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The mega clash between England and Argentina will open Pool D. The Saturday fixture sees the leading sides from the group clashing in Marseille. The prize is a huge leap towards getting out of the group. England failed to do so at home in 2015 while Argentina missed out in 2019.
England rugby is in disarray. Steve Borthwick has failed to get the team to gel. His results since replacing Eddie Jones do not justify the change. England fell to a first-ever loss to Fiji in August. That came at home.
England’s warm-up matches for the World Cup also involved red cards. Senior players Billy Vunipola and captain Owen Farrell will not face Argentina. Both were suspended for foul play. This sees Courtney Lawes captaining England against Los Pumas.
Borthwick’s line-up includes players who were not originally named in his 33-man roster. He has opted for a front-row of Ellis Genge, Jamie George and veteran Dan Cole who played at RWC 2011. Cole starts ahead of Will Stuart and Kyle Sinckler.
Maro Itoje and Ollie Chessum will lock the scrum with Lawes being joined in the back-row by Tom Curry and Ben Earl. George Martin and Lewis Ludlam will cover from the replacements.
The backs see Alex Mitchell doing more than replacing Jack van Poortvliet. The former was missing from the roster until the latter was forced out injured. Mitchell starts ahead of veterans Ben Youngs and Danny Care. He will partner George Ford in the halves.
Veteran of RWC 2011, Manu Tuilagi starts at inside center. He will partner Joe Marchant in the centers. The back-three consists of another veteran as Jonny May will start. He is another to have earned his spot after having been dropped. Elliot Daly started at fullback at RWC 2019 but will play wing against Argentina. Freddie Stewart completes the line-up in the 15 shirt.
Michael Cheika has fielded a team that has not played together this year. The timing of the matches meant different players were rested following the completion of seasons in the the United Rugby Championship (URC), English Premiership and French Top 14.
Julián Montoya will lead the team from hooker. Thomas Gallo and Francisco Gómez Kodela are the starting props and Tomás Lavanini joins Matías Alemanno in the second-row. In other words, there are no surprises in the front-five.
The back-row is as expected too. Marcos Kremer starts at flanker and will play blindside with Pablo Matera on the open side. 22-year-old Juan Martín González will play N8 but is a third flanker as much as Kremer is a third second-rower.
Gonzalo Bertranou and Santaigo Carreras are the starting halves. This has been Cheika’s regular combination. The same applies to the back-three with Juan Cruz Mallía at fullback and Mateo Carreras and Emiliano Boffelli playing as the wingers.
The mid-field will be Santiago Chocobares and Lucio Cinti. It is a semi new-look after Chocobares’ early exit against South Africa in Buenos Aires last month. Chocobares has the size and strength to match that of Manu Tuilagi.
Argentina’s replacements have notable selections. First, there is a six-two rather than a five-three split among the replacement forwards and backs. Rodrigo Bruni is the extra forward. He joins Pedro Rubiolo in giving Argentina two back-row replacements.
Veteran Agustín Creevy will be joined by two tight head prop replacements. This means that Joel Sclavi will actually be covering loose head. Matías Moroni will cover both center positions and wing. With no replacement fly half Juan Cruz Mallía will cover fly half if required.
Based on form, Argentina enter the vital Pool D match as favorites. Notwithstanding, this is a match which could go either way. The forwards will be critical; the team who wins the collisions will enable their team withe more opportunities to kick points and score tries.
Argentina and England share one of rugby’s great rivalries. Dating back to 1981, the teams have competed home-and-away and at Rugby World Cups. England eliminated Los Pumas from RWC 2019 while Argentina sent a warning to the world in knocking over England in London last November.
TEAMS
ENGLAND
1 Ellis Genge, 2 Jamie George, 3 Dan Cole, 4 Maro Itoje, 5 Ollie Chessum, 6 Courtney Lawes (capt.), 7 Tom Curry, 8 Ben Earl, 9 Alex Mitchell, 10 George Ford, 11 Elliot Daly, 12 Manu Tuilagi, 13 Joe Marchant, 14 Jonny May, 15 Freddie Steward
Replacements: 16 Theo Dan, 17 Joe Marler, 18 Will Stuart, 19 George Martin, 20 Lewis Ludlam, 21 Danny Care, 22 Marcus Smith, 23 Ollie Lawrence
ARGENTINA
1 Thomas Gallo, 2 Julián Montoya (capt.), 3 Francisco Gómez Kodela, 4 Matías Alemanno, 5 Tomás Lavanini, 6 Pablo Matera, 7 Marcos Kremer, 8 Juan Martín González, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 10 Santiago Carreras, 11 Mateo Carreras, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 13 Lucio Cinti, 14 Emiliano Boffelli, 15 Juan Cruz Mallía
Replacements: 16 Agustín Creevy, 17 Joel Sclavi, 18 Eduardo Bello, 19 Guido Petti, 20 Pedro Rubiolo, 21 Rodrigo Bruni, 22 Lautaro Bazán Vélez, 23 Matías Moroni
RUGBY WORLD CUP 2023 – ARGENTINA VS ENGLAND
Date: Sunday, September 09
Kick-Off: 9:00pm (FR); 4:00pm (AR)
Venue: Stade Vélodrome, Marseille (FR)
Referee: Mathieu Raynal (France)
Assistant Referees: Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand); Pierre Brousset (France)
TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa)
vs
HISTORIC RESULTS
11-06-2022 – England 29-30 Argentina (London, UK)
10-05-2019 – England 39-10 Argentina (Tokyo, JP) *
11-11-2017 – England 21-8 Argentina (London, UK)
06-17-2017 – Argentina 25-35 Argentina (Santa Fé)
06-10-2017 – Argentina 34-38 England (San Juan, AR)
11-26-2016 – England 27-14 Argentina (London, UK)
11-09-2013 – England 31-12 Argentina (London, UK)
06-15-2013 – Argentina 26-51 Argentina (Buenos Aires, AR)
06-08-2013 – Argentina 3-32 England (Salta, AR)
09-10-2011 – England 13-9 Argentina (Dunedin, NZ) *
11-14-2009 – England 16-9 Argentina (London, UK)
06-13-2009 – Argentina 24-22 England (Salta, AR)
06-06-2009 – England 37-15 Argentina (Manchester, UK)
11-11-2006 – England 18-25 Argentina (London, UK)
06-22-2002 – Argentina 28-26 England (Buenos Aires, UK)
11-25-2000 – England 19-0 Argentina (London, UK)
06-07-1997 – Argentina 33-13 England (Buenos Aires, AR)
05-31-1997 – Argentina 20-46 England (Buenos Aires, AR)
12-14-1996 – England 20-18 Argentina (London, UK)
05-27-1995 – England 24-18 Argentina (Durban, ZA) *
11-03-1990 – England 51-0 Argentina (London, UK)
08-04-1990 – Argentina 15-13 England (Buenos Aires, AR)
07-28-1990 – Argentina 12-25 England (Buenos Aires, AR)
06-06-1981 – Argentina 6-12 England (Buenos Aires, AR)
05-30-1981 – Argentina 19-19 England (Buenos Aires, AR)
* Rugby World Cup Match
