England v Argentina: preview, teams and stats
Preview, teams and key stats ahead of England's third fixture of the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
England welcome back Mako Vunipola and Jack Nowell into their matchday 23 for Saturday's clash against Argentina (KO 9am).
Head coach Eddie Jones has also opted for a George Ford and Owen Farrell axis for their third match of the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
Having won their opening two Pool C fixtures, England come up against an Argentina side who have been defeated by France, while beating Tonga.
Nicolas Sanchez has been left out of the Argentina side meaning Benjamin Urdapilleta will start at No 10.
Head coach Mario Ledesma has also chosen to leave former captain Agustin Creevy among the replacements, with hooker Julian Montoya rewarded for his 26-minute hat-trick in last week’s victory over Tonga.
- When? Saturday 5 October
- Kick-off? 0900 BST
- Where? Tokyo Stadium, Tokyo
- Coverage? ITV and BBC Radio 5 live, live updates on EnglandRugby.com
Views from the camp
England head coach Eddie Jones: “We are in Tokyo for the first time and the players are excited to be here and have had a good week’s preparation so far. We know Argentina are a very good team and our players will be ready for the game.
“Argentina is a completely different team from others we have played so far in the pool stages and are always about the physical contest. This week it’s about getting our game right, our set piece in a good place and making sure defensively we are organised and ready to find ways to score points against them.”
Argentina head coach Mario Ledesma: “I think the battle with the forwards will be the game.
“We need to win the scrum, win the line-out, win the maul, win the contact and win the breakdown.”
Previous encounters
- 2013: England 32-3 Argentina (Salta)
- 2013: England 51-26 Argentina (Buenos Aires)
- 2013: England 31-12 Argentina (Twickenham)
- 2016: England 27-14 Argentina (Twickenham)
- 2017: England 38-34 Argentina (San Juan)
- 2017: England 35-25 Argentina (Sante Fe)
- 2017: England 21-8 Argentina (Twickenham)
Key stats
England have won each of their last nine Test matches against Argentina, their last defeat against the Pumas coming in June 2009 in Salta, a game which took place whilst the British & Irish Lions were touring South Africa.
This will be the third Rugby World Cup clash between England and Argentina, England won the previous two meetings in 1995 (24-18) and 2011 (13-9).
England have scored 21 tries and conceded just one in their last three Rugby World Cup matches, scoring 4+ tries in three consecutive games for the first time in the tournament.
Argentina’s win against Tonga in their last match ended a run of 10 consecutive defeats in Test rugby for the Pumas, their worst ever losing run.
England have won six of their last 10 Rugby World Cup matches in which they have been trailing at half-time, including their pool stage meeting with Argentina in 2011, overall England have come from behind at the break to win seven World Cup games, more than any other side.
After beating Tonga in their last game Argentina are looking to record back to back wins in Test rugby for the first time since beating Italy and then France on the spin in June 2016.
Player landmarks
Ben Youngs will start his 92nd game for his country becoming the third most capped England men’s player behind Dylan Hartley (97) and Jason Leonard (114). Dan Cole will equal Youngs if he features in the game off the bench.
Agustin Creevy is set to become the most-capped player in Argentinian history if he comes off the bench on Saturday, with the Jaguares forward poised for his 88th appearance to overtake the previous record held by former fly-half Felipe Contepomi.
Billy Vunipola made his England debut in a game against Argentina in 2013, scoring a try in that match.
Teams
England: 15 Elliot Daly, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Owen Farrell (c), 11 Jonny May, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 1 Joe Marler, 2 Jamie George, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 4 Maro Itoje, 5 George Kruis, 6 Tom Curry, 7 Sam Underhill, 8 Billy Vunipola.
Finishers: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Courtney Lawes, 20 Lewis Ludlam, 21 Willi Heinz, 22 Henry Slade, 23 Jack Nowell.
Argentina: 15 Emiliano Boffelli; 14 Matias Moroni, 13 Matias Orlando, 12 Jeronimo de la Fuente, 11 Santigo Carreras; 10 Benjamin Urdapilleta, 9 Tomas Cubelli; 1 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 2 Julian Montoya, 3 Juan Figallo; 4 Guido Petti,5 Tomas Lavanini; 6 Pablo Matera, 7 Marcos Kremer, 8 Javier Ortega Desio.
Replacements: 16 Agustin Creevy, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Santiago Medrano, 19 Matias Alemanno, 20 Tomas Lezana, 21 Felipe Ezcurra, 22 Lucas Mensa, 23 Bautista Delguy.
