Nations Championship – England vs Argentina: A one-sided rugby rivalry – will Pumas bite back? | Rugby Union News

Fresh from the drama of Wednesday’s FIFA World Cup semi-final between England and Argentina, the nations meet again on Saturday as part of rugby’s Nations Championship in Santiago del Estero.

While the history of England vs Argentina in football has been punctuated by huge moments and massive victories on both sides, the rugby history between the English and the Pumas is rather different.

Ahead of meeting on Argentine soil this Saturday, the two sides have met in 30 previous Tests dating back to 1981, and England’s dominance is near stark.

The record reads 24 England victories, five Argentina wins and one draw.

The Pumas have steadily grown as a side over the decades, sensationally reaching the semi-finals of the Rugby World Cup in 2015, and picking up marquee wins over New Zealand in 2020, 2022, 2024 and 2025, and South Africa in 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2024 – beating both home and away. They’ve also beaten Australia four times since 2022.

Yet, for all Argentina’s impressive success on a world stage, England have continued to prove something of a bogey team.

The sides have met five times at World Cups, and England have won every meeting: Pool stage conquests in 1995, 2011, 2019 and 2023, plus a third-place play-off in 2023 only Argentina will know how they lost.

England toured Argentina in 2025, 2017 and 2013 when missing a host of British and Irish Lions players selected the same summers, and even still won each series 2-0, securing victories in all six Tests.

Argentina wins have come in 1990, 1997 and 2009 on home soil, and in 2006 and 2022 at Twickenham, but successes have been few and far between.

Indeed, England have won the last five meetings in a row and 15 of the last 16 Tests between the sides.

In 14 meetings in Argentina, England have won 10 and Argentina three, plus a draw in 1981. In England, the hosts have won nine from 11 Tests to Argentina’s two wins.

So, is this 2026 Test the occasion Argentina turn up and give their best against England?

While October saw a very unfortunate, narrow defeat to the might of South Africa, and November stirring wins over Wales and Scotland – the latter victory from 21 points down with 24 minutes to play – Argentina’s most-recent performances have not been good.

They were totally outplayed by Scotland two weeks ago in a 47-38 defeat on home soil in Cordoba, while they shipped 21 points to a Wales side struggling for wins over the last number of years in an eventual 35-21 win in San Juan last week.

England were on a run of five Test defeats in a row before last weekend’s heavy victory over 14-player Fiji, following a brutal fifth-place Six Nations finish and thumping defeat in South Africa a fortnight ago, but their tails are now up.

Amid everything else, there is also the small matter of the context around November’s England vs Argentina meeting to factor in on Saturday.

Argentina head coach Felipe Contepomi labelled England flanker Tom Curry a “bully” and claimed to have been “smacked” by the player in the tunnel following England’s 27-23 win that day.

Nothing further came of the spicy incident, but you can be sure Argentina and Contepomi haven’t forgotten.

Freeman: We’re expecting ‘angry’ Argentina atmosphere and Pumas side

The England squad and set-up, who were based in Buenos Aires until Thursday before heading north to Santiago del Estero, took the decision not to wear national shirts when in Argentina, in light of the tension surrounding Wednesday’s fixture.

Wing Tommy Freeman, when speaking to media this week, added he expected an even angrier atmosphere and opposition than is customary for the England rugby side in South America.

“We’ll see how hostile it gets here,” Freeman said. “It’s big for Argentina and us and being here it’s heightened massively.

“I think they’ll probably be angry, so Saturday could be a tough game.

“We know they’re a passionate country. We are too and they’ll want to compete to the fullest and we’ll be ready for that.”

England second row Alex Coles added: “I think, bearing in mind where we are and who we’re playing with, we’ve been pretty sensible about not wearing our English shirts around too much.”

Pepper: Pumas fans have football-crowd mentality but we can ‘shut them up’

England back-row Guy Pepper was also speaking to the media earlier this week, and while conceding he expected an increased football-crowd type energy for the Test, has backed his team-mates to “shut up” the locals.

Pepper has played two Tests in Argentina before now, in La Plata and San Juan last year as he made his Test debut. A replacement in both matches, the 23-year-old says he was able to appreciate and feel the passion Argentina fans bring.

“It was very much football-crowd type mentality out there, which was cool to experience and different,” Pepper said.

“It was noisy, but you were also able to shut them up by outscoring them. It was a real rollercoaster of emotion.

“Being on the bench for the two games, you could take in the fact that they’re all chanting and jumping around one minute and then you can hear a pin drop the next.

“On reflection, the 2025 Argentina tour was quite significant for this group, particularly with the Lions guys being away.

“It was a pretty cool and special moment for us, an important step to breed new young players and allow them to make a name for themselves and keep the jersey. It was a pretty special tour and something that will only make us tighter.

“Since that tour we have really tried to step up the way we attack games, so that we are able to play through teams and also play around them. It’s exciting where we’re going.”