England battle past Argentina to win 21-8

England 21-8 Argentina, Twickenham Stadium
Scorecard

England got their autumn international campaign off to a winning note following a hard-fought 21-8 victory over Argentina at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.

Nathan Hughes and Semesa Rokoduguni scored tries on either half while George Ford contributed with 11 points to help Eddie Jones' side register their third consecutive win over the Pumas this year.

Ford, who was off the target in two of his five first-half attempts, started the proceedings with a sixth minute penalty but winger Emiliano Boffelli responded with a penalty of his own as the scores were levelled 3-3 at the end of the first 10 minutes.

The Leicester Tigers fly-half soon slotted his second penalty to bring England into the lead and soon the visitors suffered a setback when fullback Joaquin Tuculet was sin-binned for making contact with Mike Brown in the air. Brown left the field adding to England's woes but in came Rokoduguni.

Having an extra man, Hughes capitalised on a flat pass from Ford to go past the line in the 22nd minute. Ford missed out on the conversion and Argentina too had their moments but Juan Martin Hernandez missed out on two penalties from the tee. However, Ford made amends with a penalty in the 33rd minute as England went into half time with a 14-3 lead.

Both the teams continued to remain sloppy in the second half and it was finally in the 65th minute Rokoduguni touched down collecting a pass from Henry Slade and Ford's conversion stretched England's lead to 21-3. A desperate effort from replacement Nicholas Sanchez saw the Pumas score their only try in the 77th minute but England went on to complete a 21-8 scratchy victory.