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Max Ojomoh’s impressive performance was the highlight of England’s win over Argentina.
As national coach, Steve Borthwick has been quietly building a squad of fantastic depth and that has been shown this autumn. It’s one thing having a number of players to choose from. But it’s quite another to have at least two world-class players in every position.
Borthwick is moving towards the second of those positions. The size of England’s population and player pool means they should always have top talent. But the quality of options currently available to Borthwick is as high as I’ve known it for a long time, as was shown by Ojomoh’s man-of-the-match display. Ojomoh was only playing because Fraser Dingwall suffered injury.
He hadn’t played a minute of autumn action and, if we’re honest, was behind a number of his rivals in the pecking order. Earlier this month, he wasn’t being considered for senior duty and was in the England A side beaten by an All Blacks XV.
But with Dingwall, Ollie Lawrence, Tommy Freeman and Seb Atkinson all unavailable to face the Pumas, Ojomoh was given his shot. Boy did he take it. I loved watching him play. He showed fine footballing and ball playing ability. His attacking game was first class. He poached well for his try and showed impressive pace to finish. But undoubtedly his best moment was the brilliant vision he showed to cross-kick to Immanuel Feyi-Waboso and create a try for the Exeter wing.
Ojomoh has played at fly-half for Bath this season, so really it was no surprise to see him showcase the skills he did. But doing them on your first Twickenham start against formidable opposition is a different level to delivering for your club.
Max Ojomoh was handed the opportunity to step up for England against Argentina and took it
The fly-half was a worthy Man of the Match as the Red Roses stole a march on the visitors
Ojomoh stepped up impressively. He fully deserved to be man of the match.
Ojomoh is a brilliant 12 option primarily because he has all the skills of a 10.
My opinion is it is a huge advantage for this England side to have a second ball player at inside centre.
Ojomoh is exactly that. I’ve spoken a lot about England’s centre options this autumn. They have changed a lot through the four November matches, often because of injury. Dingwall, Lawrence and Freeman have all entered the treatment room in the last few weeks and Gloucester’s Atkinson hasn’t been able to feature at all.
Had Atkinson been fit, I’m sure he would have started at No 12 for this campaign.
As a player at Test level, you have to take your chance when it’s presented to you. That’s exactly what Ojomoh did and now he must be considered in the centre debate moving forward. It will be a shame if all this match is remembered for is Tom Curry’s tackle on Juan Cruz Mallia and the post-match dust-up that followed.
They were ugly scenes no-one wants to see in elite Test rugby, but something tells me we won’t be hearing the last of this. Borthwick now has a serious selection headache on his hands. But what a great position that is for him to be in. England’s unbeaten run is now at 11 matches after a first autumn clean sweep since 2017. I would describe the autumn as outstanding. It’s a big well done to Borthwick, captain Maro Itoje and all the players from me. The future is exciting. But equally, let’s not get too carried away.
Hopefully Tom Curry's late clash with the visiting players does not overshadow a fine showing
Steve Borthwick now has a serious selection headache on his hands due to England's depth
England were pushed all the way by Argentina and had the Pumas won that last line-out at the death, the finale would have been very, very exciting. In many ways, it’s actually a shame they didn’t because it would have been fascinating to see how England would have responded. At that point, the team was under real pressure.
Argentina are a wonderful attacking team. At the death, they chanced their arm with nothing to lose after scoring a try. They went the length of the field, with the wonderful Santiago Carreras making the key break. It was nearly enough for a thrilling comeback.
I don’t understand why Argentina didn’t play like that more. In my opinion, they kicked far, far too much, especially in the first half when they offered little. In the opening 40, the Pumas were also very wasteful in attack, making too many handling errors.
When they got into good positions to score in the England 22, they weren’t clinical.
It allowed Borthwick and his players to hang on and complete a memorable campaign.
