England beat Argentina comfortably with a 31-12 win at Twickenham on Saturday, a week out from the much anticipated clash with New Zealand. Fans weren’t too happy with the second half showing however, after three tries were scored in the first.
Joe Launchbury, Billy Twelvetrees and Chris Ashton scored in the first half as England turned pressure into points, and Twelvetrees redeemed himself after a poor showing last week.
England led 24-6 at halftime but failed to pile on the points in the second. Ben Morgan gave the fans something to cheer about with a late try though, as Argentina slumped to their seventh loss this year, following a disappointing Rugby Championship.
New Zealand will offer a different challenge altogether, and England coach Stuart Lancaster is fully aware of the task ahead of them, realising that they need to lift their game if they are to compete.
“We know we have got to step up. To beat New Zealand you’ve got to hit that for 80 minutes,” he said. “While I’ll be working to improve, I’m not too disappointed with this performance. We know that in any day, in any game, there are momentum changes and momentum swings.
“We’ve got a lot to build on and there are a lot of positives. We’ve now won eight of our last nine games and we are moving in the right direction with a young team,” he added.
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