Alex Mitchell and Jonny May were not included in England’s original World Cup squad; Tom Curry has recovered from an ankle injury and will play for the first time since May; Dan Cole starts in his fourth World Cup
Last Updated: 07/09/23 3:05pm
Jonny May scores vs Fiji
Alex Mitchell and Jonny May will start for England in their World Cup opener against Argentina on Saturday.
The pair were not in Steve Borthwick’s initial World Cup squad but were called up after injuries and will now take to the field in The Stade Velodrome in Marseille.
Elsewhere, Tom Curry starts for the first time since May having recovered from an ankle injury and Dan Cole starts in his fourth World Cup.
England: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Jonny May, 13 Joe Marchant, 12 Manu Tuilagi, 11 Elliot Daly, 10 George Ford, 9 Alex Mitchell; 1 Ellis Genge, 2 Jamie George, 3 Dan Cole, 4 Maro Itoje, 5 Ollie Chessum, 6 Courtney Lawes (c), 7 Tom Curry, 8 Ben Earl.
Replacements: 16 Theo Dan, 17 Joe Marler, 18 Will Stuart, 19 George Martin, 20 Lewis Ludlam, 21 Danny Care, 22 Marcus Smith, 23 Ollie Lawrence.
Argentina pick six forwards on the bench against England
Argentina’s Juan Cruz Mallia returns at fullback to face England as coach Michael Cheika opted for six forwards on the bench.
Mallia is part of a back three with goal-kicker Emiliano Boffelli and Mateo Carreras on the wings and a powerful midfield of Santiago Chocobares and Lucio Cinti. Santiago Carreras is at flyhalf and Gonzalo Bertranou gets the nod at number nine.
The team is captained by hooker Julian Montoya, who packs down with props Thomas Gallo and Francisco Gomez Kodela, while the second row is made up of Matias Alemanno and Tomas Lavanini. Former captain Pablo Matera is on the flank along with Marcos Kremer, and Juan Martin Gonzalez is at number eight, as Cheika took the unusual step, for him at least, of naming a 6-2 split between forwards and backs on his bench.
Argentina: 15 Juan Cruz Mallia, 14 Emiliano Boffelli, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Santiago Carreras, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Matias Alemanno, 3 Francisco Gomez Kodela, 2 Julian Montoya (c), 1 Thomas Gallo
Replacements: 16 Augustin Creevy, 17 Joel Sclavi, 18 Eduardo Bello, 19 Guido Petti, 20 Pedro Rubiolo, 21 Rodrigo Bruni, 22 Lautaro Bazan Velez, 23 Matias Moroni.
More to follow…
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