Argentina and England will square off at the Estadio CA Colon late on Saturday evening. Our scribe takes a look at the game.
Argentina will be out for revenge when they take on arch-rivals England at the Estadio CA Colon this Saturday evening. The two sides played out an absolute epic last weekend with a late try from England debutant Denny Solomona sealing a victory for Eddie Jones’ men.
Argentina v England | Saturday 17 June | Estadio CA Colon | 21:15
To Win (80 Mins)
Argentina 9/10 | Draw 22/1 | England 9/10
Argentina
You would really expect more from a vastly experienced Argentina squad who were let down by some dire decision making last week. While Juan Martin Hernadez can’t take all the blame here, his decision to knock over drop goal instead of play through the phases and see if his side could get a vital five-pointer ultimately cost the Argentines the game.
There were other moments to secure the game that the Argentines let go begging, especially after their quick two tries midway through the second-half, which saw them go eight points clear. Instead of trying to make the English play from deep in their own half, the Argentines opted to continue to run the ball from deep.
The Argentines will have to manage the game a lot better this time around as this youthful English side will be desperate to claim a series victory. With this in mind, Argentine coach, Daniel Hourcade, should consider allowing Augustine Creevy to remain on the field for the entire game. The Argentines tend to fall apart when their skipper leaves the scene. And while reserve hooker Julian Montoya is a fantastic player, his energy from the bench does not make up for the absence of Creevy’s unrivalled leadership skills.
England
Eddie Jones is really building something special here. Despite missing a plethora of first stringers to Lions’ duty, Jones has managed to put together a squad that is capable of beating a full-strength Argentine side.
While Jones will be ecstatic with last week’s result, he’ll be even more pleased with the displays from his debutants, particularly back rowers Tom Curry and Mark Wilson. Both men caused the Argentines all sorts of problems at the breakdown and you can expect them to do the same this weekend.
The man who impressed the most last week was George Ford, however. I must be brutally honest here, and let you know he really isn’t my favourite English player – I think Farrell should be wearing the ten jersey for England at international level with Ben Teo’o at 12 instead of the Ford/Farrell Axis which has become England’s go-to combination – but the man played an absolute blinder. He will have another big role to play this weekend, and if he can replicate his kicking display from last Saturday, then the English may just secure a series victory.
Verdict: England 9/10
This really is a tough one to call and I won’t be having a huge strike on it. A small bet on the English is the way I’m leaning here.
Written by Darry Worthington for @Hollywoodbets.net!
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