Rusty England beats Argentina 21-8 in rugby test

LONDON (AP) England spluttered to a fourth rugby victory over Argentina in the past 12 months, winning 21-8 at Twickenham thanks to tries by Nathan Hughes and Semesa Rokoduguni on Saturday.

Without the rested Maro Itoje and Owen Farrell, England produced one of the sloppiest displays of the Eddie Jones era but still won comfortably against a Pumas side that has lost nine of its 10 test matches in 2017.

Hughes took a brilliant miss-pass from flyhalf George Ford to barge over in the 23rd minute, helping England create a 14-3 halftime lead, and winger Rokoduguni - an early replacement for fullback Mike Brown - also crossed down the right wing in the 67th.

Ford kicked the rest of the points through three penalties and a conversion, showing the accuracy the Argentines lacked from the tee.

They made just one of six kicks, one of them coming in the last minute after replacement flyhalf Nicolas Sanchez finally pierced England's defense for a close-range try after 30 phases.

Argentina was beaten by a 14-man England team this time last year, and lost two tests in June at home against the same opponent that was lacking many of its key players on British and Irish Lions duty.