Ill-disciplined England survive tense finish to edge out Argentina

England spared the nation more heartbreak at the hands of Argentina after surviving a nerve-jangling period of overtime to triumph 31-24, with Immanuel Feyi-Waboso’s stunning finish proving decisive.

Three days after their football counterparts crashed out of the World Cup with a 2-1 semi-final collapse against Argentina, Steve Borthwick’s men came through their customary disciplinary implosion in a stormy encounter in Santiago del Estero.

Yellow cards shown to Jack van Poortvliet, Alex Coles, Henry Pollock and Emmanuel Iyogun meant they were forced to play a total of nine minutes with 13 men, yet they hustled their way to a second successive victory.

England have now been shown 14 yellow cards and one red in their eight matches in 2026.

It was Feyi-Waboso’s dynamic solo try in the 69th minute that spelt the end for Argentina, and the Exeter wing was the most dangerous player on the field as his willingness to hunt for the ball was rewarded.

But England were subjected to an agonising wait three minutes into time added on as the officials checked a possible try in the right corner by Bautista Delguy, only for video referee Brett Cronan to rule out the score despite a potential high tackle by Noah Caluori in the build-up, with Henry Slade’s tackle stopping the try.

Argentina seemed more interested in engaging off the ball than playing rugby, but they came to their senses in time for the second half and even threatened the latest of upsets.

‘La Cuarta Estrella’ – the nationalist anthem played during the football team’s run to the World Cup final – whipped up the home fans before kick-off and inside four minutes a fight had erupted as the two sides locked horns in the right corner.

Unfortunately for the Pumas, it broke out