Centurion Ford leads the way for England

TO celebrate his 100th cap George Ford played all the hits to lead an inexperienced England to a stunning 35-12 victory over Argentina at the Estadio Jorge Luis Hirschi in La Plata.

- PAUL EDDISON in La Plata

The fly-half became just the eighth man to bring up a century of appearances for England and pulled the strings magnificently, sparking the memories of his star turn against the same opponents two years ago in Marseille.

On that occasion, Ford dropped three drop goals as England’s 14 men out-thought and out-manoeuvred Argentina, and he was at it again here when his side’s indiscipline saw them playing at a numerical disadvantage in the first half.

He slotted a drop goal while Alex Coles was in the sin-bin to hand England a 3-0 halftime lead before some magnificent playmaking as Steve Borthwick’s men ran in three tries in the first seven minutes of the second half — two for Tom Roebuck and another for back three colleague Freddie Steward.

Trailing 22-0, Argentina could have crumbled. Instead, in the stadium of Estudiantes, the club whose president is former Manchester United midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron, they fought back brilliantly.

Pablo Matera was on hand to collect a clever offload from Santiago Cordero before Pedro Rubiolo finished the try of the match.