England team v Argentina: Henry Pollock benched again as Steve Borthwick rewards Fiji thrashing against Los Pumas
Henry Pollock (left) has been kept on the bench for England's Test against Argentina
England head coach Steve Borthwick has again kept Henry Pollock on the bench, opting for an unchanged starting XV to take on Los Pumas in Santiago del Estero.
The Northampton Saints number eight has been in red-hot form in recent weeks, winning Man of the Match in the PREM Rugby final and scoring a hat-trick in England’s 73-8 win over Fiji last time out, but Borthwick has again opted to deploy him on the bench in the impact role.
But, keeping an unchanged side will ensure some level of continuity heading to South America, as England look to make it two wins on the spin after snapping their five-Test losing run at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.
The visitors have also won each of the last six meetings against Los Pumas in Borthwick’s tenure, including two Tests in Argentina last July.
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The decision to name an unchanged XV sees Marcus Smith continue at full-back amid injuries to both George Furbank and Freddie Steward. Tommy Freeman also starts on the wing again after starting five of England’s past seven Tests at outside centre, while Immanuel Feyi-Waboso completes the back-three combination.
Henry Slade and Seb Atkinson again form the centre pairing, while Fin Smith and Jack van Poortvliet continue at fly-half and scrum-half, respectively.
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Ben Earl, Guy Pepper and Ollie Chessum are again named as the back-row unit, with George Martin and Alex Coles the locks. Joe Heyes, Jamie George and Ellis Genge all retain their spots in the front-row.
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There are, however, some changes on the bench, with debutant Emmanuel Iyogun and Ben Spencer coming in alongside Luke Cowan-Dickie, Asher Opoku-Fordjour, Tom Curry, Pollock, Benhard Janse van Rensburg and Noah Caluori.
Commenting on his selection, Borthwick said: “We’re excited by the challenge of playing Los Pumas in Santiago del Estero.
“We expect a fantastic atmosphere with passionate home support. It promises to be a great occasion, and one the players are excited to embrace.”
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England team v Argentina in full
England: 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 (c), 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
Date: Saturday, 18 July, 2026
Venue: Estadio Unico Madre de Ciudades, Santiago del Estero
Kick-off: 16:10 (local), 20:10 (UK), 21:10 (France), 21:10 (South Africa), 05:10 (19 July, AEST), 07:10 (19 July, New Zealand), 16:10 (Argentina), 04:10 (19 July, JST), 15:10 (EDT)
Referee: Angus Gardner (RA)
Assistant Referees: Nika Amashukeli (GRU), Paul Williams (NZR)
TMO: Brett Cronan (RA)
FPRO: Eric Gauzins (FFR)
Broadcasters: ITV (United Kingdom), TF1 (France), Virgin Media Television (Republic of Ireland), Sky Italia (Italy), Wowow (Japan), Sky Sport (New Zealand), Nine Network / Stan Sport (Australia), SuperSport (South Africa)
