Saracens wing Noah Cato struck twice in a compelling first 15 minutes with Worcester’s Miles Benjamin also touching down as they opened up a 19-3 lead.

But they had to dig in after the interval after the Pumas forced their way back into the game before replacement full-back David Smith (Northampton Saints) finished off a fluent attacking move and flanker Andy Saull (Saracens) struck in the final moments.

The win means England will now play-off for fifth place on Saturday against the winner of tonight’s game between Samoa and France – both sides they have beaten this season.

When England first met Argentina in the group stages they had held on for a 17-15 win in the first meeting between the sides with tries from Hugo Ellis and Alex Tait, with Ignacio Poet Belmont and Guillermo Roan scoring for the Pumas as they recovered from 17-5 down.

They had freshened up their team since then by making seven changes to the side beaten 34-13 by New Zealand and handing first starts to Northampton Saints scrum-half Danny Pointon, Bath Rugby prop Billy Moss and London Irish flanker Jon Fisher.

But there was no sign of any unfamiliarity in a devastating first-quarter display from the rejigged side as England’s wings struck from long-range with three tries in the first 15 minutes.

Cato’s blind-side surge scattered defenders inside the first two minutes with the ball moved swiftly right for Fisher to put Worcester’s Benjamin in for the opening try with Goode converting.

Six minutes later Cato repeated the trick, this time without needing any supporting runners as he carved his way outside full-back Belisario Agulla to score on the left before Goode converted.

Argentina responded by driving off the back of a lineout for Matias Thomas to drill over a drop-goal but Cato struck again in the 15th minute, this time blasting through a hole on the right before shrugging off Nicolas Andres to reach the corner.

Goode missed the conversion – an unusual occurrence that ended a sequence of 12 successful kicks at goal in this tournament.

The Puma’s rallied either side of half-time as England lost their way, though, when they might have been out of sight.

Lock Guillermo Roan was driven over following a series of surges down the blindside a minute before the break and a scrappy 10 minutes after the interval ended with prop Juan Figallo driven over from a close-range lineout.

That was the cue for England to regroup, however, with some fresh legs on the field as fly-half Adam Greendale took advantage of a stiff breeze to kick them into some more comfortable positions.

They finally struck with a neatly choreographed move, Greendale looping behind his centres and giving Smith the chance to force his way through a tackler to the line.

England finished with a flourish as well, Greendale’s cross-kick fielded by Cato and then recycled for Saull to follow up and score before Goode’s conversion took them past the 30 point barrier.

England Under-19: Alex Goode (Saracens); Miles Benjamin (Worcester Warriors), Alex Tait (Newcastle Falcons; David Smith, Northampton Saints 48), Gareth Griffiths (Bristol Rugby; Greg King, Worcester Warriors & Hartpury College, 32), Noah Cato (Saracens); Adam Greendale (Leeds Tykes & Hymers College), Danny Pointon (Northampton Saints; Richard Bolt, Exeter Chiefs 23-29, 42); Billy Moss (Bath Rugby; Jack Steadman, Bristol Rugby 66), Joe Williams (Gloucester Rugby), Nathan Catt (Bath Rugby), Ben Thomas (Saracens; Matthew Cox, Worcester Warriors 48), Gregor Gillanders (Leicester Tigers), Jon Fisher (London Irish & Wellington College), Garth Dew (Sale Sharks; Andy Saull, Saracens, 60), Hugo Ellis (Captain, London Wasps; Tom Denton, Leeds Tykes 68).

Replacements (not used): Alex Corbisiero (London Irish), Scott Freer (Leeds Tykes), Joe Simpson (London Wasps), Tom Bedford (Exeter Chiefs).

Argentina Under-19: Belisario Agulla (captain); Nicolas Andres, Juan Pablo Socino, Juan Pablo Estelles, Diego Palma; Matias Thomas, Martin Landajo; Javier Perez, Roberton Telerizo, Juan Figallo, Anibal Panzeira Garrido, Guillermo Roan, Marcos Insua, Guido Lofiego, Lisandro Ahaulii De Chazal.

Replacements: Ignacio di Santi, Jeronimo Negroto, Facundo Corimayo, Cristian Etchart, Juan Mangione, Federico Durba, Manuel Trebucq, Jorge Hill Basilio, Nicolas Sanchez, Francisco Panessi, Ignacio Poet Belmonte.

Referee: Philip Bosch (South Africa)