
Depleted England Clinical Against the Pumas in La Plata
Argentina beat the Lions 28–24 in Dublin two weeks ago for the first time and left most of the team intact for its first test at home this year. But Argentina's failure to score any points in a first half it dominated came back to bite it as England opened the new half by suddenly running the ball and scoring three tries in seven minutes.
The Pumas came back with two tries to forwards Pablo Matera–his 110th appearance tying Agustin Creevy's national caps record–and Pedro Rubiolo. But that's all England allowed in an impressive show of depth and ruthless efficiency. It even finished with a flourish. Replacement wing Cadan Murley scored the fourth try and co-captain George Ford, who became the eighth man to play 100 England tests, capped off a surprisingly emphatic win with 15 points and a try assist.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Asharq Al-Awsat
3 hours ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Grumpy Maresca Still Hopeful Chelsea Can Win Club World Cup He Thinks Needs Fixing
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca remains one of the Club World Cup's harshest critics, despite his team reaching the semi-finals, and continued a stream of complaints about everything from the weather to the scheduling ahead of Tuesday's clash with Fluminense. The Italian has repeatedly complained about the heat, the calendar and the toll on his players' fitness at the tournament, while also criticizing FIFA for the weather delay that interrupted his team's round-of-16 clash against Benfica for nearly two hours. On Monday, ahead of the semi-final against Fluminense, the Chelsea boss refused to accept that his Premier League side were favorites, instead arguing that the tournament calendar unfairly benefited South American teams. Maresca said the South American sides had arrived with fresh legs in midseason while the Europeans were exhausted at the end of a long campaign. "It is not that we don't see this tournament as important, it's that teams have arrived in two completely different situations and realities. How many games have the Brazilian team played in their current season? We have played 63 games," Maresca told a press conference. Maresca said Chelsea took the competition seriously, but structural improvements were needed. "I see the Club World Cup as a top competition and we are very happy to be here, we want to win it, but at the same time that are several things I think could be improved probably due to the fact that it is the first time they are organizing it," he said. Maresca also said that "many other things have been done well" but did not specify what those positive things were. The manager praised Brazilian football quality ahead of facing his third Brazilian opponents, after Chelsea lost 3-1 to Flamengo in the group stage and beat Palmeiras 2-1 in the quarter-finals. "The quality from Brazilian players is probably the top, is the best quality," he said, while again highlighting the conditioning gap between fresh South American sides and exhausted Europeans. "There are two things that for me are very clear in the two games that we face (against) Brazilian teams. One is the quality but at the same time it is very clear the energy that they have, for different reasons, and we don't. Top quality and also defensively, they were very good. So it will be a tough game." Despite his litany of grievances with the tournament format and conditions, Maresca's Chelsea remain in contention for the title as they prepare to face the Brazilian underdogs who have defied all expectations to reach the semi-finals.


Asharq Al-Awsat
3 hours ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Swiatek Ends Tauson's Run to Fly Into Wimbledon Quarter-Finals
A deluge of double faults dictated early terms before Iga Swiatek found her grasscourt wings to fly into the Wimbledon quarter-finals with a soaring 6-4 6-1 victory over an out-of-sorts Danish 23rd seed Clara Tauson on Monday. The cold and blustery wind swirling around Court One was clearly not to Swiatek's liking as she opened her account with two double faults en route to dropping her serve to love. While the former world number one immediately got the break back, her serve kept misfiring as she produced two successive double faults to drop her serve again in the third game. But from 3-1 down in the first set, the Polish eighth seed barely put a foot wrong in a match that was over in 65 brutal minutes. "The beginning was pretty shaky with the double faults, but I managed to play solid. I'm not sure if Clara was feeling that well, she said she was sick during the night and I hope she has a good recovery," Swiatek told the crowd. "It's never easy to keep your focus. Sometimes when you're not feeling well you let go of everything and it can give you a boost. I hope she's going to be fine. "It's pretty amazing, this is the first time I've ever enjoyed London. Sorry guys... I mean I've always enjoyed it. I feel good on the court when I feel good off the court." Swiatek had been prepared to face a barrage of one-shot winners from Tauson, who came into the match having served the most aces in this year's women's tournament. Her tally of 27 aces meant she was averaging an impressive nine per match during her run to the fourth round, which included a win over 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina two days ago. Expectations were certainly high that she could become the first Danish woman to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals in the professional era -- so much so that Denmark's King Frederik abandoned his plush Royal Box seat on Centre Court to watch Tauson in action on Court One. However, instead of adding to her ace count, Tauson surrendered the first set with a double fault and from then on her game fell apart as Swiatek won eight of the last nine games to reach the quarter-finals for the second time in three years. "If you want to beat Iga, you have to be 110%. Today I was probably around 30 and not feeling so great," explained Tauson, who had never won a match in three previous appearances at Wimbledon. "She was a bit nervous in the beginning I think. But as soon as she wasn't nervous anymore, I couldn't follow my legs, and my head was not there. She's probably impossible to beat. "It's not funny to have to blame it on your health. I couldn't really breathe... I didn't have any power in my legs or in my arm. It's really hard to serve. I'm really sad that it had to end like this. Today was really tough for me." Swiatek will face Russia's Liudmila Samsonova for a place in the semi-finals.


Arab News
5 hours ago
- Arab News
Jannik Sinner reaches the Wimbledon quarterfinals despite a bad elbow when an injured Dimitrov stops
LONDON: Jannik Sinner advanced to the Wimbledon quarterfinals despite hurting his right elbow in a fall and dropping the first two sets Monday night, because his opponent, Grigor Dimitrov, had to quit with an injured pectoral muscle. For the latest updates, follow us @ArabNewsSport