Ellis Genge cupped his ears toward Argentina supporters after Ben Earl scored a try, mimicking Enzo Fernandez's celebration from the football World Cup semi-final. The gesture came during England's 31-19 victory over Argentina in the inaugural Nations Championship on Saturday, just three days after the England football team were eliminated by Argentina at the 2026 World Cup.
England's early dominance sets the tone
Tommy Freeman crossed over after only three minutes to give England a dream start in Santiago del Estero. Ben Earl added a pair of converted tries to extend the visitors' advantage to 17-3. Argentina, wearing replica shirts inspired by Diego Maradona's iconic 1986 kit, fought back after the restart with a try from Mateo Carreras and a penalty try that reduced England to 13 men.
Marcus Smith and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso then touched down in quick succession to silence the home crowd. Justo Piccardo grabbed a late consolation for Argentina, but England held on for a deserved win.
Genge's celebration and Pollock's pre-match antics
Genge's celebration mirrored Fernandez's trademark gesture after he equalised for Argentina in England's 2-1 semi-final defeat on Wednesday. Fernandez will hope to use the celebration again in the World Cup final against Spain.
Before the match, Henry Pollock was filmed making dismissive gestures from England's team coach toward Argentina fans in Buenos Aires, sparking further controversy.
Contepomi accuses England of lacking respect
Argentina head coach Felipe Contepomi stormed out of his post-match press conference, accusing England's players of 'lacking respect'. Steve Borthwick, under pressure after England's 14th yellow card in eight Tests, hit back at what he called a 'negativity committee' among reporters.
'I don't think now is the time to be digging into that,' Borthwick said. 'This team has done really, really well. It was a tough Test match, a fantastic Test match, we scored some wonderful tries and as ever you guys concentrate on the negativity. You're like the negativity committee so it's lovely coming and talking to you again.'
Borthwick praises togetherness
Borthwick highlighted the squad's 'togetherness' and 'connection', singling out Henry Slade's tackle at the end as 'incredible'. 'Matches between England and Argentina, whatever the sport, seem to end up being very tight late on and full of drama,' he added. 'It shows the fight that's in this group of players.'
The result leaves England third in the Northern Hemisphere table, two points behind leaders France. Argentina sit fourth in the Southern Hemisphere table with one win and two losses.
