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Curry to become youngest England debutant since Wilkinson
By Jack Davies
Tom Curry will become the youngest England debutant since Jonny Wilkinson in Saturday's Test against Argentina after he was named as one of four uncapped players in Eddie Jones' starting XV.
The Sale Sharks flanker, 18, will make his senior international bow five days before his 19th birthday - 46 days older than legendary fly-half Wilkinson when he first appeared against Ireland in April 1998.
Curry is joined by fellow first-timers Alex Lozowski, Harry Williams and Mark Wilson in the starting line-up, while Sale colleague Denny Solomona is among seven new faces on the bench after recovering from a foot injury.
Jones is missing a host of familiar names for the trip to South America, which runs alongside the British and Irish Lions' tour of New Zealand, but is able to call upon captain Dylan Hartley and experienced figures such as Mike Brown, George Ford and Danny Care.
"I'm really excited about this England team to face Argentina this weekend," said Jones. "I have selected a group of experienced players across the spine of this team as well as four young players who will be eager to go out and play well on their debuts for England.
"Those players have worked extremely hard to get selected over the last few weeks, but I have been impressed with the way the whole squad has trained and gelled together in a short amount of time.
"They all realise the opportunity that they have to be involved in this England side and I'm sure they will show that commitment on Saturday.
"We are here to win this series 2-0 but we know Argentina will be extremely tough opposition. After a mixed year of results, there will be pressure on them to play well and win in front of a partisan crowd.
"We know Argentina are a very good side having played them earlier this season and they will be desperate to win against us."
England XV: Mike Brown, Marland Yarde, Henry Slade, Alex Lozowski, Jonny May, George Ford, Danny Care; Ellis Genge, Dylan Hartley (captain), Harry Williams, Joe Launchbury, Charlie Ewels, Mark Wilson, Tom Curry, Nathan Hughes.
Replacements: Jack Singleton, Matt Mullan, Will Collier, Nick Isiekwe, Don Armand, Jack Maunder, Piers Francis, Denny Solomona.
Argentina: Joaquín Tuculet, Matías Moroni, Matías Orlando, Jerónimo de la Fuente, Emiliano Boffelli, Nicolás Sánchez, Martín Landajo, Juan Manuel Leguizamón, Javier Ortega Desio, Pablo Matera, Tomás Lavanini, Matías Alemanno, Enrique Pieretto, Agustín Creevy, Lucas Noguera Paz
Replacements: Julián Montoya, Santiago García Botta, Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, Guido Petti, Leonardo Senatore, Gonzalo Bertanou, Juan Martín Hernández, Ramiro Moyano
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Latest Comments
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Nothing to stew son.
Go to commentsTupaea is a natural 12. What is it with you kiwis and playing players out of their positions. Is that some sort of national sport? Is that on purpose? You’ve got an utility back and a winger at 12 and 13 respectivelly. You played Savea at 8 for ages, wasting the potential of one of the world’s three best players in the last 4-5 years.
ALB is equally effective at 12 and 13, so why not have him or Tupaea at 12, and Proctor at 13? God forbid you’d have two midfielders playing at their natural positions! There must be a law in New Zealand, that prohibits that. Small sample size, but Proctor walked on water in his international debut at 13.
But the kiwi selectors seem to love Rieko’s speed, so as long as the horse is fast enough, they decided they’ll teach him to climb trees anyway.
You don’t have a better 10 than BB and Mo’unga. DMac is a more instinctive attacker (almost as good as Mo’unga … almost), but doesn’t have BB’s game-controlling skills. You have and will lose games due to his aimless kicking and spur-of-the-moment inventions none of his team mates are able to read at the international pace. Works okay at Super Rugby level, doesn’t mean it’s transferable to test matches. But hey, suit yourself.
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