Match News and Current Form
Despite their famous 28-24 victory over the British & Irish Lions in Dublin two weeks ago, Argentina coach Felipe Contepomi has made six changes to their XV for this clash. Wing Santiago Cordero, Benjamin Elizalde on debut, and scrum-half Gonzalo Bertranou come into the backs with Pedro Salgado, Lucas Paulos and Facundo Isa bolstering the forwards.
The win over the Lions ended a run of three defeats in four games and the Pumas, who begin this Test one place above England in the World Rugby rankings, will be keen to put on a show of power and strength against the much-changed tourists.
England finished the 2025 Six Nations Championship with a record-breaking 68-14 win against Wales, their biggest ever victory margin in Cardiff, and made it four successive wins to finish in the top two for the first time since 2020.
However, they will be without 13 first-choice players due to the Lions tour and with nine of the starting XV having fewer than 15 caps, head coach Stuart Lancaster was keen to pile the pressure on the hosts, describing them as “heavy favourites”. George Ford will make his 100th Test appearance in this game and will co-captain the side while centre Seb Atkinson and wing Will Muir will make their debuts.
Head-to-Head History
England have won 21 of the 27 H2Hs against Argentina and came out on top in both of their meetings at the 2023 Rugby World Cup by margins of 17 and three points.
Argentina’s last victory over England came at Twickenham in November 2022 which ended a streak of ten successive H2H wins for the Red Roses.
Hot Stats and Streaks
Argentina have won three of their last four home games (L1), beating South Africa, Australia and France.
Argentina have scored 19+ points in ten of their last 12 matches (W7, L5).
England won their last away fixture but had lost five of their previous six on the road (W1).
England have trailed in only one of their last six matches at half-time.
Key Players to Watch and Missing Players
Santiago Cordero got Argentina’s final try against the Lions to make it three tries from his last four internationals and two in the last two. Centurion George Ford scored all of England’s 27 points when they took on Argentina during the pool stages of the 2023 RWC.
Tomás Albornoz scored 18 of Argentina’s 28 points in Dublin but will be rested for this game while England wing Immanuel Feyi-Waboso misses both matches in Argentina after picking up a red card against France XV last month.
Betting Analysis
The winning margin has been one point and three points in two of the last three H2Hs so backing England, who have generous odds due to the Lions tour, with the +8.5 point handicap looks like an interesting option.