Steve Borthwick challenges England to match Argentina counter-attack
Borthwick and his team have flown out to South America for a two-Test series against the world's fifth-ranked side before travelling onto Washington DC to take on the USA.
And any danger that they might take the task lightly was quickly extinguished on Friday night when Argentina ran in three tries in an historic 28-24 win over The British & Irish Lions in Dublin in their opening fixture.
Even without some key players based in France, including future Harlequins second row Guido Petti and Toulouse duo Juan Cruz Mallia and Santiago Chocobares, Argentina were lethal off turnover ball.
Former Exeter Chiefs winger Santiago Cordero scored the winning try from a move that started in his own half, while Gloucester's Santiago Carreras was heavily involved in another long-range try finished by Tomas Albornoz.
That ability to strike from nowhere did not go unnoticed by Borthwick, whose England side warmed up for their tour with a narrow home defeat to a France XV at Allianz Stadium.
He said: Argentina are an enthusiastic, committed team who score fast in transition. They changed their strategy in a couple of areas against the Lions and ultimately, they got some opportunities and took them really well and took them quickly.
'It's a great challenge; it's one we are looking forward to and this group of players are really enthused by the chance to go to Argentina and go up against a really good team.'
A new wave 🌊
Steve Borthwick has named ten uncapped players in his summer tour squad 👇 — England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) June 24, 2025
In the non-capped match against France, England bounced back from an early 12-0 deficit to get back in front 24-12, even after winger Immanuel Feyi-Waboso was shown a 20-minute red card for a high tackle.
That looked as though it would be enough to claim the win, but France came back strongly in the last 10 minutes with two tries to snatch the win.
Despite that, Borthwick was pleased at the way his team – featuring five uncapped players in the matchday squad – were able to seize control of the encounter.
He said: 'The response after a couple of scores against us, the response then and to get back control of the game. Tactically then, for about 55-60 minutes, I thought the team were very good and we looked very dangerous. If you look at the 22 entries and the number of penalties the opposition conceded close to their line, that told us there was a lot of good in our game. That was the pleasing aspect to it.
'While we are disappointed by the scoreboard at the end and the last 10 minutes, I think that's going to be positive in the development of this young group.'
Purchase your tickets to the Autumn Nations Series at Allianz Stadium https://www.eticketing.co.uk/rfu/
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
North Wales Chronicle
3 hours ago
- North Wales Chronicle
British and Irish Lions face anxious wait over fitness of Tomos Williams
Williams sustained an injury to his left hamstring during the act of scoring the second of his two tries early in the second half at Optus Stadium, ending another impressive performance for the Lions that was propelling him into Test contention. While the extent of the damage is not yet known, it creates pressure on the tourists' half-back stocks with Jamison Gibson-Park yet to make his first appearance on tour due to a glute problem. Now that is a STUNNER 🔥 The Lions break through James Lowe and go the length of the pitch, as Tomos Williams flies over in the corner. Conversion: missed. #Lions2025 — British & Irish Lions (@lionsofficial) June 28, 2025 Gibson-Park is expected to make his comeback against the Reds in Brisbane on Wednesday but with Williams struggling and Alex Mitchell facing the prospect of playing in a third consecutive game, head coach Andy Farrell may be forced to call up a reinforcement. 'Tomos has come off holding his hamstring. There was plenty of cramp last week, let's hope it is one of those,' Farrell said. 'Jamison is fit and ready to go and has been training fully for the best part of a week so we're happy with that but you don't know until you know and we will only know in the morning. 'You have to let these things settle down and see what the outcome is and give it a little bit of space. 'Tomos was playing well and I'm sure there is a bit of concern there, but you can only deal with the here and now so fingers crossed.' Ben White is currently on tour in New Zealand with Scotland and would be an obvious solution should Williams be ruled out for any length of time. When asked about White, Farrell said: 'We need to talk about that and make the right call for the group.' Joe McCarthy was named man of the match but the eight-try demolition in the first outing on Australian soil also saw eye-catching displays from Mack Hansen, James Lowe, Elliot Daly, Finn Russell and Henry Pollock. All sides of Pollock were on show as the Lions' youngest tourist at 20-years-old used his athleticism and awareness to set up Williams' first try and almost scored one himself, while also providing the spark for a confrontation between the sides and being sent to the sin-bin for a ruck infringement. 'Henry got a yellow card because of repeated infringements – which was fair enough – but you also saw his point of difference, that's for sure,' Farrell said. Pollock received strong praise from Dan Sheehan, the Ireland hooker who was captaining the Lions on his debut for the tourists, but there was also a reminder that the team comes first. 'Henry was brilliant. He does his own thing and plays his own way, which is different to a lot of the forwards,' Sheehan said. 'I enjoy that kind of rugby – off the cuff, see what's in front of you and make it happen. With his skillset and speed he can certainly make it happen. 'It's just about trying to make sure he's doing the right thing for the team all the time.'
