Jones pleased with rookies

Santa Fe – England coach Eddie Jones hailed his Test veterans and international rookies yesterday after a 2-0 Test series triumph in Argentina achieved without many unavailable stars.

A drop goal from outstanding flyhalf George Ford (above) with six minutes left sealed a thrilling 35-25 second-Test victory in northeastern city Santa Fe.

Last weekend, England won an epic first Test 38-34 in San Juan thanks to a try by debutant winger Denny Solomona 100 seconds from time.

British and Irish Lions call-ups for the tour of New Zealand and injuries robbed Jones of 30 candidates for the end-of-season visit to South America.

“I thought Chris Robshaw and Mike Brown were absolutely exceptional,” said 57-year-old Australian Jones, referring to two of the few “old hands” in the Santa Fe line-up.

“Both of them demonstrated why they have represented their country more than 50 times,” he told reporters.

Flanker Robshaw, back after shoulder and ankle injuries ruled him out of the Six Nations Championship and the first Test in Argentina, foraged tirelessly.

Fullback Brown engineered the pick of the four England tries by leaping to intercept a cross-field kick from Pumas flyhalf Nicolas Sanchez during the opening half.

He then darted down the field and cleverly cut inside to draw defenders before passing out to centre Piers Francis, who scored.

Jones also lauded Ford, labelling his performance behind an often battling pack as “brilliant”.

“It was not a great attacking game from him – he had to find another way given the circumstances.

“We did not have much ball, but kicking that field (drop) goal at the end was tactically brilliant,” he said. –