England v Argentina – Johnson Rings in the Changes

England v Argentina
Twickenham
Saturday, November 14th
Kick Off: 2.30pm

The Pumas are the next visitors to Twickenham for England’s Autumn Test Series, with the South Americans having won two of the previous three encounters. Martin Johnson’s England started sprightly against Australia last weekend, but faded in imagination badly after the half time break. Things that were going well at the start, simply got stunted, with balls being thrown laterally and hardly any movement being made over the gain line. With the forwards not securing such good ball, and the backs hanging too far back instead of stepping up to give the Australian backs something to think about, Johnson has rung the changes. Four of them anyway.

What is most surprising about one major change for the England v Argentina match, is that prop Duncan Bell gets a start after a David Wilson, who started last weekend, picked up an injury. The most surprising part is Bell’s age. At 35 the veteran is more than unlikely to be making an appearance at the next World Cup, and critics are questioning whether Johnson should be blooding young talent instead. There is a lot to be said for building for the next World Cup right now, as these Autumn tests will give some indicators ahead of next year’s Six Nations tournament early in the year. Johnson however, has called up a rookie prop, Gloucester’s Paul Doran-Jones to the bench, so one supposes that the manager is trying to find a fine balance between building a team, and producing results to keep his job.

England, admittedly, are still a long way short of fielding what many would deem to be their best team, with injuries having ravaged the pack especially. Regular forward names such as Julian White, Andrew Sheridan, Jason Hobson, Phil Vickery, Alex Corbisiero and Dan Cole are all battling for fitness for reason or another, so Johnson has had to dig deep to find quality to fill out the pack. Bell is one of four changes that Martin Johnson has made to England. James Haskell comes in at number eight, after Jordan Crane, last weekend’s starter in that position, was released back to his club, Leicester.

Comeback hooker Steve Thompson, whose far-more-miraculous return to international rugby was overshadowed by that of poster boy Jonny Wilkinson’s, drops to be replaced by Dylan Harley, who is a young dynamic ball carrier. There has also been a change at the pivotal position of scrum half, the link between the back of the scrum and the backs. London Irish’s Paul Hodgson gets his first start in an England shirt there, with Danny Care being relegated, or, as Manager Johnson puts it, having gone to the bench where he can from to make an impact. So long as Hodgson makes a mess of things, one supposes.
 
The lack of pace in the second half against Australia, and not being able to keep up to the full level of Test rugby, are the main areas of focus in which Martin Johnson has been directing his comments. Some things were done well, but the entire team needs to have direction, consistency and some creativity when it counts, for 80 minutes of the match. Argentina are no pushovers, and are looking to prove themselves and further their global development, by joining the southern hemisphere’s Tri-Nations, which they should do in 2012 (as long as some conditions are met). Playing against Australia, South Africa and New Zealand will only enhance their prospects over time. Look how far Italy have developed since joining the Five Nations.

England’s best performers last week came from two of the more experienced heads. Captain Steve Borthwick led very well, something not always seen from him, and Johnny Wilkinson played with the most drive in the backs. Shane Geraghty also had a good game, at least from the point of view that he was scrapping to be inventive, even if it did not always go so well. So it is four changes for England from last weekend’s defeat against Australia. While that indicates that Johnson is fairly happy with the direction that his team may be taking, it is still a long way short of being on top of the world again.

England to win: 1/4 at 888Sport
Draw: 25/1 at Bet365
Argentina to win: 4/1 at SportingBet

Betting Advice. Perhaps Johnson has called on the experience of Duncan Bell, because of the nature of the Argentinian game, which is focused on good scrimmaging. The Pumas are a powerful unit up front, and England need to be able to deal with the immense threat which will be posed in that area. Fernandez Lobbe has been named new skipper of the Pumas, who themselves have a blend of youth and experience, some the inexperience coming through forced changes because of injury. They will however, give England a big test, possibly more so up front than even Australia did. Don’t let the odds above fool you, this could be a really close, tough game.

England winning margin 1-12 points: 15/8 at Bet365

England v Argentina: Banahan, Bell, Borthwick (capt), Croft, Cueto, Deacon, Hartley, Haskell, Hipkiss, Hodgson, Geraghty, Monye, Moody, Payne, Wilkinson. Replacements: Thompson, Doran-Jones, Lawes, Worsley, Care, Goode, Erinle.