England team v Argentina: Five takeaways as George Ford joins special club while player who has ‘smashed every record’ rewarded
George Ford is set to win his 100th cap for England on Saturday.
Following England’s team selection for the first Test against Argentina, to be played on Saturday in La Plata, here’s Alex Spink’s five takeaways.
Ton up Ford
If you appreciate hard work, dedication and a refusal to take no for an answer, you will raise a glass to George Ford on Saturday evening.
The Sale Sharks playmaker has had his share of knockbacks in the 11 years since his debut; dropped from some big World Cup matches and always overlooked by the British and Irish Lions.
Yet here he is about to win his 100th cap, just the eighth Englishman to achieve the feat after Ben Youngs (127 caps), Dan Cole (118), Jason Leonard (114), Owen Farrell (112), Courtney Lawes (105), Danny Care and Jamie George (101 each).
“Externally, he’s probably never got the praise he deserves, but I’ll tell you this,” said Youngs. “He’s one of the best I’ve played with and I was fortunate enough to play with some unbelievable fly-halves.
“His temperament is always the same. So consistent, no let off. Whether he’s starting, captain, not involved, whatever, his discipline and focus on the week and day to day is remarkable.
“How he’s never been a Lion I find very, very hard to fathom.”
Bath reap the reward of a year of excellence
No fewer than five players from Bath in Steve Borthwick‘s 23-man line-up is testament to the outrageously good season enjoyed by the Blue, Black and Whites.
Club captain Ben Spencer holds off the very much in-form Jack van Poortvliet to start at scrum-half – will he finally get his first England win on his ninth attempt? – and he is joined in the backline by uncapped wing Will Muir, whose restart work and all-round excellence was a feature of the West Countrymen’s treble-winning campaign.
Up front Charlie Ewels returns to the starting XV for the first time since being red carded against Japan in Tokyo 13 months ago and is joined by Sam Underhill, in his first appearance since serving a ban for a dangerous tackle in the European Challenge Cup final.
The fifth Bath man on duty is Guy Pepper, who was on fire at the business end of the regular season, reeling off one Player of the Match performance after another.
Nobody can accuse Borthwick of not rewarding form.
Seb Atkinson the real deal
Okay, Ollie Lawrence is injured, so too Fraser Dingwall, but few would question the right of Seb Atkinson to win his first cap here. The Gloucester man lit up Kingsholm all season long, then walked into England camp and stunned the coaches.
What was it Borthwick said a couple of weeks ago? “The way he has embraced training and jumped into it,” he raved. “I think he’s smashed every record we have on the GPS for running for what he does in training.
“We have a group of players like Henry Slade, Tommy Freeman and Freddie Steward who are right up there, but Seb’s come in and put himself right in that mix and even nudged above that.
“That’s not something you would usually expect from a players straight into the squad, but that’s what Seb’s done.”
According to a source he boasts a record of 4 minutes 8 seconds for the Bronco test, a running drill used to measure rugby conditioning. That is apparently not just the best in the Premiership, but the wider rugby world.
Atkinson, pulled on an England jersey a fortnight ago in the non-cap game against France at Allianz Twickenham. The visitors won but the 23-year old did enough to earn midfield selection alongside Slade this weekend.
Ben Curry, take two
Curry knows all about Argentina, he was here as an 18-year old with England in 2017. It should have been his launchpad. He was even selected ahead of twin brother Tom, only to injure his back and miss his chance.
The Sale Sharks captain had to wait another four years for his first cap, while Tom became an England and Lions star, played in a World Cup final, amassed more than 60 caps, and was even nominated for World Rugby Player of the Year.
Did Ben give up? Did he heck. He stayed patient and became one of the Premiership’s finest, most consistent performers. Back in the land of the Puma eight years on, he means business.
All to play for at 15
Today’s rugby headlines are dominated by Owen Farrell’s call-up to the British and Irish Lions. It is easy to forget that he is a fly-half replacing a full-back in the luckless Elliot Daly.
That means question marks remain about the Lions’ strength in depth at 15. Blair Kinghorn is newly arrived in Australia from France, where he won the Top 14 final with Toulouse a week ago, and is yet to pull on the red jersey.
So too Hugo Keenan, Ireland’s seriously gifted full-back, who has been injured and only gets his first start this Saturday against the NSW Waratahs. Beyond those two there is Marcus Smith, who has yet to convince defensively in the position.
For Freddie Steward, the Argentina opener is a big opportunity to put himself at the head of the queue in case a replacement is sought down the line. The Leicester man wins his 37th cap, having lost his way a little at international level since being replaced at 15 by George Furbank and, more recently, Smith, at the start of last year.
The Leicester man has had a strong season with Tigers, the Premiership runners-up, looking more threatening with ball in hand than previously. If he continues that improvement, marrying greater potency going forward with security under the high ball, he will do his chances no harm.
