Quesada's trickery leaves England flat

Argentina A 29 England XV 24

England's midweek campaigners, who might easily have been billed Young England, threw the kitchen sink at a powerful Argentinian second-string in the highly civilised surroundings of the Buenos Aires Cricket and Rugby Club last night, but despite a high-octane performance from the Sale wing Mark Cueto, they came up marginally short. Gonzalo Quesada, one of the star turns at the last World Cup, used his know-how to deny the visitors the spiritual sustenance of a surprise victory before this weekend's one-off international.

The tourists, fielding only three capped players in a forward pack charged with taming an Argentinian unit armed with more muscle than a bodybuilders' convention, were given an immediate taste of something unpleasant as the first set-pieces were called. Roberto Grau and Julio Garcia, mighty scrummagers both, set their sights on Mark Regan in the middle of the English front row and squeezed him until his ribs cried out for mercy.

Under the circumstances, it was no surprise that England started on the back foot and conceded an early try. Facundo Soler, a dangerous customer on the left wing, made the first meaningful incursion of the game on seven minutes, and when Eduardo Simone and Pablo Bouza galloped up in support, the latter had no problem making the line. Quesada, who seldom looks like missing a kick of any description, made no mistake in adding the extras from in front of the posts.

Clive Woodward's teams are seldom short of belief, though. Cueto, who had looked a stone-cold certainty for a first Test cap on Saturday until Woodward clouded the issue by selecting him for the midweek dirt-trackers instead, levelled things up within six minutes when he exchanged passes with his club colleague, Pete Anglesea, down the left and set sail for a fine finish at the sticks. Like Quesada before him, David Walder was not tested by the conversion.

Quesada appeared to take this as a personal slight and assumed charge instantly. He indulged in his speciality by landing a long-range dropped goal at the end of the first quarter, and then slid a delicate little grubber behind the England defence and earned full credit for his vision when his centre, Diego Giannantonio, reacted sufficiently quickly to complete the score. The conversion was a formality, and when the French-based stand-off added to England's grief with beautifully judged penalty on 28 minutes, the Argentinians were 20-7 to the good and as happy as could be.

It took some opportunism from Robbie Morris, the fast-improving Northampton prop, to wipe the smile from their faces with a second English try three minutes later. Morris had been on a steep learning curve as the experienced Grau cranked up the heat at the scrums, but he had enough wit and energy to beat his rivals to a loose ball over the Argentinian line. Walder added the two points, and had he hit the spot with two kickable penalties, England would have changed ends on terms.

More than that, England might have overhauled their hosts after the interval. Walder dummied Quesada to scuttle over at the posts after strong driving from Adam Balding 16 minutes in, but his opposite number had already banged over one second-half penalty and added another before heading off to rest for this weekend's Test. When Juan Fernandez Miranda added a further penalty deep in the final quarter, the second-string Pumas had enough in the bank to see them home.

Argentina A: Tries Bouza, Giannantonio; Conversions Quesada 2; Penalties Quesada 3, J Fernandez Miranda; Drop goal Quesada. England XV: Tries Cueto, Morris, Walder; Conversions Walder 3; Penalty Walder.

ARGENTINA A: B Stortoni (CASI); H Senillosa (Hindu), E Simone (Liceo Naval), D Giannantonio (La Rochelle), F Soler (Hindu); G Quesada (Narbonne), N Fernandez Miranda (Hindu, capt); R Grau (Liceo Mendoza), M Ledesma (Narbonne), J Garcia (Perpignan), P Sporleder (Curupayti), M Sambucetti (Buenos Aires RC), M Durand (Champagnat), L Ostiglia (Hindu), P Bouza (Duendes). Replacements: J Nunez Piossek (Huirapuca) for Senillosa, h-t; M Scelzo (Narbonne) for Garcia, 55; J Fernandez Miranda (Hindu) for Quesada, 60; M Ruiz (Teque) for Sambucetti, 60; J J Villar (CUBA) for Ledesma, 80.

ENGLAND XV: T Beim (Gloucester); M Cueto (Sale), K Sorrell (Saracens), T May (Newcastle), D Rees (Bristol); D Walder (Newcastle), N Walshe (Sale); T Woodman (Gloucester), M Regan (Bath), R Morris (Northampton), R Fidler (Gloucester), H Vyvyan (Newcastle, capt), A Balding (Leicester), D Danaher (London Irish), P Anglesea (Sale).

Referee: G Di Santis (Italy).