Elliot Daly returns to the field after his participation in the British and Irish Lions tour of Australia, after being selected as a winger for England’s match against Argentina on Sunday. Daly will take the place of Tom Roebuck, who was ruled out due to a foot injury, in the final autumn match at the Allianz Stadium. Head coach Steve Borthwick made six changes to the team that beat New Zealand 33-19. The Daly Lions tour was interrupted by a fractured forearm suffered against the Queensland Reds on July 2, which required the insertion of a plate with 16 screws. Although he was authorized by a specialist to face New Zealand, it was decided that the versatile 33-year-old player needed another week before being ready for full contact, resulting in his return for the match against the Pumas. A collision with the All Blacks caused injuries that ended the autumn season for Roebuck, Ollie Lawrence and Jamie George, while Ollie Chessum and Tommy Freeman had already been ruled out. The domino effect leads Henry Slade to take Lawrence’s place in the center, forming a midfield combination alongside Fraser Dingwall. Luke Cowan-Dickie comes in as hooker to fill the void left by George’s hamstring problem and joins a new starting front row with Ellis Genge and Asher Opoku-Fordjour. The right pillar Joe Heyes, a breakout star of the campaign, is completely left out of the 23, with the final change seeing Ben Spencer take over at scrum-half with Alex Mitchell dropping to the bench. Charlie Ewels makes his first autumn appearance among the substitutes with Theo Dan providing hooker cover. England seeks its eleventh consecutive victory and a complete autumn sweep after having defeated Australia, Fiji and New Zealand this month. Argentina will arrive at Twickenham after a 33-24 victory over Scotland in Edinburgh, which they secured after coming back from a 21-0 deficit. “Last weekend gave us a lot to build on and now the challenge is to push our performance even further,” said Borthwick. “Argentina plays with emotion and physicality and has shown that it can beat the best in the world this year. We know how dangerous they can be and we are preparing for a very contested test match. “We have felt exceptional support at the Allianz Stadium throughout this series. This is a real boost for the players and we hope to create lasting memories for our fans on Sunday.”
England XV to face Argentina
- Freddie Steward
- Immanuel Feyi-Waboso
- Henry Slade
- Fraser Dingwall
- Elliot Daly
- George Ford
- Ben Spencer
- Ellis Genge (vice-captain)
- Luke Cowan-Dickie
- Asher Opoku-Fordjour
- Maro Itoje (captain)
- Alex Coles
- Guy Pepper
- Sam Underhill
- Ben Earl
Substitutes:
- Theo Dan
- Fin Baxter
- Will Stuart
- Charlie Ewels
- Tom Curry
- Henry Pollock
- Alex Mitchell
- Marcus Smith
