Nations Championship · Round 3
Argentina
England
Estadio Único Madre de Ciudades, Santiago del Estero
Championship Standings
Two rounds of the inaugural World Rugby Nations Championship are gone and the group races are taking shape. In the Rest of World group, South Africa and New Zealand have marched to two wins from two and sit clear on 10 points, leaving Argentina (1–1, beat Wales 35–21 after a bonus-point loss to Scotland) third and chasing. In Europe, Ireland are perfect on 10, France and Scotland lead the chasers, and England sit fourth on 5 points despite the biggest win of Round 2 — a 73–8 evisceration of Fiji that hauled their points difference to a group-best +41. The competition is two groups of six playing a full cross-group round-robin — four points for a win, two for a draw, plus bonus points for four tries and for losing by seven or fewer — with the group tables seeding a Finals Weekend at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham. The tables below are seeded on points then points difference after Round 2.
| Pos | Team | P | W | L | PD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rest of World | ||||||
| 1 |  South Africa | 2 | 2 | 0 | +38 | 10 |
| 2 |  New Zealand | 2 | 2 | 0 | +32 | 10 |
| 3 | Argentina | 2 | 1 | 1 | +5 | 6 |
| 4 |  Japan | 2 | 1 | 1 | +1 | 4 |
| 5 |  Australia | 2 | 0 | 2 | -23 | 2 |
| 6 |  Fiji | 2 | 0 | 2 | -80 | 0 |
| Europe | ||||||
| 1 |  Ireland | 2 | 2 | 0 | +18 | 10 |
| 2 |  France | 2 | 1 | 1 | +19 | 7 |
| 3 |  Scotland | 2 | 1 | 1 | -5 | 6 |
| 4 | England | 2 | 1 | 1 | +41 | 5 |
| 5 |  Wales | 2 | 1 | 1 | +1 | 5 |
| 6 |  Italy | 2 | 0 | 2 | -47 | 0 |
Argentina
W3, L2Argentina bounced back from a wild Round 1 — a 47–38 shoot-out loss to Scotland in which they still banked the try bonus — with a controlled 35–21 dismantling of Wales, and they arrive on the back of a genuinely strong stretch. On last November's tour they put 52 on Wales in Cardiff and 33 on Scotland away, and Los Pumas can lay a glove on anyone: 181 points scored across these five. The wrinkle is a defence that ships points in bursts — 47 to Scotland, 27 to England — and Felipe Contepomi has responded by picking for forward density, a pack built to slow the game and strangle it rather than run it. This is a side that has beaten the All Blacks and the Lions inside 12 months; the talent is not in question.
England
W1, L4England are the hardest side in the tournament to read. A dismal 2026 Six Nations — beaten by Ireland (42–21), pipped by Italy (23–18) and France (48–46) — bled into a 45–21 hiding by South Africa in Round 1, and then, out of nowhere, a 73–8 demolition of Fiji that was the biggest win of the round. That Fiji rout flatters the season but not the talent: Henry Pollock scored a 32-minute hat-trick and still can't crack the starting XV. The pattern is a team that batters what's in front of it when the game opens up and wilts when a physical side gets in its face — which is exactly the ambush Contepomi has designed. Firepower, yes; consistency, no.
Head-to-Head Record
1 – 0 – 15
Argentina wins · Draws · England wins (last 16 meetings)
Argentina (1)This is, on paper, one of the most one-sided rivalries England have going — they have won 15 of the last 16 meetings, Argentina's solitary win a 30–29 smash-and-grab at Twickenham in November 2022. Crucially, England have owned it home and away: they swept both Tests on Argentine soil in July 2025 (35–12 and 22–17), beat the Pumas in the 2023 World Cup bronze final (26–23) and pool stage (27–10), and edged last November's rematch 27–23. But look closer and the recent margins are shrinking — 5 points, 3 points, 4 points — and this is Argentina's first crack at England with a full crowd behind them since that 2022 upset. The record screams England; the last two years whisper that a home ambush is overdue.
Recent Results
| Date | Competition | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 2025 | Autumn Test | England 27–23 Argentina |
| Jul 2025 | Summer Test | Argentina 17–22 England |
| Jul 2025 | Summer Test | Argentina 12–35 England |
| Oct 2023 | Rugby World Cup | Argentina 23–26 England |
| Sep 2023 | Rugby World Cup | England 27–10 Argentina |
| Nov 2022 | Autumn Test | England 29–30 Argentina |
Average score in the last 6 meetings: England have won the last four meetings and 15 of the last 16 — including both Tests in Argentina in 2025 and the 2023 World Cup bronze final. Argentina's only win in that entire run came by a single point at Twickenham in 2022. But three of the last four have been decided by five points or fewer; the gap is nothing like as wide as the tally.
Extended Form
Argentina8W, 6L (last 12 months)
Wins over the British & Irish Lions (28–24), New Zealand (29–23), Australia (28–26), Scotland (33–24), Wales (52–28 and 35–21) and Uruguay (52–17). Losses to England three times (27–23, 22–17, 35–12), South Africa twice (29–27, 67–30) and Scotland in Round 1 of this tournament (47–38).
