History of rugby union matches between Argentina and England

The national rugby union teams of England and Argentina (Los Pumas) have been playing each other since 1978. The status of the first match is ambiguous, as Argentina awarded Test caps to its players but England did not (England sent a representative "England XV", not the 1st XV).

They have met in 27 matches recognised by both sides as Tests. The first match was on 30 May 1981 and was a 19–19 draw. The second match of the 2 Test series was played on 6 June 1981 and was won by England 12-6. The 1982 Falklands War between Britain and Argentina meant that their next encounter did not take place until 1990.

Excluding the ambiguous 1978 game, Argentina have played England 27 times with England winning 21, Argentina 5 with 1 drawn.

The rugby rivalry between the two countries is not known for being as intense as their football rivalry.

Summary

Overall

Details	Played	Won by Argentina	Won by England	Drawn	Argentina points	England points
In Argentina	12	3	8	1	235	332
In England	10	2	8	0	131	269
Neutral venue	5	0	5	0	70	129
Overall	27	5	21	1	436	730

Records

Note: Date shown in brackets indicates when the record was last set.

Record	Argentina	England
Longest winning streak	1 (6 November 2022 – 9 September 2023)	10 (14 November 2009 – 6 November 2022)
Largest points for
Home	34 (10 June 2017)	51 (3 November 1990)
Away	30 (6 November 2022)	51 (15 June 2013)
Largest winning margin
Home	20 (7 June 1997)	51 (3 November 1990)
Away	7 (11 November 2006)	29 (8 June 2013; 5 October 2019)

Results

No.	Date	Venue	Score	Winner	Competition	Ref.
1	30 May 1981	Ferro Carril Oeste, Buenos Aires	19–19	draw	1981 England tour of Argentina
2	6 June 1981	Ferro Carril Oeste, Buenos Aires	6–12	England
3	28 July 1990	José Amalfitani Stadium, Buenos Aires	12–25	England	1990 England tour of Argentina
4	4 August 1990	José Amalfitani Stadium, Buenos Aires	15–13	Argentina
5	3 November 1990	Twickenham Stadium, London	51–0	England	1990 Argentina tour of Great Britain and Ireland
6	27 May 1995	Kings Park Stadium, Durban (South Africa)	24–18	England	1995 Rugby World Cup
7	14 December 1996	Twickenham Stadium, London	20–18	England	1996 Argentina tour of England
8	31 May 1997	Ferro Carril Oeste, Buenos Aires	20–46	England	1997 England tour of Argentina and Australia
9	7 June 1997	Ferro Carril Oeste, Buenos Aires	33–13	Argentina
10	25 November 2000	Twickenham Stadium, London	19–0	England	2000 end-of-year rugby union internationals
11	22 June 2002	José Amalfitani Stadium, Buenos Aires	18–26	England	2002 England tour of Argentina	[1]
12	11 November 2006	Twickenham Stadium, London	18–25	Argentina	2006 end-of-year rugby union internationals	[2]
13	6 June 2009	Old Trafford, Manchester	37–15	England	2009 June rugby union tests	[3]
14	13 June 2009	Estadio Padre Ernesto Martearena, Salta	24–22	Argentina		[4]
15	14 November 2009	Twickenham Stadium, London	16–9	England	2009 end-of-year rugby union internationals	[5]
16	10 September 2011	Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin (New Zealand)	13–9	England	2011 Rugby World Cup
17	8 June 2013	Estadio Padre Ernesto Martearena, Salta	3–32	England	2013 England tour of Argentina and Uruguay
18	15 June 2013	José Amalfitani Stadium, Buenos Aires	26–51	England
19	9 November 2013	Twickenham Stadium, London	31–12	England	2013 end-of-year rugby union internationals	[6]
20	26 November 2016	Twickenham Stadium, London	27–14	England	2016 end-of-year rugby union internationals
21	10 June 2017	Estadio San Juan del Bicentenario, San Juan	34–38	England	2017 England tour of Argentina	[7]
22	17 June 2017	Estadio Brigadier General Estanislao López, Santa Fe	25–35	England		[8]
23	11 November 2017	Twickenham Stadium, London	21–8	England	2017 end-of-year rugby union internationals
24	5 October 2019	Tokyo Stadium, Chōfu (Japan)	39–10	England	2019 Rugby World Cup
25	6 November 2022	Twickenham Stadium, London	29–30	Argentina	2022 end-of-year rugby union internationals
26	9 September 2023	Stade Vélodrome, Marseille (France)	27–10	England	2023 Rugby World Cup	[9]
27	27 October 2023	Stade de France, Saint-Denis (France)	23–26	England		[10]
28	5 July 2025	Estadio Jorge Luis Hirschi, Buenos Aires		TBD	2025 mid-year rugby union tests
29	12 July 2025	Estadio San Juan del Bicentenario, San Juan
30	23 November 2025	Twickenham Stadium, London			2025 end-of-year rugby union internationals

Non-test results

Below is a list of matches that Argentina has awarded matches test match status by virtue of awarding caps, but England did not.

Date	Venue	Score	Winner	Competition
14 October 1978 [a]	Twickenham Stadium, London	13–13	draw	1978 Argentina tour of Great Britain, Ireland and Italy
17 June 2002	Buenos Aires CRC Field, Los Polvorines	29–24	Argentina XV	2002 England tour of Argentina

List of series

Played	Won by Argentina	Won by England	Drawn
7	0	4	3

Year	Argentina	England	Series winner
1981	0	1	England
1990	1	1	draw
1997	1	1	draw
2002	0	1	England
2009	1	1	draw
2013	0	2	England
2017	0	2	England

Notes

1. Not classed as a full international by England who played as an England XV, 12 players from the XV played against the All Blacks one month later.^{[ citation needed ]}

References

1. "England Tour – Buenos Aires, 22 June 2002". ESPNscrum. ESPN.
2. "England 18-25 Argentina". BBC Sport. 11 November 2006. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
3. "England 37-15 Argentina". BBC Sport. 6 June 2009. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
4. "Argentina 24–22 England". BBC Sport. 13 June 2009. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
5. "England 16-9 Argentina". BBC Sport. 14 November 2009. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
6. "England beat Argentina at home ahead of All Blacks test". BBC Sport. 9 November 2013. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
7. "England beat Argentina thanks to Denny Solomona's late try". BBC Sport. 10 June 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
8. Laybourn, Ian (17 June 2017). "England beat Argentina to complete 2-0 rugby Test series victory in eighth successive win over the Pumas". The Independent .
9. "England 27-10 Argentina: George Ford kicks England to remarkable Rugby World Cup win despite Tom Curry red card". Sky Sports. 9 September 2023. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
10. "Earl and Dan edge England to victory over Argentina in bronze final". The Guardian. 27 October 2023. Retrieved 5 March 2025.