POOL B England v ArgentinaVenue: Otago Stadium Kick-off: 9.30am On TV: ITV, Setanta
A BLACK-SHIRTED England will embark on their World Cup campaign intent on changing the way they are perceived by a sceptical New Zealand rugby public. “Awesome” was the word used by their captain, Mike Tindall, to describe his side’s eve-of-game preparations for their first Pool B match, against Argentina, a contest which will determine the shape of England’s entire tournament.
“Everywhere we go people keep wishing us good luck and then say ‘You’re going to need it’ before running away,” said James Haskell, the backrow forward who will be among 10 World Cup debutants in England’s starting XV. Among the team manager Martin Johnson’s squad there is a mounting desire to prove a lot of people wrong.
A confident start against the Pumas would also serve to reassure players, management and fans that last month’s warm-up Test defeat in Wales really was a blip. “We all know it’s very important to get a good result on the board to start with,” said Haskell, who will start at openside in place of the injured Lewis Moody.
“The talking stops, it’s a World Cup, it’s do or die. One loss and you’re on shaky ground. When you come to somewhere as rugby mad as New Zealand you want to perform. We’ve got to make sure we give a good account of ourselves.
“We’ve had eight or nine weeks of training, guys have fallen by the wayside and there have been ups and downs. It’s about getting out on the field, expressing all that and letting that emotion come out.
Beneath the fixed glass roof of the new Otago Stadium, England will be conscious that the rest of the world will be watching. Should they somehow contrive not to win, it would leave them needing to beat Scotland in their final pool game to qualify for the knockout stages – presuming Georgia and Romania are beaten first.
Tindall, who is due to become the most capped England centre, unseating Will Carling, is quietly confident that his team will rise to the occasion, and clearly buoyed by an impressive final session in the rain at Carisbrook on Thursday. “Everything’s been so sharp,” said Tindall. “Hopefully it won’t all be left on the training field and will turn up on the night.”
Guardian Service
ENGLAND: B Foden; C Ashton, M Tuilagi, M Tindall (capt), D Armitage; J Wilkinson, R Wigglesworth; A Sheridan, S Thompson, D Cole; L Deacon, C Lawes; T Croft, J Haskell, N Easter. Replacements: D Hartley, M Stevens, T Palmer, T Wood, B Youngs, T Flood, M Banahan.
ARGENTINA: M Rodriguez; G Camacho, G Tiesi, S Fernandez, H Agulla; F Contepomi (capt), N Vergallo; R Roncero, M Ledesma, J Figallo; M Carizza, P Albacete; J Farias Cabello, JM Leguizamon, JM Fernandez Lobbe. Replacements: A Creevy, M Scelzo, M Galarza, A Campos, A Lalanne, M Bosch, J Imhoff.
Referee: B Lawrence(New Zealand).
