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Argentina and England will battle-it-out for the right to call themselves the third best team that competed at Rugby World Cup 2023. The Bronze Final will take place in Paris, France on Friday. It is to be a re-match from the opening weekend of the tournament.
England defeated Argentina well in the earlier match between the sides in the pool stage. From there England went unbeaten to win the pool. It was not easy for England, however, as both Japan and Samoa made life very hard. England were close to losing against Samoa and on by a single point.
Los Pumas recovered to defeat Samoa, Chile and Japan. This meant a Quarter Final against Wales while England faced Fiji. Both matches were tight with Argentina and England ultimately winning late on in the contests.
The Semi Finals were different. Argentina were hammered by New Zealand last Friday while England led South Africa until late on Saturday. The outcome set-up a Rugby World Cup Final between the champions from the past four editions of the tournament.
The wait for a new World Cup winner continues as does a new finalist. Of the final four Argentina was the only Semi Finalist to have never reached a Rugby World Cup Final. England won the tournament in 2003 and reached the final in 1991, 2007 and 2019.
England Head Coach Steve Borthwick has opted for an all-changed front-row. He has named Ellis Genge, Theo Dan and Will Stuart to start against Los Pumas. It is Stuart’s first start of the tournament. It comes after England was severely penalized by Ben O’Keefe in their Semi Final loss to South Africa on Saturday.
There are four further changes to the eight starting forwards. Ollie Chessum comes in to start alongside Maro Itoje in the second-row. Ohio native Sam Underhill starts at flanker in an additional change. Underhill played in the Rugby World Cup 2019 Final in Yokohama, Japan.
England have gone for mobility over size in the back-row. This sees two open side flankers starting in the form of Underhill and Tom Curry. The latter will earn his 50th test cap.
Changes to the backs see Ben Youngs replacing Alex Mitchell at scrum-half. Mitchell has had an impressive World Cup, including against Argentina on the opening weekend. He was not initially involved on the 33-man roster.
Manu Tuilagi and Joe Marchant sart in the mid-field. The center combination will be joined by Henry Arundell who replaces Elliot Daly on the left wing. Arundell ran in five tries against Chile. He will be joined by Marcus Smith out of position at fullback with Freddie Steward moving to the right wing.
Argentina will again be led by Julián Montoya. The hooker will earn his 95th cap while his understudy Agustín Creevy will earn his 108th and last cap. Francisco Gómez Kodela will earn his 38th and final cap. Tomás Cubelli is set to earn his 93rd and Nicolás Sánchez his 104th cap. They are also at the end of their test careers. Center Matías Moroni will reach 80 caps. He has been named as a replacement.
Cubelli is one of three changes from the Semi Final. He replaces Gonzalo Bertranou with Lautaro Bazán Vélez again being the replacement scrum-half. Michael Cheika’s two other changes see Jerónimo de la Fuente in for Santiago Chocobares at inside center and Pedro Rubiolo starting in place of Tomás Lavanini in the second-row.
Rubiolo will partner Guido Petti in a mobile second-row duo. Juan Martin González and Petti will be the lineout targets and also look to steal English ball. Facundo Isa and Marcos Kremer complete the back-row. Kremer has played 451 minutes at the World Cup; the most of all players.
Montoya is again joined by Gómez Kodela and Thomas Gallo in the starting front-row. Similarly, Creevy, Joel Sclavi and Eduardo Bello are unchanged as the replacement front-rowers. Sclavi will cover loose head once again despite being a career tight head.
Regardless of the result this is a match of no consequence beyond the tournament. The winning players will received Bronze Medals but there will not be an outcome favoring one team be that financial or sporting. Both teams are assured of places at the next World Cup.
The Bronze Final will be referred by Australian Nic Berry. He also took charge of Argentina vs Samoa this tournament. He will be assisted by Georgian Nika Amashukeli and Irishman Andrew Brace. It is a striking appointment given that Nika Amashukeli is commonly regarded as a much better referee than Nic Berry.
TEAMS
ENGLAND
1 Ellis Genge, 2 Theo Dan, 3 Will Stuart, 4 Maro Itoje, 5 Ollie Chessum, 6 Tom Curry, 7 Sam Underhill
8 Ben Earl, 9 Ben Youngs, 10 Owen Farrell (capt.), 11 Henry Arundell, 12 Manu Tuilagi, 13 Joe Marchant, 14 Freddie Steward, 15 Marcus Smith
Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Bevan Rodd, 18 Dan Cole, 19 David Ribbans, 20 Lewis Ludlam, 21 Danny Care, 22 George Ford, 23 Ollie Lawrence
ARGENTINA
1 Thomas Gallo, 2 Julián Montoya, 3 Francisco Gómez Kodela, 4 Guido Petti, 5 Pedro Rubiolo, 6 Juan Martín González, 7 Marcos Kremer, 8 Facundo Isa, 9 Tomás Cubelli, 10 Santiago Carreras, 11 Mateo Carreras, 12 Jerónimo de la Fuente, 13 Lucio Cinti, 14 Emiliano Boffelli, 15 Juan Cruz Mallía
Replacements: 16 Agustín Creevy, 17 Joel Sclavi, 18 Eduardo Bello, 19 Matías Alemanno, 20 Rodrigo Bruni, 21 Lautaro Bazán Vélez, 22 Nicolás Sánchez, 23 Matías Moroni
RUGBY WORLD CUP BRONZE FINAL 2023 – ARGENTINA VS ENGLAND
Date: Friday, October 27
Kick-Off: 9:00pm (FR); 4:00pm (AR)
Venue: Stade de France (Paris, FR)
Referee: Nic Berry (AU)
Assistant Referees: Nika Amashukeli (GE) and Andrew Brace (IE)
TMO: Ben Whitehouse (UK)
vs
HISTORIC RESULTS
09-0-2023 – England 27-10 Argentina (Marseille, FR) *
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 England (Santa Fe, AR)
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 England (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
