By Sarah Braide
June 23 2002

Charlie Hodgson and Alex Sanderson were among the best players in England's 26-18 defeat of Argentina at Velez Sarsfield last night. Charlie scored thirteen points from three penalties and two conversions. Argentina played brilliantly and beat France by 28-27 just last week, so this was a great achievement for such an inexperienced England side. As well as Sanderson and Hodgson, the team featured new Sale signing Nick Walshe on the bench.

Before the match Clive Woodward had spoken of the need for a "genuine option" at number 10. This game was a chance for Charlie to prove himself against more difficult opponents, and in a much more hostile atmosphere, than he faced in the Six Nations or against Romania at Twickenham.

Though he missed the first two place kicks, Charlie redeemed himself with a solid performance and the haul of points. Sanderson also tackled impressively.

The first half was bad, England suffering from a lack of possession and going down 3-12 at the break. But (taking a leaf out of Sale's book?) they made a storming comeback in the second period and made up the deficit with tries from Ben Kay and Bristol's next big thing, Phil Christophers.

What remains to be seen now is whether Clive Woodward will see fit to mess with the first choice England team to incorporate some of his Argentina heroes.