England's Argentina tour a big success

Jun 18, 2017 - 11:52 AM England captain Dylan Hartley has said he will enjoy his summer holiday all the more for having ended the 2016-17 season by leading his side to a 2-0 series victory on their tour of Argentina.

It was mission accomplished for Eddie Jones' youthful England squad as they followed up their opening 38-34 win over the Pumas in San Juan with a 35-25 success in Santa Fe.

"That's what we came to do," Hartley, who played in all 160 minutes on the two-match tour, said.

"If anything, it exceeded our hopes and expectations because we learned so much about ourselves and the development of the team.

"Overall, to win two games, that was the objective and I think we can be really proud of ourselves.

"They were not the perfect games but we found ways to win them both."

Charlie Ewels, Piers Francis and Will Collier all scored their first England tries in the second Test win.

Scrum-half Danny Care got the other and his half-back partner George Ford underlined his importance to the team with another man-of-the-match performance, which included five goals and a timely drop goal.

While experienced players like Ford, Hartley, Mike Brown and Chris Robshaw demonstrated their continuing value to England, Jones handed out 11 new caps and players like Sam Curry, Mark Wilson, Sam Underhill and Piers Francis seized their opportunity.

"It was an unbelievable effort, to have 20 new players on tour, but the collective effort from all the guys was amazing as well," Hartley said.

"It's been easy to lead this team, the buy-in has been brilliant, I couldn't have asked for a better group.

"I think English rugby is in a safe place with the depth that we've got."

The England team will fly home from Buenos Aires on Monday but New Zealand born Hartley will soon be packing his bags again as he heads to the Shaky Isles to visit his family.

Source: AAP