England head coach Steve Borthwick has made two changes to his matchday 23 ahead of Saturday’s Nations Championship clash with Argentina.
Scrum-half Ben Spencer and uncapped loosehead prop Emmanuel Iyogun are the two additions, both named among the replacements for the third round of the new competition.
Jamie George continues as captain in the absence of Maro Itoje and will earn his 113th cap, pushing him into fourth on England men’s all-time list.
The Test match takes place at the Estadio Único Madre de Ciudades in Santiago del Estero, with kick-off scheduled for 8.10pm UK time.
Borthwick ready for ‘great occasion’
Ahead of the game, Borthwick said on Sky Sports: “We’re excited by the challenge of playing Los Pumas in Santiago del Estero.
“We expect a fantastic atmosphere with passionate home support.
“It promises to be a great occasion and one the players are excited to embrace.”
Wing Tommy Freeman added: “We’ll see how hostile it gets.
“It’s big for Argentina and us, and being here it’s heightened massively.
“I think they’ll probably be angry, so Saturday could be a tough game.
“We know they’re a passionate country. We are too and they’ll want to compete to the fullest and we’ll be ready for that.”
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Pepper highlights ‘football-crowd’ energy
England last travelled to Argentina for a two-Test showdown in 2025, a series which the tourists won 2-0.
Reflecting on that eventful trip, back-rower Guy Pepper stated: “It was very much football-crowd type mentality, which was cool to experience and different.
“Being on the bench for the two games, you could take in the fact that they’re all chanting and jumping around one minute and then you can hear a pin drop the next.
“It was a pretty cool and special moment for us, an important step to breed new young players and allow them to make a name for themselves and keep the jersey.
“It was a pretty special tour and something that will only make us tighter.
“Since that tour, we have really tried to step up the way we attack games, so that we are able to play through teams and also play around them.
“It’s exciting where we’re going.”
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England squad to face Argentina
Starters: Marcus Smith, Tommy Freeman, Henry Slade, Seb Atkinson, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, Fin Smith, Jack van Poortvliet, Ellis Genge (vice-captain), Jamie George (captain), Joe Heyes, Alex Coles, George Martin, Ollie Chessum (vice-captain), Guy Pepper, Ben Earl.
Replacements: Luke Cowan-Dickie, Emmanuel Iyogun, Asher Opoku-Fordjour, Tom Curry, Henry Pollock, Ben Spencer, Benhard Janse van Rensburg, Noah Caluori.
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SportJustSport writers