International: Matt Banahan's late try helps uninspiring England beat Argentina 16-9

England 16 (9)
Argentina 9 (9)

A late try from Matt Banahan earned England a narrow 16-9 home win against Argentina, but the overall standard of play was worryingly poor.

It took 69 minutes for England to put together their first move of note, relying solely on Jonny Wilkinson's boot before that as they appeared shorn of both ideas and confidence.

Their strife was thrown into even sharper focus when Wilkinson's accuracy temporarily deserted him after the half-time interval - missing three consecutive penalties - but Cueto's late score at least allowed England manager the comfort of a much-needed win.

The match started amid a blizzard of kicks as both sides sought the aerial route, with England edging 3-0 ahead after five minutes when Wilkinson slotted a drop-goal following Lewis Moody's charge down.

Fernandez shaved the posts when he tried to reply in kind shortly, but Martin Rodriguez was more successful with a 13th-minute penalty after Tim Payne had collapsed a scrum.

A needless mistake by James Haskell (going offside after tackling) handed Rodriguez another attempt after quarter of an hour, but this time the novice fly-half fell short.

It remained a largely kick-dominated affair with both sides struggling to assert any fluency as the ball was constantly given away. England eventually reclaimed the lead on 21 minutes when Wilkinson landed his opening penalty attempt, but the quality of the match was in stark contrast to last night's wonderful contest between France and South Africa.

Haskell's over zealous approach was penalized again on 25 minutes when he dived over the ball after full-back Ugo Monye - again looking nervy in his uncustomary position - made a hash of another Argentine high ball. Rodriguez coolly kicked the three points on offer to draw the Pumas level again.

Argentina's powerful pack began to take a grip on the game as the half wore on and England were fortunate not to go behind when another Rodriguez penalty sailed wide on half an hour.

Monye's tormented afternoon continued with a couple of unforced knock-ons as the Harlequins winger struggled in all departments, and England slipped behind for the first time in the match when Rodriguez landed yet another penalty - given for not binding - just three minutes before half-time.

There was still time enough for Wilkinson to level the scores with his second penalty success, but under-pressure England manager Martin Johnson knew that he needed to earn his corn during the interval as the Red Rose continued to show a marked reluctance to bloom. Indeed, you could say it was struggling to emerge from under the manure.

His most obvious input when the teams re-emerged was to see that Monye had been switched with winger Mark Cueto in a tacit admission that his original team selection was flawed.

Wilkinson's first miss of the afternoon soon followed as he pushed a 40m penalty narrowly wide, and the afternoon's general malaise continued with Rodriguez doing likewise on 48 minutes after Steve Borthwick had pulled down a scrum.

Twinkling feet from Albi's Argentine wing Lucas Borges briefly raised spirits but another Wilkinson miss - this time from wide right - continued the pointless theme as the second-half progressed.

Just past the hour mark rookie prop Paul Doran-Jones, 24, came on for Tim Payne to win his debut cap, with England veterans Steve Thompson and Joe Worsley also entering the fray - for Dylan Hartley and Tom Croft respectively.

Wilkinson's erring boot failed once more with a 68th-minute penalty attempt - his third successive miss - but just when it seemed England were mired in mediocrity they produced a move deservedly worthy of claiming the match's only try.

Haskell started it off by crunching through a brace of tackles, captain Borthwick then took up the mantle and bludgeoned more yards before off-loading for Dan Hipkiss and Moody to tee up Banahan in the corner. The relief was tangible - not least on Johnson's perma-furrowed brow - and Wilkinson confirmed the change of fortune by slotting the conversion.

The Toulon fly-half then made a fleeting break down the right before giving way to Brive's Andy Goode as Argentina turned up the pressure in the closing stages, but to no avail.

England starting XV: Monye, Cueto, Hipkiss, Geraghty, Banahan, Wilkinson (Goode 75), Hodgson (Care 75), Payne Doran-Jones 63), Hartley (Thompson 68), Bell, Deacon, Borthwick (capt), Croft (Worsley 63), Moody, Haskell.
Replacements: Lawes, Erinle.
Argentina starting XV: Agulla, Borges, Tiesi, Rodriguez, Comuzzi, Fernandez, Lalanne, Roncero, Ledesma, Scelzo, Lozada, Albacete, Leonardi, Abadie, Fernandez-Lobbe (capt).
Replacements: Basualdo, Ayerza, Carizza, Campos, Figeurola, Urdapilleta, Aramburu.

Score timeline: 3-0 (Wilkinson drop-goal, 5 mins), 3-3 (Rodriguez pen, 13), 6-3 (Wilkinson pen, 21), 6-6 (Rodriguez pen, 25), 6-9 (Rodriguez pen, 37), 9-9 (Wilkinson pen, 40), 14-9 (Banahan try, 69), 16-9 (Wilkinson conv, 70)