The tourists, level at 25-25 with 16 minutes left, finished stronger as prop Will Collier barged over for a try that fly-half George Ford converted.
England took a narrow 18-13 lead into half-time following maiden global tries from lock Charlie Ewels and centre Francis in addition to eight points from the boot of Ford, while Argentina scored through Joaquin Tuculet’s touchdown and two penalties from Nicholas Sanchez.
While England head home to have a close-season break, Argentina move to northwestern city Jujuy for a one-off Test against Georgia next Saturday. “I think it has been a great Test series, some really good rugby and I think Argentina should be congratulated on the sort of rugby that they play”. Some will inevitably join the one-cap club when the Lions players return for the autumn internationals but players like Sam Curry, Charlie Ewels, Sam Underhill and Piers Francis laid down a marker for the future.
He added: “I thought [Chris] Robshaw and [Mike] Brown were absolutely exceptional”. The experienced campaigners have still got what it takesLargely through necessity, Jones ended up with the ideal balance of youth and experience which eventually saw off the risky Pumas.
Question marks remain about Denny SolomonaMuch was expected of the former league winger who, on the back of scoring a Super League record 40 tries for Castleford in 2016, was fast-tracked into the England squad after touching down 11 times in 15 games for Sale.
Chris Robshaw, absent last weekend, showed us what he is all about for the umpteenth time and George Ford’s… We changed the way we kicked and played really well off their mistakes. “That’s what you want as a player”.
“George Ford was brilliant”.
“It was not a great attacking game from him – he had to find another way given the circumstances”.
When Nicolas Sanchez took possession on halfway towards the end of the first half England were on the back foot but the Argentina fly-half misjudged his kick ahead and Brown plucked the ball out of the air outside his own “22” without breaking his stride. Today wasn’t a great performance for us but we were able to maximise any errors Argentina made and turned them into points. “The motive for me was to win and make sure I leave this team in a good place”.
Jones told BBC Two: “I think in each game we found a way to score points”.
“They were not the flawless games but we found ways to win them both”.
“Argentina are a brilliant team and you have to be at your best to win or somewhere near your best so we are very happy”. We also generated a lot and we had try options but, if you do not give speed to the game, you can not break these defences.