No Start for Pollock as England Name Unchanged Side for Argentina Clash
Henry Pollock will once again be left among the substitutes this weekend. England’s head coach, Steve Borthwick, has chosen to maintain the same starting lineup for the upcoming Nations Championship match against Argentina in Santiago del Estero.
The back-row player from Northampton, Pollock, made a notable impact off the bench last week, scoring a remarkable hat-trick in just 32 minutes during England’s overwhelming 73-8 victory over Fiji in Liverpool. However, despite this impressive performance, Borthwick decided against starting Pollock in place of Ben Earl at the No. 8 position. This decision seems to contradict the opinions of several former England internationals, including Jeremy Guscott, who have publicly advocated for the 21-year-old to be included in the starting fifteen against the Pumas.
In addition to Pollock’s omission, Borthwick has opted to retain the midfield pairing of Seb Atkinson and Henry Slade, while Benhard Janse van Rensburg will continue to warm the bench after making his debut last week. The only alterations to England’s matchday squad are seen on the bench; scrum-half Ben Spencer replaces Alex Mitchell, who is sidelined due to a hamstring injury, and Emmanuel Iyogun is preferred over George Kloska for a spot on the bench.
In their opening match of the Nations Championship, England faced a formidable challenge, suffering a significant 45-21 defeat against the reigning world champions, South Africa. However, the team enters their next match with renewed confidence following their dominant performance against Fiji, which abruptly ended a disappointing five-match losing streak.
On the other side, Argentina kicked off their Nations Championship campaign with a surprise 47-38 loss at home to Scotland, but managed to bounce back with a convincing 35-21 victory over Wales last week. “We anticipate a fantastic atmosphere with passionate home support,” commented Borthwick, a former England captain. He expressed excitement about the upcoming clash, emphasizing that it promises to be a memorable event.
England Team to Face Argentina:
Starters: 15-Marcus Smith; 14-Tommy Freeman, 13-Henry Slade, 12-Seb Atkinson, 11-Immanuel Feyi-Waboso; 10-Fin Smith, 9-Jack van Poortvliet; 8-Ben Earl, 7-Guy Pepper, 6-Ollie Chessum; 5-George Martin, 4-Alex Coles; 3-Joe Heyes, 2-Jamie George (captain), 1-Ellis Genge.
Replacements: 16-Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17-Emmanuel Iyogun, 18-Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 19-Tom Curry, 20-Henry Pollock, 21-Ben Spencer, 22-Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 23-Noah Caluori.
Argentina Team:
Starters: 15-Santiago Carreras; 14-Bautista Delguy, 13-Matias Moroni, 12-Justo Piccardo, 11-Mateo Carreras; 10-Tomas Albornoz, 9-Gonzalo Garcia; 8-Joaquin Oviedo, 7-Marcos Kremer, 6-Santiago Grondona; 5-Matias Alemanno, 4-Guido Petti; 3-Tomas Rapetti, 2-Julian Montoya (captain), 1-Mayco Vivas.
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.
Nations Championship 2026
The inaugural Nations Championship is set to feature six teams from both the northern and southern hemispheres. They will compete across six rounds during the July and November international windows, culminating in a remarkable finals weekend held in Twickenham from November 27-29.
