England's rugby team tasked with enacting FIFA World Cup revenge on Argentina

Match News and Current Form

Following a nine-point defeat against Scotland in Córdoba during the opening round of fixtures, Argentina got their Nations Championship up and running with a 35-21 victory over Wales in San Juan. Los Pumas have now won three of their last six matches (L3) with their three defeats all by a margin of nine points or fewer.

Despite having to be withdrawn after 30 minutes against Wales due to a head injury, Matias Alemanno has cleared concussion protocols and returns to his place in the second row, while prop Mayco Vivas and centre Matias Moroni come into the side. On the bench, there’s a place for Toulouse’s lock forward Efrain Elias who is ready to make his first appearance of the season for his country.

If England had been beaten by Fiji last weekend, which would have made it six successive defeats, then all signs pointed to the end of Steve Borthwick’s tenure in charge. However, following a convincing 73-8 victory at the Hill Dickinson Stadium in Liverpool, the head coach lives to fight another day and his side are unchanged ahead of this clash in Santiago del Estero.

That means no start for Henry Pollock who entered the field in the 48th minute, made 74 metres, beat four defenders and scored a hat-trick, and will have to be content as a replacement once again. England are the only side in the competition with a perfect lineout success rate and will be looking to break into the top three of the Northern Hemisphere conference by continuing their recent domination of the Pumas. Having lost the majority of their five matches as favourites this year, they cannot take any such long-term history for granted.

Head-to-Head History

England have won 24 of the 30 H2Hs (D1, L5), including each of the last five, and have come out on top in ten of the 13 previous meetings in Argentina (D1, L3).

Hot Stats and Streaks

Argentina scored exactly five tries in both of their two games in the Nations Championship.

Argentina have conceded 14-19 first half points across each of their last four matches.

England have conceded zero points from between the 21st minute and half-time in both of their Nations Championship fixtures.

Six of England’s seven matches in 2026 cleared the pre-match total points handicap.

Key Players to Watch and Missing Players

Joaquín Oviedo has scored Argentina’s first try in both of their Nations Championship fixtures while Immanuel Feyi-Waboso got a try in the last H2H and got the first of England’s six second-half tries last weekend.

Both sides have no new availability issues.

Click here to view the match squads and latest team news.

Betting Analysis

With Argentina conceding a consistent range of points in recent first halves, backing England to score over 15.5 points before half-time looks like good value.