England’s wait for a win over Argentina in the Coronation Cup goes on. On International Day at Guards Polo Club on Saturday 27 July, Argentina beat England 13-6 on the Queen’s Ground.
The match
The Argentine side was led by Hilario Ulloa, with his son Toly Ulloa also among the key figures. Rufino Laulhé was singled out for his performance, scoring six goals. England were captained by Tommy Beresford. We have only one published report for the full details of the match, so we keep our summary to the points we can verify.
The visitors have now won every match between the two countries in the revived cup, which dates back to 1971.
A long history
The Coronation Cup was established in 1911 to mark the coronation of King George V. Since the 1970s the Hurlingham Polo Association has organised it each year, usually inviting leading teams from overseas to take on England. When the HPA announced the fixture in May, it noted that Argentina and England had met five times before in the revived competition, in 1995, 2000, 2009, 2014 and 2019, and that Argentina had won each one. Another win will not surprise anyone, though the size of it will.
England’s season
For England it is a disappointing end to a good run. They were unbeaten in the 2023 international season and had beaten the Commonwealth and Uruguay in earlier editions of the Coronation Cup. The Westchester Cup success of last spring also means this is a team that has recent experience of winning on the big stage. Against Argentina, though, the margin of ability on the day was just too large.
The day as a whole
A Young England side was also scheduled to play for the Whitbread Trophy on the undercard. International Day is one of the most popular days of the English summer, and an Argentina side is always a draw.
The next big fixtures are in Europe, where Sotogrande and Deauville close out August.
Sources: PoloHUB, Hurlingham Polo Association
