverage on ITV’s main channel made of a game that took more than two and a quarter hours to reach a rowdy, acrimonious conclusion.
There had been lots of predictable crossover references to the week’s World Cup semi-final win for Argentina over England, and then the rugby Pumas upped the ante with a pathetic troll of kitting themselves out in the same blue jerseys and black shorts worn by their soccer counterparts in the 1986 “Hand of God” win over England in Mexico.
But this renewal of the rivalry with the oval ball was wackier than anything Michael McIntyre or Ant and Dec could have dreamt up in the more traditional primetime spots.
England got lucky in the end
It was settled ultimately on a knife-edged TMO decision that went England’s way in added time, with referee Angus Gardner’s initial call of a try to Argentina overturned after a long sequence of video replays, and sparing Borthwick’s men from conceding a needless draw.
Argentina were convinced their wing Bautista Delguy was tackled high by Noah Caluori as he narrowly failed to score at the corner, and they had a strong case, but TMO Brett Cronan and Gardner between them eventually decided otherwise.
Wow, what an end to the game! Argentina thought they'd scored in the corner, but after a lengthy exchange and disagreement between ref Angus Gardener and the TMO, the ball is ruled out, and England hang on for the win. FT: 24-31 pic.twitter.com/Y5QL0u4tlK
— ITV Rugby (@ITVRugby) July 18, 2026England had forwards Henry Pollock and Manny Iyogun in the bin at the time, with scrum-half Jack van Poortvliet and second row Alex Coles having preceded them in a visit to the touchline in the 51st and 56th minutes respectively.
The transgressions were deliberate knock-ons by Van Poortvliet and Coles, and offsides by Pollock and Iyogun, the latter on debut, but the unifying theme was identified by Danny Care, the former England scrum-half summarising for TV.
“It’s not people making rash decisions; it’s pressure,” said Care. “England won’t win these big games if they keep doing that. It’s something Steve [Borthwick] has got to sort out.”
Yellows are costing England’s best and brightest
There have now been 14 yellow cards in England’s eight Tests in 2026 – two of them adding up to a red for Henry Arundell in Scotland during the miserable Six Nations campaign of four losses and one win in February and March.
Pollock has been shown three yellows, and while his attacking with the ball in hand is a thrilling boon for England, he needs to understand where and why he is going wrong, even if sometimes it has only been part of the team accumulating penalties in quick succession.
15 yellow cards and one red in the last 8 matches for England! Kyle Sinckler and Danny Care on the discipline issue England face…#NationsChampionship pic.twitter.com/oErWcVWBgJ
— ITV Rugby (@ITVRugby) July 18, 2026On this occasion in the third pool round of the inaugural Nations Championship it meant England came close to blowing a lead of 19-3 they held after an impressive first half of scoring three tries to none.
There is no single aspect letting England down – just a desperate tendency to stick a hand where it shouldn’t be, or mistime an aerial challenge, or push a line that is bound to be punished by the officials.
When they reconvene in November for the concluding pool fixtures – England having opened with a predictable loss in South Africa a fortnight ago before beating Fiji in Liverpool and now Argentina away – they must cure this yellow fever or face further ignominy and undermined confidence.
At least Feyi-Waboso is back
A much brighter note in this win was the scintillating form of Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, whose try and four line breaks were a big plus for England.
The Exeter Chiefs wing didn’t play a minute in this year’s Six Nations, or the one in 2025, due to various injuries, having made a spectacular Test breakthrough in the 2024 edition.
Feyi Waboso surely wins it for England! Lovely solo run from the winger, and England, with ten minutes to go, are in prime position to see this out #NationsChampionship pic.twitter.com/kwm8Eq3WJs
— ITV Rugby (@ITVRugby) July 18, 2026His 12 carries for 116 metres against the Pumas were topped off by a searing run past four defenders to put England 31-17 up after 67 minutes, drawing audible gasps from a home crowd whose own side were bereft of two men in the bin at that point.
Afterwards Feyi-Waboso did not attempt to gloss over the glaring blight on the red rose, saying on TV: “Discipline wasn’t great from us but we managed to see out the victory in the end. Discipline is a huge thing. We can’t be finishing games, or having games, where we are down to 13 men. It makes it hard to win.”
The more Borthwick has the likes of Feyi-Waboso consistently available, the more comfortable England’s task will be, and that should help ease the card count.
They have also missed the injured first-choice props Fin Baxter and Will Stuart, and of course all those who choose to play for French clubs – but that still does not excuse the regularity of the lapses.
For now, these Fiji and Argentina wins have killed any conjecture over Borthwick’s job.But the greatest threat to his plans is still coming from within.
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