Pollock left on bench as England field unchanged starting XV against Argentina

England have opted not to start the in-form Henry Pollock against Argentina on Saturday and have instead retained an unchanged starting lineup. The only alterations from last week’s 73-8 win over Fiji are among the replacements where Ben Spencer and the uncapped Northampton loosehead Emmanuel Iyogun come into the matchday 23.

Even an eye-catching hat-trick of tries in Liverpool has proved insufficient to earn Pollock a promotion from the bench for this month’s third and final round of Nations Championship fixtures. The head coach, Steve Borthwick, has chosen to stick with Ben Earl at No 8 and Guy Pepper at openside flanker, with Bristol’s Benhard van Rensburg and Saracens’ Noah Caluori once again handed roles as impact subs.

Jamie George will once again captain the side and earn his 113th England cap, elevating him to fourth place on the all-time list of England’s most-capped men’s players. “We’re excited by the challenge of playing Los Pumas in Santiago del Estero,” said Borthwick. “We expect a fantastic atmosphere with passionate home support. It promises to be a great occasion, and one the players are excited to embrace.”

While England’s victory over Fiji ended a run of five successive Test defeats they have a good recent record against Argentina, having overcome the Pumas 2-0 in a two-match series last summer and then beaten them again at home in November.

England team to play Argentina M Smith; Freeman, Slade, Atkinson, Feyi-Waboso; F Smith, Van Poortvliet; Genge, George (capt), Heyes, Coles, Martin, Chessum, Pepper, Earl. Replacements Cowan-Dickie, Iyogun, Opoku-Fordjour, Curry, Pollock, Curry, Spencer, Van Rensburg, Caluori.