England plays Argentina in a key Pool C match at Tokyo Stadium, Tokyo on Saturday, 5 October. Kickoff is at 17:00 local (04:00 ET). The match may be viewed in the U.S. on-demand on NBC Sports Gold and on TSN channels 1 and 4 in Canada.
England tops Pool C with 10 points after defeating Tonga 35-3 and then the USA 45-7. Argentina is in thrid place with 6 points after a 23-21 loss to France before beating Tonga 28-12.
France is in second place in the pool with 9 points after beating Argentina and the USA.
Remaining Pool matches include France playing Tonga on Sunday, 6 October, Argentina facing the USA on Wednesday 9 October, England playing France on Saturday 12 October, and with Pool play concluding on Sunday, 13 October with the USA facing Tonga.
England
England Head Coach Eddie Jones has 10 changes in his starters from playing the USA. The starting XV closely resembles the lineup in the opening match against Tonga, with the exception of George Kruis, who was a reserve, and Mako Vunipola, who will be in the matchday squad along with Jack Nowell for the first time in the Rugby World Cup.
Both Mako Vunipola and Nowell are returning from injuries. Vunipola has played 17 minutes of rugby since injuring his hamstring during Saracens Heineken Cup win in May. He also was a replacement in England’s World Cup warm-up win over Ireland at Twickenham but played 17 minutes again before reinjuring the hamstring.
Nowell injured his ankle playing for Exeter in their Premiership final loss to Saracens in June. After surgery and an emergency appendix operation during England’s second training camp in Italy, the winger is fit and is a reserve.
Joe Marler, Tom Curry, Billy Vunipola, George Ford and Elliot Daly have been starters for all three matches, while captain Owen Farrell returns as a starter.
England is a very experienced team with Ben Youngs starting his 92nd game for his country and Dan Cole will equal Youngs if he enters the game off the bench.
England has won their first two games at RWC 2019 and will be seeking their 10th straight win over Argentina.
Argentina
Argentina Head Coach Mario Ledesma faces a must-win against England and has left Nicolas Sanchez, a flyhalf with 77 caps out of the matchday squad. Benjamin Urdapilleta, who has won 12 caps, starts at 10 with 23-year-old Lucas Mensa providing cover on the bench.
Julian Montoya, who scored a hat-trick against Tonga, maintains his position at hooker with former captain Agustin Creevy, waiting to break Argentina’s caps record from the bench.
Javier Ortega Desio returns at No.8 and provides extra strength in lineouts.
Squads
England: 1 Joe Marler, 2 Jamie George, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 4 Maro Itoje, 5 George Kruis, 6 Tom Curry, 7 Sam Underhill, 8 Billy Vunipola, 9 Ben Youngs, 10 George Ford, 11, Johnny May, 12 Owen Farrell (capt.), 13 Manu Tuilagi, 14 Anthony Watson, 15 Elliot Daly 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Courtney Lawes, 20 Lewis Ludlam, 21 Willi Heinz, 22 Henry Slade, 23 Jack Nowell
Argentina: 1 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 2 Julián Montoya, 3 Juan Figallo, 4 Guido Petti, 5 Tomás Lavanini, 6 Pablo Matera (capt.), 7 Marcos Kremer, 8 Javier Ortega Desio, 9 Tomás Cubelli, 10 Benjamín Urdapilleta, 11 Santiago Carreras, 12 Jerónimo de la Fuente, 13 Matías Orlando, 14 Matías Moroni, 15 Emiliano Boffelli 16 Agustín Creevy, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Santiago Medrano, 19 Matías Alemanno, 20 Tomás Lezana, 21 Felipe Ezcurra, 22 Lucas Mensa, 23 Bautista Delguy
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistants: Angus Gardner (Australia), Andrew Brace (Ireland)
TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa)
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