Related topics
- Attack
- T - Tries
- M - Metres carried
- C - Carries
- DB - Defenders beaten
- CB - Clean breaks
- P - Passes
- O - Offloads
- TC - Turnovers conceded
- TA - Try assists
- PTS - Points
- Defence
- Tackles - Tackles
- MT - Missed tackles
- TW - Turnovers won
- Kicking
- K - Kicks in play
- C - Conversions
- PG - Penalty goals
- DG - Drop goals
- Set plays
- TW - Throws won
- LW - Lineouts won
- LS - Lineout steals
- Discipline
- PC - Penalties conceded
- RC - Red cards
- YC - Yellow cards
England defeat Argentina to seal quarter-final place
England are through to the quarter-finals of the 2019 Rugby World Cup having defeated 14-man Argentina in Tokyo.
Eddie Jones’ side sealed a 39-10 victory over Argentina, which recorded a third straight bonus-point win in Pool C having earlier defeated Tonga and USA.
They take on France next Saturday in their final pool fixture with qualification for the knockout stages already secured.
England led 15-3 at the break through tries from Jonny May, Elliot Daly and Ben Youngs, while Argentina lost Tomas Lavanini midway through the half.
A second-half score from George Ford sealed the bonus point while Argentina crossed via Matias Moroni but late tries from Jack Nowell and Luke Cowan-Dickie settled a comfortable victory.
Seventh heaven
After a period of early Argentina pressure Urdapilleta sent over a penalty for a 3-0 advantage.
May crossed on the left flank, Ford spotting space out wide putting in the Leicester Tiger for a seventh try this year in what has been a fine 12 months for the fying winger.
Tomas Lavanini was red carded on 17 minutes for a high tackle on Owen Farrell – a second player to be sent off for a dangerous tackle on England’s captain.
Despite that though the score remained at 5-3 inside half-an-hour before a second try arrived five minutes before the break.
England’s forwards carried to Argentina’s try line before Ford spread the ball out wide and Daly arced through.
Youngs sniped through for a third try on the stroke of half time as England continued to exploit tired Argentina defence.
Jack is back
England went through the phases and Ford crashed over after a couple of big carries from the forwards created space for the fly-half to seal the bonus point.
Farrell kept the scoreboard ticking over with a 53rd-minute penalty to increase England's lead to 25-3.
England welcomed back Mako Vunipola from injury with the talismanic prop playing the final 17 minutes of the game as the game noticeably slowed in the Tokyo humidty.
Nowell also made a welcome return from injury with 12 minutes remaining but Moroni jinked through for a first Argentina try - only the second England have conceded in Japan.
However, Nowell crossed on the right wing with a fine individual score, bouncing out of one tackle before flying over in the corner.
And Cowan-Dickie had the final say crashing over off the back of a driving maul after Farrell had kicked to 5m.
Reaction
England captain Owen Farrell: "It was scrappy at times, I thought there was a decent amount of control, we let the game get a little frantic, but we took back control got some territory and it told in the end."
England fly-half George Ford: "We are really happy with the result, Argentina were playing for their lives so that presents challenges as they play with pride and passion.
"We feel there are areas we can better at, but that's the exciting thing we can be even better."
What next?
England will complete their Pool C fixtures against France in Yokohama on Saturday 12 October (KO 9.15am, live on ITV) as they look to top the pool.
Who scored?
England: Tries – May, Daly, Youngs, Ford, Nowell, Cowan-Dickie Cons – Farrell 3 Pens - Farrell
Argentina: Tries – Moroni Cons – Urdapilleta Pens - Urdapilleta
Teams
England: 15 Elliot Daly, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Owen Farrell (c), 11 Jonny May, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 1 Joe Marler, 2 Jamie George, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 4 Maro Itoje, 5 George Kruis, 6 Tom Curry, 7 Sam Underhill, 8 Billy Vunipola.
Finishers: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Courtney Lawes, 20 Lewis Ludlam, 21 Willi Heinz, 22 Henry Slade, 23 Jack Nowell.
Argentina: 15 Emiliano Boffelli; 14 Matias Moroni, 13 Matias Orlando, 12 Jeronimo de la Fuente, 11 Santigo Carreras; 10 Benjamin Urdapilleta, 9 Tomas Cubelli; 1 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 2 Julian Montoya, 3 Juan Figallo; 4 Guido Petti,5 Tomas Lavanini; 6 Pablo Matera, 7 Marcos Kremer, 8 Javier Ortega Desio.
Replacements: 16 Agustin Creevy, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Santiago Medrano, 19 Matias Alemanno, 20 Tomas Lezana, 21 Felipe Ezcurra, 22 Lucas Mensa, 23 Bautista Delguy.
