Eddie Jones always says that to get the best out of players then they need to be uncomfortable and it’s fair to say that down to 14 men or less for 75 minutes is fairly uncomfortable!
Naturally teams prepare for periods with a man in the bin but when you are facing almost an entire Test match with a man disadvantage it takes an awful lot of strength to prevail. Strength of fitness, strength of character and strength of mindset and no wonder Eddie Jones was glowing in the praise of his side afterwards:
“I thought that it was a brilliant display today. Flexible, adaptable, courageous. We went out there with a certain game plan and we had to abandon that after 10 minutes and the players did exceptionally well. The senior players regrouped and came up with another plan, played to the conditions and I thought that it was outstanding today.”
What we saw out there on the Twickenham turf was a team that is extremely confident in their processes and trusting of the players around them. It’s fair to say that the match threw pretty much everything at England and yet Eddie Jones’ men remained calm and collected and proved that they can't be easily derailed. This week Tom Wood spoke about how the team are training ‘above Test match intensity so that the Test match almost comes a little bit easier’ and the fruits of their labour showed. Other sides wouldn’t have been able to maintain such a quick line speed and physical defensive intensity, with a player or two disadvantage, yet this England side did.
For England to prevail it took every single player to play their part from those that played the full eighty to those that came off the bench. As ever a couple of individuals turned our heads as they led the power charged eighty minutes. ‘Outstanding’ was the adjective used by Eddie Jones to describe his flanker as the Harlequin worked himself into the ground with endless energy. Elsewhere Jonathan Joseph showed why his head coach raves about his defensive work and Teimana Harrison’s introduction was smoother than many thought it might have been when Billy Vunipola had to leave the field. The extent of the latter’s injury isn’t yet known and a question mark remains Nathan Hughes’ fitness until he returns to England's camp on Sunday and the medical staff review him. 
Overall Eddie Jones said that his players are a bit bumped and bruised, as you’d expect given the effort that they had to put in, but he’ll be pleased that they went through and passed this test. Elliot Daly's actions weren't malicious it was simply an error of judgement and something that he'll need to park and move on from. Of course there will be a disciplinary hearing and we will reopen the winger selection debate this week! Now the focus moves onto Australia and immediately after the match Eddie Jones took his first opportunity to take a little pop at the Wallabies:
“We're looking forward to Australia next week now which is going to be a bit of fun! The Australia media in June were very disrespectful to us, so I’m sure that they are going to be at that gain so we will prepare for that.
We’re very keen to have a chat to the referee about the Australian scrummaging. They’ve got some issues with the way that they scrummage so we need to have a meeting with the referee. We will invite the Australian coaching staff to come along, we’ll submit and agenda and make sure that everything is above board.”
Without question this was England's most impressive display of the autumn series and showcased a defensive display that was akin to 'that' Test in Melbourne. Each week England are building and this 80 minutes against Argentina will have galvanised them more than an easy four or five try victory would have done. The way that those remaining on the pitch adapted and delivered the victory with 14 men will add to this squad's ever growing confidence. Next stop Australia and with the recent history between the two sides, Australia's loss in Dublin and the relationship between Eddie Jones and Michael Cheika as the former says we are in for a 'fun' week!
