Jack van Poortvliet – Argentina series shows the quality of depth in England

Patience was the watchword for Jack van Poortvliet and England as they completed a 2-0 series win over Argentina in the most dramatic fashion.

The Leicester Tigers scrum-half came off the bench to score a 79th-minute try at the Estadio San Juan Bicentenario to clinch a 22-17 win over Los Pumas.

It came after a second half that had been played almost exclusively in Argentinian territory, with Van Poortvliet explaining how the team did not panic, even as they let chance after chance go begging.

In the end though, a muscular break from Guy Pepper, in only his second cap, ended with Van Poortvliet collecting an offloading and racing over for the match-winner.

Patience the Key

He said: “There was a lot of frustration that we couldn’t score. I think the whole 25 minutes I was on it was pretty much in their half. And we were just not quite getting there. We’d have a half break and not be able to finish it off. We knew we were doing the right things but we just couldn’t get that last bit.

“We just said, ‘be patient, it’ll come. Keep doing the basics, keep getting the ruck right, because they kept competing at the ruck; keep getting the edge right and things like that to try and expose them’. We got there eventually. We knew if we kept banging the door we’d get a chance and luckily we had one in the end.”

It completes an impressive fortnight in Argentina for England, having won the first Test in La Plata 35-12 last Saturday.

All that was achieved without 13 players away on Lions duty, while Jamie George was a late withdrawal for this encounter after he was called up as a replacement for Luke Cowan-Dickie, with the England co-captain watching from the stands.

For Van Poortvliet, who made his England debut on a summer tour of Australia three years ago, the way this inexperienced team has stepped up can only bode well for the future.

Touring Experience

He added: “I love touring with England. I think probably the best experience before this tour is probably my first tour in the Australia tour I had with England.

“To come here and do that and to have a moment like that at the end was really special. I’ve loved these last three weeks. They’ve been absolutely brilliant. To cap it off with another win was amazing. 

“I just think it shows the talent and depth that there is in this country. You’ve seen the quality of the under-20s teams there’s been in the last few years. They’re now all coming through. Tours like these are brilliant for people to take their opportunity and keep piling on pressure.

“It’s amazing to see the boys away with Lions doing so well, but they go away and it’s your opportunity to try and put your hand up. So many people have done that. It only increases competition for when everyone’s back in the autumn. It shows what a good place English rugby is in at the minute.

“Coming off the back of a strong end to the Six Nations and then to build to this with a new group and to keep pushing forward is promising. It shows the depth we have in this country. 

“We think we’ve got so much further to go. We’re excited where we are right now, but we can take it so much further and we know that as a group. We’re excited to try and do that.”

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By Paul Eddison