England recovered from two first-half sin-bins to down Argentina by a 35-12 score with Test centurion George Ford kicking 15 points.
Alex Coles and debutant Seb Atkinson were shown yellow cards by referee Angus Gardner to temporary reduce Steve Borthwick’s team to 13 men in La Plata, but after a superb regard defensive action, England were much improved after the break.
Tom Roebuck grabbed a first try within two minutes of the restart and added another after Freddie Steward crossed over. Caden Murley concluded the scoring with five minutes left on a night where co-captain Ford showed his class on his 100th appearance for England.
England play Argentina again next Saturday, in San Juan, looking to wrap up a series victory, before taking on USA the following week in Washington.
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How do I watch England’s tour?
Sky Sports have exclusive rights to show both of England’s Tests in Argentina. RugbyPass TV, which encountered issues in England’s uncapped match against France in June, will stream the match against the US in Washington.
Telegraph Sport will live blog every game, with analysis on-site in Argentina, too.
Fixtures: Full schedule and TV guide
Times shown below are UK (BST).
Saturday, July 5
Argentina 12 England 35
Saturday, July 12 – 8.40pm
Argentina v England (Estadio San Juan del Bicentenario, San Juan)
Saturday, July 19 – 11pm
US v England (Audi Field, Washington, D.C.)
Who is in the England squad?
Forwards: Fin Baxter (Harlequins), Arthur Clark (Gloucester Rugby), Alex Coles (Northampton Saints), Chandler Cunningham-South (Harlequins), Ben Curry (Sale Sharks), Theo Dan (Saracens), Trevor Davison (Northampton Saints), Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins), Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby), Jamie George (Saracens, co-captain), Afolabi Fasogbon (Gloucester), Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers), Ted Hill (Bath Rugby), Nick Isiekwe (Saracens), Curtis Langdon (Northampton Saints), Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale Sharks), Guy Pepper (Bath Rugby), Bevan Rodd (Sale Sharks), Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby), Tom Willis (Saracens).
Backs: Charlie Atkinson (Gloucester Rugby), Seb Atkinson (Gloucester Rugby), Oscar Beard (Harlequins), Joe Carpenter (Sale Sharks), Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (Exeter Chiefs), George Ford (Sale Sharks, co-captain), Will Muir (Bath Rugby), Cadan Murley (Harlequins), Luke Northmore (Harlequins), Max Ojomoh (Bath Rugby), Harry Randall (Bristol Bears), Tom Roebuck (Sale Sharks), Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs), Ben Spencer (Bath Rugby), Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers), Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers).
What happened on the 2017 tour?
England last toured Argentina in 2017, in another Lions summer. Eddie Jones’s side, captained by Dylan Hartley, won both Tests – in San Juan and Santa Fe respectively. It was Denny Solomona’s late try which secured a thrilling victory in the first Test before 16 points from the boot of George Ford, alongside four English tries, wrapped up a series win.