England A clinch emphatic win over Argentina XV

England men’s A team produced an authoritative display to overpower their Argentina XV opponents and clinch a 59-24 victory courtesy of nine tries at The Rec.

A brace of tries and several typically athletic moments from winger Noah Caluori caught the eye, while the likes of fly-half Charlie Atkinson, his half-back partner Caolan Englefield, lock Ben Bamber and centre Max Ojomoh also made their mark.

But it was a genuine team performance which secured a win in which individuals were able to shine as part of the collective.

England got off to a dream start as the backline – who had just a handful of training sessions together – combined brilliantly, with Atkinson drawing the defender and allowing Caluori to glide through untouched with just two minutes on the clock.

Argentina hit back with an impressively powerful driving maul ending with Rodrigo Fernandez Criado powering over, with Archie van der Flier sent to the sin bin for illegally bringing down the maul before the try was scored.

The next score went Argentina’s way as well as they made their extra man count, with England conceding a penalty for pre-latching and it was a repeat showing as they kicked to a few metres out, won the lineout and drove their way to the tryline with prop Pedro Delgado burrowing over.

A lovely second England try gave the fans plenty to shout about as Bath favourite Ojomoh timed his arrival perfectly, coming late to take the pass from Englefield on the angle and smash through the attempted tackles to score close to the posts.

With the scores level, it was England who struck next with Ojomoh taking the ball at first receiver and giving a short pass to Luke Northmore who straightened up and escaped the tackle before finding Atkinson on his shoulder, and the fly-half put his foot down to score.

The irrepressible Caluori was again to the fore intercepting an Argentina pass and a couple of phases later Englefield and Ojomoh combined and some lovely soft hands from Northmore put Caluori away - and he even had time to swallow dive over the line for his second try.

The final points of the first half went Argentina's way as a loose ball in midfield was hacked ahead by Santiago Pernas, who got boot to ball a second time and an exquisite pick up of an awkward bouncing and spinning ball cut the gap before the break.

The second half started with Caluori soaring into the air to claim the kick-off, setting the tone for an all-action display of athleticism.

After Englefield’s 50-22 from turnover ball helped create the position, Ojomoh’s quick hands released Caluori who went close and the quickly recycled ball found Jack Kenningham running a great angle for the try.

England’s next score came courtesy of a penalty to the corner which led to a hugely dynamic driving maul and hooker Jamie Blamire was practically sprinting over at the end of it for his team’s sixth try.

Argentina’s Federico Serpa hit back, finding a gap on the outside but it was soon back to normal service as Northmore got on the end of a bullet of a pass from Englefield to cross under the posts.

A glorious attack from deep led to the next try for Tobias Elliott as Joe Carpenter carried at pace with options on either side and the full-back drew the last defender with a perfectly timed pass and Elliott had the pace.

The final try was created by Ojomoh, who actually drew gasps from the crowd with a no-look pass – played while pirouetting around the defender – which deceived almost everyone inside the ground, but his centre partner Northmore was on the same wavelength to take the short ball and step his way to the line.