Leader Live
4 hours ago
- Leader Live
British and Irish Lions face anxious wait over fitness of Tomos Williams
Williams sustained an injury to his left hamstring during the act of scoring the second of his two tries early in the second half at Optus Stadium, ending another impressive performance for the Lions that was propelling him into Test contention. While the extent of the damage is not yet known, it creates pressure on the tourists' half-back stocks with Jamison Gibson-Park yet to make his first appearance on tour due to a glute problem. Now that is a STUNNER 🔥 The Lions break through James Lowe and go the length of the pitch, as Tomos Williams flies over in the corner. Conversion: missed. #Lions2025 — British & Irish Lions (@lionsofficial) June 28, 2025 Gibson-Park is expected to make his comeback against the Reds in Brisbane on Wednesday but with Williams struggling and Alex Mitchell facing the prospect of playing in a third consecutive game, head coach Andy Farrell may be forced to call up a reinforcement. 'Tomos has come off holding his hamstring. There was plenty of cramp last week, let's hope it is one of those,' Farrell said. 'Jamison is fit and ready to go and has been training fully for the best part of a week so we're happy with that but you don't know until you know and we will only know in the morning. 'You have to let these things settle down and see what the outcome is and give it a little bit of space. 'Tomos was playing well and I'm sure there is a bit of concern there, but you can only deal with the here and now so fingers crossed.' Ben White is currently on tour in New Zealand with Scotland and would be an obvious solution should Williams be ruled out for any length of time. When asked about White, Farrell said: 'We need to talk about that and make the right call for the group.' Joe McCarthy was named man of the match but the eight-try demolition in the first outing on Australian soil also saw eye-catching displays from Mack Hansen, James Lowe, Elliot Daly, Finn Russell and Henry Pollock. All sides of Pollock were on show as the Lions' youngest tourist at 20-years-old used his athleticism and awareness to set up Williams' first try and almost scored one himself, while also providing the spark for a confrontation between the sides and being sent to the sin-bin for a ruck infringement. 'Henry got a yellow card because of repeated infringements – which was fair enough – but you also saw his point of difference, that's for sure,' Farrell said. Pollock received strong praise from Dan Sheehan, the Ireland hooker who was captaining the Lions on his debut for the tourists, but there was also a reminder that the team comes first. 'Henry was brilliant. He does his own thing and plays his own way, which is different to a lot of the forwards,' Sheehan said. 'I enjoy that kind of rugby – off the cuff, see what's in front of you and make it happen. With his skillset and speed he can certainly make it happen. 'It's just about trying to make sure he's doing the right thing for the team all the time.'
Scotsman
6 hours ago
- Scotsman
Ben White comes into Lions conversation as Tomos Williams limps off against Western Force
Welsh scrum-half picks up hamstring injury in big win in Perth Sign up to our Rugby Union newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... The British and Irish Lions face an anxious wait over the fitness of Tomos Williams after the Wales scrum-half limped off in their 54-7 rout of Western Force. Ben White is currently on tour in New Zealand with Scotland and would be an obvious solution should Williams be ruled out for any length of time. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The Welshman sustained an injury to his left hamstring during the act of scoring the second of his two tries early in the second half at Optus Stadium, ending another impressive performance for the Lions that was propelling him into Test contention. Tomos Williams of the British and Irish Lions clutches his left hamstring during the tour match against Western Force in Perth, Australia. | Getty Images While the extent of the damage is not yet known, it creates pressure on the tourists' half-back stocks with Jamison Gibson-Park yet to make his first appearance on tour due to a glute problem. Gibson-Park is expected to make his comeback against the Reds in Brisbane on Wednesday but with Williams struggling and Alex Mitchell facing the prospect of playing in a third consecutive game, head coach Andy Farrell may be forced to call up a reinforcement. 'Tomos has come off holding his hamstring. There was plenty of cramp last week, let's hope it is one of those,' Farrell said. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'Jamison is fit and ready to go and has been training fully for the best part of a week so we're happy with that but you don't know until you know and we will only know in the morning. 'We need to talk about that' 'You have to let these things settle down and see what the outcome is and give it a little bit of space. 'Tomos was playing well and I'm sure there is a bit of concern there, but you can only deal with the here and now so fingers crossed.' When asked about White, Farrell said: 'We need to talk about that and make the right call for the group.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad White, 27, has been capped 29 times by Scotland and was widely considered to be unlucky not to be included in Farrell's original Lions squad. The Toulon scrum-half is instead in New Zealand where Gregor Townsend's side are due to play the Maori All Blacks in Whangarei next Saturday, the first game of a three-match tour that will also seem the face Fiji and Samoa. Ben White is with the Scotland squad in New Zealand. | SNS Group / SRU Joe McCarthy was named man of the match in the Lions' eight-try demolition of Force and their first outing on Australian soil also saw eye-catching displays from Mack Hansen, James Lowe, Elliot Daly, Finn Russell and Henry Pollock. All sides of Pollock were on show as the Lions' youngest tourist at 20-years-old used his athleticism and awareness to set up Williams' first try and almost scored one himself, while also providing the spark for a confrontation between the sides and being sent to the sin-bin for a ruck infringement. Praise for Pollock 'Henry got a yellow card because of repeated infringements – which was fair enough – but you also saw his point of difference, that's for sure,' Farrell said. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Pollock received strong praise from Dan Sheehan, the Ireland hooker who was captaining the Lions on his debut for the tourists, but there was also a reminder that the team comes first. Henry Pollock of the British & Irish Lions charges upfield during the tour match against the Western Force. | Getty Images 'Henry was brilliant. He does his own thing and plays his own way, which is different to a lot of the forwards,' Sheehan said. 'I enjoy that kind of rugby – off the cuff, see what's in front of you and make it happen. With his skillset and speed he can certainly make it happen.
