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England name unchanged XV with two bench tweaks for Argentina revenge mission
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England head coach Steve Borthwick has stuck with a winning formula by naming the same XV that triumphed over Fiji last week for their round three Nations Championship fixture with Argentina in Santiago del Estero.
A run of five Tests without a win came to an emphatic halt at the Hill Dickinson Stadium last week, as England ran in 11 tries in a 73-8 victory against a charitable Fiji outfit. Despite the substitutes contributing five of those tries, including a hat-trick to Henry Pollock, Borthwick has backed his starting XV again as England seek to exact some form of revenge on Argentina just days after the football team’s World Cup semi-final heartbreak.
An unchanged XV, of course, means there is still no starting berth for Pollock despite his pyrotechnics against Fiji, which led to plenty of calls for the 21-year-old to start.
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The only two changes on the bench will see Asher Opoku-Fordjour revert to being the tighthead replacement, as he was in round one against South Africa, opening the door for Northampton Saints’ loosehead Emmanuel Iyogun to join the squad for what will be his debut. Last week, Opoku-Fordjour was a replacement loosehead, allowing Bristol Bears’ George Kloska to make his debut at tighthead.
The only enforced change in the squad sees Ben Spencer come into the matchday 23 following Alex Mitchell’s hamstring injury last week, which resulted in Marcus Smith playing the final quarter at No. 9.
“We’re excited by the challenge of playing Los Pumas in Santiago del Estero,” said Borthwick.
“We expect a fantastic atmosphere with passionate home support. It promises to be a great occasion, and one the players are excited to embrace.”
England XV: 15. Marcus Smith (Harlequins), 14. Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints), 13. Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs), 12. Seb Atkinson (Gloucester Rugby), 11. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (Exeter Chiefs); 10. Fin Smith (Northampton Saints), 9. Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers); 1. Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears), 2. Jamie George (captain, Saracens), 3. Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers), 4. Alex Coles (Northampton Saints), 5. George Martin (Saracens), 6. Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers), 7. Guy Pepper (Bath Rugby), 8. Ben Earl (Saracens)
Replacements: 16. Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks), 17. Emmanuel Iyogun (Northampton Saints), 18. Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale Sharks), 19. Tom Curry (Sale Sharks), 20. Henry Pollock (Northampton Saints), 21. Ben Spencer (Bath Rugby), 22. Benhard Janse van Rensburg (Bristol Bears), 23. Noah Caluori (Saracens)
Watch Hemispheres collide as North faces South in the brand new Nations Championship. Live matches, replays and highlights free on RugbyPass TV here
