Untested England need to be battle-hardened by Argentina
After weeks of warm-up games and two one-sided contests to start the Rugby World Cup, England are about to face the first real challenge of their title aspirations, as they take on Argentina in Tokyo on Saturday.
Los Pumas lost to France in their tournament opener after falling to an unassailable first half deficit, before labouring to a 28-12 win over Tonga this past weekend. There were flashes of the side’s undoubted ability in the second half against France, though there is no denying that it has been a less than spectacular build-up and tournament so far for Mario Ledesma and his charges.
By losing to France in that opener, Argentina know that they must now beat England to have a chance of qualifying, especially as prospects of a wash out of France versus the USA on Wednesday, thanks to the potential arrival of a tropical storm, seem to be diminishing as the storm moves in a different path. Argentina will be targeting a win against England to keep their fate in their own hands.
The form book is certainly kinder to England, however, with Eddie Jones’ side having won the last nine matches between the two teams. You have to go back to 2009 – during the British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa – to see the last Argentine win, a match which current England forwards coach Steve Borthwick was packing down in the second row for.
For England, their Rugby World Cup has gone much more smoothly so far. Bonus point wins were chalked up against both Tonga and the USA to give England a full return of 10 points from their opening two games, although it is worth noting that they did not completely click offensively in either game. With Argentina and France now looming, they will be looking to move through the gears and put down a marker against a tougher opponent.
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Watch: Eddie Jones and George Ford face the press after England’s win over the USA
Working in England’s favour has been the proficiency of their defence and set-piece, two areas that are of vital importance in the tighter contests that the knockout rounds of the competition promise. The John Mitchell-drilled unit held Tonga to just three points and would have also nilled the USA had they opted to kick the ball out at the end of the game. Instead, they chose to play and attempt to go for their eighth try, something which resulted in broken field and a Bryce Campbell score for the Eagles.
All aspects of the set-piece, from the lineout and scrum to the kicking game and aerial contests, have been working well and as a foundation going into the games against Argentina and France, seems to be a solid one. Throw into the mix the improving health and fitness of Mako Vunipola and Jack Nowell, as well as centre Piers Francis avoiding a ban for his cited tackle against the US, and England are in reasonably good shape going into the contest in Tokyo.
Of course, given expectations are for England to top Pool C and that Argentina’s form coming into the Rugby World Cup was patchy to say the best, all the pressure is on the European side to perform, win and keep control of the group. For Argentina, they will know that anything short of a win in Tokyo likely ends their Rugby World Cup and that could help prompt a backs to the wall performance from the South Americans that we have not seen of late.
'If England want to win the World Cup they have got five knockout games… I don’t think they have got the mentality in the squad at the moment to be able to back that up five weeks in a row' https://t.co/5ZPgd7Fm0H
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 25, 2019
England need that pressure, though. They need to be tested and pushed if they are to, as is expected, qualify for the quarter-finals and pose a genuine threat to make to the last four or even last two of the tournament. With all due respect to Tonga and the USA, neither of those games has so far done that.
Jones’ side may not yet win Pool C, though they are favourites to do so and should that happen, it would likely see them meet Australia in the quarter-finals, following the Wallabies’ loss to Wales on Sunday. If they slip up against Argentina or France and end up finishing second, they’d almost certainly take on Wales. Either way, they will not want to be going into that knockout game cold or undercooked.
That said, they could really slip up, lose both games and face a second premature Rugby World Cup exit in succession, but there is certainly a consensus that that is an unlikely outcome at this point.
Argentina will ask more questions of England’s defence than Tonga or the USA did and that will be important for giving a true evaluation of where the group is, as the blunt attacks of the two tier two nations may have flattered to deceive for England. They may have to wait for the France game for a true test of their set-piece, although both teams will represent significant steps up in quality in both of those areas.
Offensively, England have questions to answer, too. Professional sport is littered with examples of teams ‘playing down’ to the quality of the opposition and there was certainly a ruthlessness missing from England’s attack in their two games to date. Given where Argentina look to be at the moment, England don’t have to be perfect or even approaching it, but they do have to be better.
In attacking phase play, Manu Tuilagi has looked sharp and was a force of nature against Tonga. The Ben Youngs and George Ford combination has looked solid, whilst Owen Farrell, Jonny May and Anthony Watson were all rested from first XV action against the USA. Both Argentina and France will test out Elliot Daly’s positioning at the back and reliability under the high ball more proficiently than Tonga and the USA did, which will be another thing to watch.
Among the other facets that the upcoming game with Argentina will test are whether or not England’s forwards can continue to provide a consistent source of front-foot ball and how that pack copes with a higher quality of replacement opponents in the second half, an area where they were really able to squeeze Tonga and the USA, something which highlighted the drop in quality a lot of tier two sides experience below their first XVs.
The rust has been knocked off, they have had a full eight days of rest and training since their last game and they will be facing an Argentina side that will have had just six full days of preparation, so there are no excuses available for Jones and England as they gear up for their third game of the Rugby World Cup on Saturday.
Possible XV to play Argentina:
15. Elliot Daly
14. Anthony Watson
13. Manu Tuilagi
12. Owen Farrell
11. Jonny May
10. George Ford
9. Ben Youngs
1. Joe Marler
2. Jamie George
3. Kyle Sinckler
4. Courtney Lawes
5. Maro Itoje
6. Tom Curry
7. Sam Underhill
8. Billy Vunipola
Watch: The Rugby Pod discuss Manu Tuilagi’s performance at the Rugby World Cup
Comments on RugbyPass
He was in such great form. Sad for him but only a short term injury and it will be great to see him back for the finals.
1 Go to commentsAfter their 5/0 start, I had the Crusaders to finish Top 4 only…they lost the plot in Perth but will reload and back themselves vs 4th placed Rebels…
3 Go to commentsBoth nations missed a great opportunity to book a game that would have had a lot of interest from around the world. I understand these games can’t be organised in 5 minutes but they should have found a way to make it happen. I don’t think Wales are ducking anyone but it’s a bad look haha.
3 Go to commentsIt will be fascinating to see the effect that Jo Yapp has. If they can compete with Canada and give BFs a run for their money that will be progress
1 Go to commentsFollowing his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
2 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
3 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
34 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
3 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
3 Go to comments