How England can close out series win in Argentina

Yahoo

11-07-2025

Borthwick's side have travelled to San Juan, close to the border with Chile, for the second Test [Getty Images]
Second Test: Argentina v England
Date: Saturday, 12 July Kick-off: 20:40 BST Venue: Estadio San Juan del Bicentenario
Coverage: Live text commentary on the BBC Sport website and app
Before England left for Argentina, head coach Steve Borthwick called the odds. He proclaimed that the Pumas – higher in the world rankings and with a clutch of high-profile scalps to their name - were favourites for the series.
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That's changed.
England's superb 35-12 win in the first Test in La Plata propelled Borthwick's side above the hosts in the rankings.
Markets still have Argentina as favourites for the second Test but only now by the width of a betting slip.
So how can a young, inexperienced England, without 13 Lions, back up their victory and close out a seminal series win?
Dig in under new scrum pressure
England have prepared with a drill involving mismatched scrums this week [Getty Images]
On a trip that has included visits to Boca Juniors' home ground and Buenos Aires' famous Palermo Hipodromo racecourse, England have also been hosted at a traditional, meat-mountain 'asado' barbecue.
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The front row might need that protein.
After being more than matched at the set-piece in the first Test, the hosts have beefed up their front five.
First-choice loose-head prop Thomas Gallo is back in the starting line-up with the 40-year-old wiles of Francisco Gomez Kodela on the other side of the front row and Guido Petti in the second-row engine room.
England gave travelling journalists a rare insight into a full-bore training session this week. One of the drills involved the eight starters scrumming against a 10-strong pack.
"If we're playing against a team which scrummages for penalties, and a heavy pack, then I'll go 10 versus eight and have a longer time under tension," said scrum coach Tom Harrison.
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England are prepared.
Cool hands & hard lines from debutant Luke
Northmore finally earns a first cap after first being called up to the England squad three years ago [Getty Images]
Luke Northmore was not the obvious replacement for injured Henry Slade.
His Harlequins team-mate Oscar Beard is a more natural outside centre. Max Ojomoh started at 13 for Bath in their Premiership final win over Leicester last month.
But Borthwick instead has opted for Northmore's hard-running physicality alongside Seb Atkinson in midfield.
England will miss Slade's playmaking nous. But he wasn't always central to the backline's slickest moments in La Plata.
Tom Roebuck's second try was set in motion by Atkinson's impeccable pull-back pass and Freddie Steward clinging on to a pass around his hips.
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Steward's own try was created by George Ford's daring miss-pass across the face of the Pumas' defence.
Northmore's challenge will be to bring his brute force and while keeping that attack, being overseen by Bath assistant coach Lee Blackett in the absence of Lions assistant Richard Wigglesworth, flowing smoothly.
Keep the line speed
While Blackett is looking after attack, Sale Sharks' Byron McGuigan is helping out regular defence coach Joe El-Abd.
England have been varying the angle of the accelerator pedal over the past year, trying to find a balance between raw, rabid line speed which cuts down opposition space and a coherent shape that denies them holes to exploit.
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In the first Test in La Plata, there was a little more gas and go-forward compared to the Six Nations and, together with some gutsy goal-line rearguard, it worked brilliantly.
Argentina created two tries with sharp heads-up rugby.
England short-staffed the blindside by one man on halfway and paid the price with Pedro Rubiolo's try – but such opportunities were rare.
Willis to overpower Pumas once more?
WIllis made 29 metres from 19 carries in the first Test [Getty Images]
One of England's star performers in the first Test, number eight Tom Willis, outshone the Pumas' stellar back-row trio of Pablo Matera, Facundo Isa and Saracens' team-mate Juan Martin Gonzalez.
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He was furiously industrious on either side of the ball, with a bottomless appetite for the rough stuff.
He carried remorselessly, made 21 tackles and won two turnovers in a figurehead individual performance.
By the end of the Six Nations, Borthwick was favouring a speedy, low-slung ground game in his back row, with Ben Earl at number eight between the Curry brothers.
If Willis can produce again at the levels he demonstrated in La Plata though, he will be hard to shift out of the team.
Bench spots under the spotlight
The strength of England's bench has been questioned this year. In theory, with 13 players on duty in Australia, it should be under even more pressure.
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However, England finished on the front foot in the first Test, pushing for more points rather than clinging on for victory.
It is a young set of replacements - six of the eight are 24 or under – and the experience gained at the business end of a Test series in front of a loud, away support will be priceless.
Borthwick spoke about this tour being a chance to build and reveal Test-match temperament in his youngsters. That focus may be most acute on these finishers.
Twenty-year-old Asher Opoku-Fordjour, who came under pressure in Sale's Premiership semi-final defeat by Leicester, will relish the chance to prove himself.
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Chandler Cummingham-South, who is attempting to add second row to his repertoire, needs to rediscover his rampaging best.
The broken field and tired opposition might suit the all-court skills of Theo Dan, centrally-contracted, but third choice at hooker behind Luke Cowan-Dickie and Jamie George.
Cadan Murley is exorcising the ghosts of a difficult debut in Dublin, while Jack van Poortvliet, who would have travelled to the last World Cup as England's first choice scrum-half but for a late injury, is pushing hard to move up the pecking order.