Janse van Rensburg & Pollock on bench as England name unchanged XV

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Janse van Rensburg & Pollock on bench as England name unchanged XV

By

BBC Sport rugby union news reporter
  • Published

England will take on Argentina in their final match of the summer with an unchanged starting XV, as head coach Steve Borthwick resists the temptation to field either freshly capped pair Benhard Janse van Rensburg and Noah Caluori or free-scoring back row Henry Pollock from kick-off.

Saturday’s match, in Santiago del Estero in northern Argentina, will take place three days after the two countries’ football teams met in the World Cup semi-finals, with Argentina winning courtesy of two dramatic late goals.

Seb Atkinson and Henry Slade have another chance to prove their England centre partnership has potential after being paired for the first time in Saturday’s 73-8 thrashing of Fiji, with Tommy Freeman, who has been deployed in midfield, in his more accustomed position on the wing.

Argentina v England

Nations Championship

Saturday 18 July, 20:10 BST kick-off

Estadio Unico Madre de Ciudades, Santiago del Estero

Live on BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Sounds, BBC Sport website and app, with accompanying live text commentary

Jack van Poortvliet starts at scrum-half for the third successive Test, with Ben Spencer brought on to the bench in place of Alex Mitchell, who suffered a hamstring strain last weekend.

Northampton prop Emmanuel Iyogun is set to win his first cap after being named as loose-head cover among the replacements. Asher Opoku-Fordjour, who came on for Ellis Genge against Fiji, is primed for a run in his more usual front-row slot, as back-up to tight-head Joe Heyes.

———————————————————

England: M Smith; Freeman, Slade, Atkinson, Feyi-Waboso; F Smith, Van Poortvliet; Genge, George, Heyes, Coles, Martin, Chessum, Pepper, Earl.

Replacements: Cowan-Dickie, Iyogun, Opoku-Fordjour, Curry, Pollock, Spencer, Janse van Rensburg, Caluori.

———————————————————

Pollock, who has scored six tries despite all but one of his Test appearances coming off the bench, and 19-year-old Caluori, who topped the domestic try-scoring charts with Saracens, are both pushing for promotion to the starting line-up.

Janse van Rensburg is new to the team, having only become eligible to play for England earlier this month after five years playing in the Prem and the Rugby Football Union’s successful challenge over whether a single replacement appearance for South Africa’s under-20 side tied him to the Springboks at senior level.

The Pretoria-born 29-year-old is expected to be given more chances to prove himself in the coming months.

“We expect a fantastic atmosphere with passionate home support,” said head coach Steve Borthwick.

“It promises to be a great occasion, and one the players are excited to embrace.”

England have 10 full-blooded Test matches until the start of next year’s Rugby World Cup, with this encounter with the Pumas followed by autumn matches against New Zealand, Australia, Japan and a yet-to-be-confirmed southern-hemisphere opponent in the Nations Championship finals weekend.

A Six Nations campaign, which begins away to Ireland, will be their final action before preparations for the tournament begin.

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