England beat Argentina in thriller after late TMO call

Nations Championship - round three

Argentina (3) 24

Tries: Carreras, penalty try, Piccardo Cons: Albornoz 2 Pen: Albornoz

England (19) 31

Tries: Freeman, Earl 2, M Smith, Feyi-Waboso Cons: F Smith 3

England held on to beat Argentina in a chaotic match in the Nations Championship after the hosts had a last-gasp try controversially ruled out in Santiago del Estero.

With 13-man England leading 31-24, Argentina wing Bautista Delguy scored in the corner with the final play - leaving a difficult conversion to secure a draw.

Referee Angus Gardner had awarded the try on field, but television match official Brett Cronan insisted Delguy was in touch.

While Gardner repeatedly suggested there was no clear evidence to overturn his original on-field call, the try was eventually chalked off.

Henry Slade's covering tackle on Delguy proved to be the decisive moment, with Gardner surrounded by frustrated Argentina players at full-time.

The late officiating decision in the visitors' favour came just three days after England's football team suffered a heart-breaking defeat by Argentina in the World Cup semi-finals.

A combined seven yellow cards were shown in Saturday's action-packed thriller, with England receiving four in the second half and twice being down to 13 players.

Steve Borthwick's side looked set for back-to-back Nations Championship wins after Tommy Freeman's try and two scores from Ben Earl gave them a 16-point half-time lead.

The Pumas, who wore replicas of the football team's 1986 World Cup kit for the match, scored next before taking advantage of two England yellow cards, but their own ill-discipline prevented them punishing the visitors further.

Marcus Smith's try in the corner came with number eight Joaquin Oviedo in the sin-bin, before Santiago Carreras joined his team-mate on the sidelines for 10 minutes.

In November, Scotland's 21-0 lead early in the second half was chased down for a stunning Argentina win.

The belief of a comeback quickly gather momentum as Carreras redeemed his earlier error and Jack van Poortvliet was shown a yellow card for a deliberate knock-on.

Lock Alex Coles joined Van Poortvliet in the sin-bin for an illegal infringement at a ruck that saw a penalty try given as his hand stopped what looked a certain score.

For the second week running, Smith slotted in as an emergency scrum-half, with Pollock being summoned from the bench early in the second-half.

The 21-year-old was booed as he ran on to the pitch after footage emerged of the back row taunting local football fans in Plaza de la Republica, who were gathering for Wednesday's World Cup semi-final.

A yellow card for an illegal clearout by Oviedo reduced Argentina to 14, which was quickly followed by the return of Van Poortvliet.

Following an eruption of energy around the 30,000-capacity Estadio Unico Madre de Ciudades, Pollock's strong carry helped set up Smith's try that silenced the bubbling crowd.

Another piece of cynical play in the build-up to the try saw Carreras sent to the sin-bin.

Two further silly yellow cards will frustrate Borthwick as it continues to become a growing area of concern.

This time it did not prove costly as England, just, held on.

Argentina: S Carreras; Delguy, Moroni, Piccardo, M Carreras; Albornoz, Garcia; Vivas, Montoya (capt), Rapetti, Petti, Alemanno, Grondona, Kremer, Oviedo.

Replacements: Ruiz, Wenger, Delgado, Elias, Matera, Moro, Benitez Cruz, Cinti.

England: M Smith; Freeman, Slade, Atkinson, Feyi-Waboso; F Smith, Van Poortvliet; Genge, George (capt), Heyes, Coles, Martin, Chessum, Pepper, Earl.

Replacements: Cowan-Dickie, Iyogun, Kloska, Curry, Pollock, Spencer, Janse van Rensburg, Caluori.