Los Pumas under Contepomi are a top-six side on their day and a leaky one on their off day — the ceiling is beating the All Blacks and the Lions, the floor is conceding 67 to South Africa and 47 to Scotland. The home form is the encouraging thread: Argentina are hard to handle in front of their own crowd, and Santiago del Estero has become a fortress-in-the-making for the union's away-from-Buenos-Aires Tests.
England4W, 6L (last 12 months)
A 73–8 rout of Fiji and a 2025 clean sweep of Argentina (35–12, 22–17 away, 27–23 at home) are the highs. The lows pile up: a 45–21 loss to South Africa and a wretched Six Nations that included defeats to Ireland (42–21), Italy (23–18) and France (48–46).
England's results say a team in flux — capable of 73 points one week and 21 the next, undone repeatedly by sides that dragged them into a dogfight. Borthwick has rewarded the Fiji performance with continuity, naming an unchanged XV, but the tour context matters: this is England's third Test of a demanding overseas window, in a hostile venue, against a side built specifically to slow them down.
Argentina XV
Felipe Contepomi makes two changes to the side that beat Wales, and both signal intent: Mayco Vivas comes in at loosehead for Boris Wenger to bolster the scrum, and Matías Moroni replaces Lucio Cinti in midfield for defensive steel. Julián Montoya captains from hooker in his 120th Test — second only to Pablo Matera (124, on the bench) in Pumas history — with Santiago Carreras vice-captain at fullback and running the show alongside Tomás Albornoz and Gonzalo García. The selection is a statement of the game plan: forward density, breakdown ferocity from Marcos Kremer and Santiago Grondona, and a bench stacked with grunt in Matera, Wenger and Delgado.
England XV
Steve Borthwick names an unchanged starting XV to reward the 73–8 rout of Fiji — Marcus Smith stays at fullback, the Smith–van Poortvliet half-back axis continues, and Jamie George captains from hooker in front of an Ellis Genge–Joe Heyes front row. The only changes come on the bench: Ben Spencer replaces the injured Alex Mitchell (hamstring) at scrum-half, and uncapped loosehead Emmanuel Iyogun is preferred to George Kloska. The headline remains Henry Pollock — a 32-minute hat-trick against Fiji still isn't enough to displace Ben Earl at No 8, and the Northampton flyer is left to finish from the bench again.
Key Matchups
The whole match hinges on tempo. Contepomi has picked for a grind — Vivas reinforcing the scrum, Kremer and Grondona hunting the breakdown, a heavy bench in Matera and Wenger to finish — and Argentina's route to the upset is to make this ugly, slow England's ball and win the collisions. England's counter is width and pace: Feyi-Waboso, Freeman and Marcus Smith are a back three with genuine gas, and if Fin Smith gets front-foot ball they can strike from anywhere, as the 73 on Fiji showed. The pivot is the gainline. If the Pumas pack squeezes and the game becomes a phase-count arm-wrestle, home advantage and the crowd tell; if England get quick ruck ball to their outside backs, their finishing is a level above. Marcos Kremer's breakdown duel with Ben Earl and Guy Pepper is the contest that decides which game gets played.
Match Forecast
This is the closest call of the round, and the case for Argentina is about context, not history. The scorecard nets to -1 — England's ownership of the fixture (-3 H2H) and slightly sharper backline are real, but they're offset by a fervent home crowd (+3), the steadier recent form (+1), and a game plan built precisely to neutralise England's strengths. Contepomi has picked for a forward grind, and the World Rugby rankings model agrees it's a near coin-flip: just 0.7 rating points separate the sides, and factoring in home advantage the anchor lands Argentina at roughly 59%. When both the scorecard and the rankings tip the same way — narrowly, to the home side — you back the home side.
The obvious counter is that England have won 15 of the last 16, swept both Tests in Argentina barely a year ago, and can put 70 on a side when the game opens up. If Fin Smith gets quick ball to Feyi-Waboso, Freeman and Marcus Smith, Argentina's leaky moments — 47 conceded to Scotland, 67 to South Africa in 2025 — become fatal, and this could get away from them. But England's floor this year has been alarming, they lost to Italy and were battered by Ireland, and asking a jet-lagged side to win a third overseas Test in a venue built for ambush is a big ask. Expect a tight, physical arm-wrestle that Argentina edge in the final quarter with the crowd roaring and Matera on.
Los Pumas to finally break the run at home — Argentina by a score in a tense, forward-heavy grind, but England will be right there at the death.
England have won 15 of the last 16 meetings with Argentina — their only defeat in that span a 30–29 friendly loss at Twickenham in November 2022.
England swept both Tests on Argentine soil in July 2025 (35–12 and 22–17), then edged the November rematch 27–23 — three wins from three in the last year.
Julián Montoya captains Argentina in his 120th Test, second in Pumas history only to Pablo Matera, who wins his 124th off the bench.
Steve Borthwick names an unchanged XV to reward the 73–8 rout of Fiji — Henry Pollock's 32-minute hat-trick against the Fijians still only earns a bench spot.
England's 73–8 win over Fiji was the biggest of Round 2, a +65 margin that lifts their group-best points difference to +41 despite sitting only fourth in Europe.
Just 0.7 rating points separate the sides in the World Rugby rankings — England 5th, Argentina 7th — making this the closest matchup on paper of the entire round.