Argentina 3 England 32: Young guns respond as England sweep past Argentina

Christian Wade and Matt Kvesic enjoyed impressive debuts as they took over on the wing and at openside flanker from Chris Ashton and Chris Robshaw, who have both been rested this summer.

Billy Twelvetrees played with authority at inside centre and his performance will put the pressure on Brad Barritt when a full-strength England squad reconvene for the autumn internationals.

England also have nine players on the British and Irish Lions tour, which afforded long-awaited opportunities to the likes of prop David Wilson and lock Dave Attwood. Neither wasted it.

One of Lancaster’s stated aims on the tour of Argentina is to build competition for places and strengthen his selection options leading into the 2015 Rugby World Cup. The players are responding.

Gloucester No 8 Ben Morgan said: “We have got a lot of young lads and new people coming in who have been given an opportunity to put their marker down and stake a claim for the shirt.

“The way people are playing at the moment, it is going to make things difficult for people coming back to get back in.

“That’s exactly what we want. We want a competitive environment as a team because that is going to drive us to towards our goal of the World Cup.”

Morgan had a hand in the first two tries, scored by David Strettle and Twelvetrees, before crashing over for the third try as England stormed into a 25-0 lead.

On the back of a dominant pack and Morgan’s powerful ball-carrying, England’s back division ran riot, with Freddie Burns and Twelvetrees pulling the strings.

Wade is renowned for his finishing but he was at the heart of England’s thrilling first-half attacking performance and showed his hand as a play-maker.

It was Wade’s searing break that led to Strettle’s try and the Wasps wing showed a delightful touch to send Twelvetrees over, before combining with Jonathan Joseph to put Morgan away.

“Christian did what he does in the Premiership. He sets our attack alight and he causes problems in defence,” said Lancaster.

Argentina made life difficult in the second half but England’s defence kept them at bay and Billy Vunipola wrapped up the win with a debut try in the last minute.

Lancaster was frustrated with England’s second-half discipline, with Courtney Lawes sent to the sin bin, and he has demanded an immediate improvement as his side chase a slice of Red Rose history.

No England side has ever won a Test series in Argentina with a clean sweep and that is now the challenge that awaits them at the Velez Sarsfield in Buenos Aires next weekend.

“It is a huge incentive to go and do the double. It has never been done before by an England team so it is a huge driver,” said Morgan, who is relishing his time back in an England shirt after injury wrecked his Six Nations campaign.

“It is everything to put that England shirt back on and play out here.

“The Six Nations ended prematurely and you just want to explode as you get back on the pitch. There is a lot of pent up frustration getting injured and it was great to be involved.

“I was out for about 10 weeks. I had two-and-a-half Premiership games before I came out here, so I was pumped and ready to go.”

Wade was challenged to emulate Jason Robinson on his England debut and he did just that.

When Lancaster addressed England’s debutants at the traditional pre-match shirt presentation, he told them to consider those who had worn the shirt before and to do it justice.

Wade said: “He spoke about three things. He asked what does it mean to get the shirt?

“And to think about the guys who have worn the shirt before you – so for me it was players like Jason Robinson, Mark Cueto and Paul Sackey – so you have to look at those things.

“He also spoke about what are you are going to do to kind of fulfil the shirt as well. I thought I had a good game.

“We’ve been advised to look up and to play what we see and make a decision and go with it.

“With the way we play, there is the opportunity for wingers to go hunting for the ball. You get the chance to play off nine and 10, to come off my wing to look for work.

“It was a great game and great to finish with a win. I was speaking to Mike Brown, who is my roomie and kind of my mentor on this tour. He was saying that the difference between Test and club level is that you can’t switch off.

“You need to be on the ball every single play and every single phase. I think at half-time we knew what we had to do but Argentina, all credit to them, stepped it up and showed what a tough team they are to beat. We are going to have to work hard and keep our heads on for the whole 80 minutes, not just 40 next week.”

Wade wore his red cap with pride after the game and it will be kept a special case when he gets home from tour.

“I’ve a cabinet at home where I base my trophies. My Under-16s cap, my Under-18s and Under-20s caps are all there,” he said.

“I will probably put this one in a special case because it is my first full cap.”

Wade was not the only man to shine. Morgan was back to his destructive best and Dave Attwood picked apart the Argentina lineout.

David Wilson led England’s dominant scrummaging performance and Kvesic enjoyed an accomplished debut on the openside flank, securing quick ball and acting well as a link man.

Argentina: Bustos Moyano, Orlando, Tiesi, Contepomi, Montero, Urdapilleta, Landajo, Henn, Garcia Veiga, Bustos, Lozada, Galarza, Farias Cabello, Macome, Leonardi. Replacements: Agulla, Ascarate, Vergallo, Roan, Guidone, Gomez Kodela, Vallejos, De la Vega.

England: Brown, Wade, Joseph, Twelvetrees, Strettle, Burns, Dickson, Marler, Webber, Wilson, Launchbury, Attwood, Wood, Kvesic, Morgan. Replacements: Foden, Eastmond, Wigglesworth, H Thomas, Paice, Doran-Jones, Lawes, Vunipola.

Referee: C Pollock (New Zealand).