Johnson bemoans soft tries

England manager Martin Johnson was frustrated by the feeble defending that helped Argentina level the Test series with a 24-22 victory in Salta.

The Pumas surged 21-3 ahead just three minutes into the second half when Horacio Agulla dashed unchallenged through England's midfield before feeding Gonzalo Camacho to score. Johnson felt the try was pivotal to the result and although he was pleased with his side's fightback, inspired by the kicking of Andy Goode, he lamented a missed opportunity.

"This game was always going to be different from the first Test we won at Old Trafford because Argentina are a proud team, especially when they're at home," he said. "The first try hurt us but it was the second half one that really killed us because it meant we were 21-3 behind."

He added: "We shouldn't concede tries like that. We handled the line-out drive well but it was a poor try.

"You have to make them work a lot harder to score than that but the guys battled hard and played very well to come back in the second half.

"Argentina played with a lot of vigour as we knew they would. A few turnovers hurt us - it was always going to be like that early on.

"We wanted to win this game and we're frustrated because we felt we could have won. They took their chances better than we did.

"We played well last weekend, maybe the 37-15 scoreline flattered us a bit, but we really wanted to win this away game because we haven't done that this year."

Bath winger Matt Banahan set up a nervy finish for Argentina when he combined with Delon Armitage to score under the posts, bumping off Francisco Leonelli in the process.

"Matt played very well again. He took his try well and was good under the high ball. But ultimately we win and lose as a team," said Johnson.