1. Joe Marler: 6.5
Not bad but not great from the Harlequins man. Temper seemed to get the better of him at times amid petulant provocations from the opposing front row.
2.Rob Webber: 7.5
Near perfect lineout throwing but he impressed mostly in the loose where he carried with purpose and tackled superbly. Very impressive in his last two starts.
3. David Wilson: 7
Seemed to thrive opposite an inexperienced front row as showed his scrummaging prowess. Tackled well and proved very reliable in Dan Cole’s absence.
4. Joe Launchbury: 8
The young lock is maturing at a rate of knots and this was a performance beyond his years. Seemed everywhere at points in the first half and impressed as part of a dominant pack.
5. Dave Attwood: 8
Terrific target at the lineout and tackled well. Looked tired towards the end of his shift but the work he put in was crucial to England’s set-piece dominance.
6. Tom Wood: 7
A typically industrious performance from the captain. Alongside Attwood, the service he provided from the lineout set the foundation.
7. Matt Kvesic: 7.5
A lot was expected of him as a genuine openside and he seemed to have a nervy start but grew in confidence throughout the game. Made tackle after tackle (20 in total, a mammoth figure) and showed glimpses of his ability to thrive at the breakdown.
8. Ben Morgan: 9
A massive performance from Morgan who used the dominance of his pack to make several breaks from the back of the scrum. Showed terrific running power and took his try really well. What would have been for England had he been fit in Cardiff?
9. Lee Dickson: 6
A quiet if unspectacular game from the scrum half. Showed plenty of life but didn’t utilise his forwards’ dominance as much as he perhaps should have.
10. Freddie Burns: 7
Question marks may still remain about his game management after England’s tempo dropped after the break but he was impressive enough to provide his back line with quality service. Kicked well from the tee in a hostile atmosphere.
11. David Strettle: 6
A well taken try masked a fairly sloppy performance from Strettle. Finished well to score but showed carelessness in possession throughout. Defended well enough but was hardly challenged from Argentina’s wide men.
12. Billy Twelvetrees: 9
A majestic performance. Ran great lines and was rewarded with an easy try. His line breaks were a joy to behold as he exploited the aged Contepomi and gained huge ground. His defensive work backed up what was an inside centre masterclass.
13. Jonathan Joseph: 7.5
Showed glimpses of his pace and power in what was a good performance. Worked hard to make the most of any chance he had. His support play to Twelvetrees was invaluable in bringing Wade and Strettle into play.
14. Christian Wade: 8.5
Showed his searing pace as he cantered away and offloaded well to Morgan for the first try. Gained good ground for England and he had Argentina’s defence running backwards at times. A certain starter for next week and beyond.
15. Mike Brown: 7
Looked composed and comfortable at his preferred position of full-back. A solid performance with lots of metres made – however, Ben Foden’s cameo will put his place under pressure.
Replacements:
Courteney Lawes looked lively in his brief appearance before being sent to the bin.
Ben Foden was instrumental in the lead up to Billy Vunipola’s late try and will give Stuart Lancaster plenty to think about come next week.
Billy Vunipola grabbed a late try, taking advantage of a tired Argentina but after Morgan’s performance he may just have to wait a little longer for his first England start.
David Paice, Henry Thomas and Paul Doran-Jones picked up from where their colleagues left off when introduced.
Richard Wigglesworth made no real impact when he came on.
Kyle Eastmond showed plenty of spark in place of Jonathan Joseph and his diminutive figure proved elusive at times.
By Rich Elkins (@richelkins)
Just to be clear – I was not suggesting that we should “bin” robshaw. I just think that he is a 6. I do think that England need a ksevic/Wallace/Fraser at 7.
I think a lot of the picks being discussed above depend on your balance between the ultimate goal of WC 2015 and winning in the here and now.
e.g. I think Corbs is the best loosehead but Mako could be better by 2015 if he improves his scrummaging. That’s only going to happen if he’s a starter in the test side.
Its the same with Robshaw and Kevisc. I don’t think Robshaw can be much of a better player then he is but Kevisc by 2015 could be the sort of opensides teams fear, e.g. Pockcock, Mccaw, Brussow etc.
I could go on but you get the drift.
I suppose my main concerns for 2015 would be,
- hooker: does Youngs lack Bulk to give us a really solid set piece
- Tight head: don’t think we have any that dominate, more just hold their own
- Second row: We have plenty of second row / sixes e.g. Lawes, Lauch, Parling but we need real beef to power scrums, mauls and clear rucks. I don’t think we need two all singing all dancing second rows
- Backrow: decide if we are going to play with a real seven or two 6.5′s and stick with it. I prefer a real 7 but if we don’t have the depth and quality its a high risk strategy for an injury prone position
- Flyhalf: Farrel has to play flatter ( it think he can), Burns is 1st choice if he cant
- Centres: Manu and 36 for me, but back-ups need to be developed
- Wings: wade plus one other ( or what is the current state of cloning technology?)
- Full back: Brown is one dimensional, Foden and Tait seem to lack something they had previously, I would plump for Elliot Daly, he has real gas and the x-factor, his 60m penalties might come in handy too. Very raw but could be ready by 2015 (big call though)
Aplogies for long post