Argentina v England LIVE: Latest updates as rugby rivals battle in Nations Championship after World Cup clash

No jeers for the Pumas, in their change strip today – which is a replica football shirt from the 1986 World Cup. Maradona, Hand of God and all that, yes – lovely stuff.

Out the England players come to what sounds like whistles. There is at least one travelling fan in – he’s waving his English flag proudly.

It’s a lovely arena this, perfectly round but very impressive from the air.

Referee: Angus Gardner (Aus)

ARs: Nika Amashukeli (Geo) & Paul Williams (NZ)

FPRO: Tual Trainini (Fra)

England have a fine recent record against Argentina, five wins from five since Steve Borthwick took over at the start of 2023. That run began with George Ford’s masterclass in Marseille after Tom Curry’s early red card, and continued last summer through two Tests that England played very, very well in without their British and Irish Lions representatives. Argentina may feel due a success, mind, given they’ve run England close several times across those five games.

Fiji weren’t up to much, really, last week but England were professional and potent in the manner in which they dismissed them. It just all felt a little bit more cohesive from Steve Borthwick’s side than the week before, partly because of the opposition and an extra week together, but also because the backline felt better balanced – even allowing for a bit of injury disruption.

Tommy Freeman went well on the wing and has a size advantage over the (nonetheless dangerous) Mateo Carreras – I’d expect England to try and get him after a few high balls early on, certainly. The continued selection of Marcus Smith at full-back ahead of Freddie Steward may suggest, though, that England think it may be a slightly more open game.

Argentina’s back five remains fearsome, big, tough, physical and athletic and more than a match for England’s unit. Joaquin Oviedo was a carrying menace against Wales a week ago, and marries nicely with defensive nuisance Marcos Kremer – such a big figure for Argentina when fit and available.

I really like the look of Efrain Elias, too, with the young lock an age-grade standout who Felipe Contepomi is clearly keen on. Joaquin Moro had a good season with Leicester and will be tasked with matching the impact that Henry Pollock and Tom Curry might provide.

England stick with a settled side as Steve Borthwick names an unchanged starting XV. The head coach resists the urge to bring Benhard Janse van Rensburg to the centres as Seb Atkinson and Henry Slade start again, while both Henry Pollock and Noah Caluori also remain among the replacements after eye-catching cameos against Fiji.

The two changes to the 23 do come on the bench, where Ben Spencer replaces an injured Alex Mitchell and uncapped loosehead Emmanuel Iyogun awaits a debut. George Kloska is also involved in a late change with Asher Opoku-Fordjour injured.

England XV: 1 Ellis Genge, 2 Jamie George (capt.), 3 Joe Heyes; 4 Alex Coles, 5 George Martin; 6 Ollie Chessum, 7 Guy Pepper, 8 Ben Earl; 9 Jack van Poortvliet, 10 Fin Smith; 11 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 12 Seb Atkinson, 13 Henry Slade, 14 Tommy Freeman; 15 Marcus Smith.

Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Emmanuel Iyogun, 18 George Kloska, 19 Tom Curry, 20 Henry Pollock; 21 Ben Spencer, 22 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 23 Noah Caluori.

Argentina blend youth and plenty of experience in a strong looking side. Highly-touted tighthead Tomas Rapetti gets another chance to augur his burgeoning reputation with a start, while locks Guido Petti and Matias Alemanno have both brought up 100 caps in the last few weeks.

Matias Moroni adds more veteran nous to midfield, while six forwards await on the bench – including young lock Efrain Elias, like Rapetti part of the Toulouse squad that won the Top 14.

Argentina XV: 1 Mayco Vivas, 2 Julian Montoya (capt.), 3 Tomas Rapetti; 4 Guido Petti, 5 Matias Alemanno; 6 Santiago Grondona, 7 Marcos Kremer, 8 Joaquin Oviedo; 9 Gonzalo Garcia, 10 Tomas Albornoz; 11 Mateo Carreras, 12 Justo Piccardo, 13 Matias Moroni, 14 Bautista Delguy; 15 Santiago Carreras.

Replacements: 16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Boris Wenger, 18 Pedro Delgado, 19 Efrain Elias, 20 Pablo Matera, 21 Joaquin Moro; 22 Simon Benitez Cruz, 23 Lucio Cinti.

Jamie George has threatened to lead his England team off the pitch against the Pumas on Saturday if there is a recurrence of the racial abuse that marred their last appearance in Argentina.

Asher Opoku-Fordjour and Chandler Cunningham-South were targeted by a small group of fans when warming up with their fellow replacements during the first half of England’s 22-17 victory in San Juan a year ago.

A World Rugby investigation concluded that an act of racial discrimination had taken place and the Argentine Rugby Union has provided assurances that it was a one-off episode.

If a similar incident does unfold at the Estadio Unico Madre de Ciudades, George insists England are ready to take matters into their own hands – including the possibility of leading the team into the changing room.

This is the final game of the first phase of the Nations Championship, which has been…pretty good? One can still ask if the new competition was necessary but we’ve seen a lot of entertaining rugby and intriguing encounters over the last few weeks, with more to come in November.