England 27 Argentina 14: Elliot Daly sees red as Owen Farrell kicks unsteady but unbeaten side to Twickenham win
England hold on against the odds to see off resilient visitors in front of delighted crowd after going a man down early on
EDDIE JONES compared England’s dramatic win to a blockbusting episode of EastEnders. . . before switching over to blast the Aussies.
Elliot Daly played the part of the villain as he was sent off after FIVE minutes for a ridiculous tackle in the air on No 8 Leonardo Senatore.
Dirty Daly became just the fifth Red Rose player to see red — exactly 11 years to the day that ‘Mad Dog’ Lewis Moody was carded for punching against Samoa.
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Props Dan Cole and Joe Marler were also sin-binned by French referee Pascal Gauzere as England twice went down to 13 men.
And five minutes from time Enrique Pieretto saw another red for STAMPING on Marler’s head.
Jones, 56, admitted: “There was plenty of drama — about ten episodes of EastEnders put together in one.
“The best win is yet to come — Australia next week will be the best.
“It was like a basketball match out there with players coming on and off.
“But I think we won the match before half-time. The way we held on with those scrums was superb. It was 15 men against 13 but we coped.”
England face the Aussies at Twickenham on Saturday aiming to make it 13 wins out of 13 in 2016. Three of those wins were the summer whitewash Down Under and the Aussie cannot wait for another crack.
He added: “Our team was brilliant against Argentina. The way we adapted and the way we coped with the problems, our senior players were outstanding.
“You could see in the first ten minutes we thought we could beat them with ball in hand. And then that went out the window.
“Now I can’t wait for Australia. The Australian media were very disrespectful on the summer tour so I’m expecting more of their rubbish.
“We’re looking to take the Australian scrum on.
“I was concerned about their scrummage against France so we will definitely be meeting the referee.
“The Australians are invited to that meeting and we look forward hearing them talk.”
Jones refused to pile into Wasps winger Daly, 24, who was making just his third start.
He said: “It’s just an error of judgment and he’ll get over that. The boys will support him tonight and he’ll be fine.”
England edged ahead with three Owen Farrell penalties.
And a penalty try — and a yellow card for Matias Orlando for a deliberate knock-on after an onslaught of pressure — combined with several penalties stretched the lead.
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But Argentina managed to find the strength for a fightback. There had been no scrums until the 36th minute and then a spate of them erupted with seven in a row, Fecundo Isa finally forcing his way over after prop Cole’s sin-binning for collapsing left England down to 13 men.
Farrell’s fourth penalty steadied the nerves with Cole still off the pitch.
And England finally got the space to open up, setting Jonny May loose to race over ten minutes from time.
Jones wanted an extreme test for his invincibles ahead of next week’s Wallabies clash — and he certainly got just that.
It finished 14v13 as Pieretto was sent off and Marler binned for holding the Pumas forward.
Marler’s Harlequins team-mate Chris Robshaw was superb yet again and — like his boss — will be fired up for the Wallabies after copping a load of flak from them after England’s 2015 World Cup horrorshow.
Flanker Robshaw added: “They are playing pretty well and it is going to be a tough one to finish with.
“I am sure this will be the one they want to win but likewise us. We want to go through the autumn unbeaten.
“I don’t when the last time an England team did that so it is a massive target for us.”
Actually, it was in 2003 . . . the same year that England won the World Cup.