Kay the rock for England in a hard place

Argentina 18 England 26

Clive Woodward's latest experimental Test team had little know-how to sustain them and were given even less chance of winning the only game they are ever likely to play together, but what do the pundits know?

England recorded their third victory in a little over a decade in the concrete jungle of Velez Sarsfeld, resisting the predictable onslaught of penalty goals from Gonzalo Quesada and scoring two fine tries from distance in the third quarter. Woodward, one of the few Englishmen who seriously anticipated this result, is looking better by the day.

Ben Kay, who scored the first try shortly after the interval, can now be rated on a par with Martin Johnson, his Leicester clubmate, as England's senior second-row forward. His performance bordered on the astonishing, in its discipline and athletic brilliance. He was abetted by Alex Sanderson, the Sale flanker, who had been dying for this chance after long months and years on the fringes of the international squad. Sanderson's bravery knew no bounds yesterday.

England were welcomed into the arena by banners thanking Brazil's footballers for their World Cup victory on Friday. The Buenos Aires locals stopped short of chanting the names of Rivaldo and Ronaldinho – sporting fraternity between the two South American giants extends only so far – but when the English anthem was rendered entirely inaudible by a cacophony of boos, whistles, hisses and the odd firecracker, the tourists knew that this was hostile territory.

Confronted by a Puma team boasting more than 500 Test caps – the figure would have been nearer 600 had their captain, Lisandro Arbizu, not succumbed to the rib injury he suffered against the French last week – most of the English debutants started scratchily.

Michael Horak, the London Irish full-back, had his first kick charged down, while Ben Johnston, the Saracens centre, dropped his second pass in contact. Charlie Hodgson, one of those with most to gain from this match in terms of World Cup selection next year, looked equally fragile with his goal kicking and all at sea with his defence.

Felipe Contepomi, the dangerous Argentinian centre, twice broke through a Hodgson tackle, and when the Sale outside-half fluffed penalties on 11 and 18 minutes, one of them from the 22-metre line, any similarity to Jonny Wilkinson was difficult to detect. Yet Hodgson attacked beautifully with ball in hand. He very nearly created an early try for Johnston with some neat footwork and a sharp turn of pace, and might easily have presented Tim Stimpson with a score at the end of the first half when he hung a cross-kick over the Argentinians' left corner flag. Frustratingly for Stimpson, Diego Albanese claimed a clean catch under pressure.

Albanese, surplus to requirements at Gloucester, was one of the more striking performers in a scruffy first half. One run off the left wing, during which he gave a passable impression of a human pinball as he bounced out of English tackles, looked seriously threatening to the tourists' well-being, and the visitors were happy to concede a penalty. Quesada, who had exchanged three-pointers with Hodgson in the opening quarter of an hour, hit the spot from 45 metres.

Quesada added two more penalties before the break, and although he miscued a third in first-half injury time, there was something ominous about England's nine-point deficit. But their start to the second period was the stuff of dreams. David Flatman's ball presentation after a drive left much to be desired, but sharp thinking from Andy Gomarsall rescued the initiative. The scrum-half then found Kay with an intelligent inside pass and the big lock steamed into a gap the width of the continent and galloped 30 metres to score.

Argentina replied with a fifth penalty from huge range after Phil Christophers found himself isolated on the left touchline, but the Bristol newcomer's next contribution was altogether more welcome.

Flatman, enjoying the loose exchanges rather more than the scrummaging, found himself in space for a second time, and flicked a pass to the roaming Christophers, who left Corleto for dead with a step off his left foot and finished with a flourish under the posts. Once again, Hodgson added the extras, and when the stand-off hit the spot with a left-sided penalty from fully 45 metres – his best place kick of the match – England were up and away at 23-15.

Once again, Quesada reduced the arrears, but Stimpson replied with a late goal from the halfway line to complete a monumental victory for England's also-rans.

Argentina 18 England 26
Pens: Quesada 6 Tries: Kay, Christophers
Cons: Hodgson 2
Pens: Hodgson 3, Stimpson

Half-time: 12-3 Attendance: 43,000

Argentina: I Corleto (Narbonne); G Camardon (Roma), J Orengo (Perpignan), F Contepomi (Bristol), D Albanese (Leeds); G Quesada (Narbonne), A Pichot (Bristol, capt); M Reggiardo (Castres), F Mendez (Mendoza), O Hasan (Agen), I Fernandez Lobbe (Castres), R Alvarez (Perpignan), S Phelan (CASI), G Longo (Narbonne), R Martin (San Isidro). Replacements: R Grau (Liceo Mendoza) for Reggiardo 66, M Ledesma (Narbonne) for Mendez, 72, L Ostiglia (Hundu) for Phelan, 68

England: M Horak (London Irish); T Stimpson (Leicester), G Appleford (London Irish), B Johnston (Saracens), P Christophers (Bristol); C Hodgson (Sale), A Gomarsall (Gloucester); D Flatman (Saracens), S Thompson (Northampton), P Vickery (Gloucester, capt), A Codling (Harlequins), B Kay (Leicester), A Sanderson (Sale), L Moody (Leicester), J Worsley (Wasps).

Referee: A Rolland (Ireland).