England on high alert for Los Pumas' attacking threat
SPOTLIGHT: England are determined to avoid being undone by the kind of Argentina counter-attack that stunned Scotland when they face the Pumas at Twickenham on Sunday.
Argentina were seemingly beaten at 0-21 down heading into the final quarter at Murrayfield last weekend, only to hit back with five tries as they came from behind to win 33-24 in spectacular style.
“Argentina can score very fast,” said England coach Steve Borthwick.
“You saw the athleticism they have and the way they move the ball. At the moment, scores happen quickly in Test rugby, so the game never feels like it’s done.
“It feels like every game is going into that final period, which reinforces the importance of the bench.”
The former England captain added: “How can you keep pressure on the opposition? That’s something we’ve talked about a little bit this week.
“When you’re up on the scoreboard, what do you do? When you’re down on the scoreboard, what do you do?
“We have played out a couple of scenarios on the training pitch – time on the clock, score, what are you going to do?
“How do you deal with being up by that score? How do you deal with being down by that score? The players have dealt with those really well.”
England will complete a Nations Series clean sweep of four Test wins if they defeat the Pumas on Sunday.
Victory would also mean England ended the year with an 11th consecutive win, a sequence that includes two successes away to Argentina in July and would demonstrate an ability to avoid an emotional let-down after the high of last week’s 33-19 Twickenham triumph over New Zealand
“We have spoken this week about the best teams backing it up, backing big games up, and that is what we have to do,” said England scrumhalf Ben Spencer, who started both matches against Argentina in July.
“We are under no illusions about the threat we are going to face. They are a hugely passionate side.
“When we played down there in July, the stadiums were absolutely unbelievable, absolutely bouncing at times, like a football atmosphere.
“They are an emotional team and they have got a few really skilled footballers who can make something out of nothing, so we are going to have to be right on the money on Sunday.”
