England to raise their heads
The XV de la Rose got off to a bad start in its
"mini-World Cup"
, in the words of its coach Eddie Jones, losing at home against Argentina, which it will find in the group stage of the 2023 World Cup.
"We were looking at long-term strategies to prepare for the World Cup, and maybe we weren't focused enough on the Argentina game
," Jones admitted after the defeat.
Still without their second or third line Courtney Lawes, who is recovering from a concussion, but with hooker Jamie George (69 caps), back in the group after a foot injury, the English will face Japan on Saturday (4:15 p.m.) .
It is on paper an affordable match for England, who will then challenge New Zealand and then South Africa, but the Japanese showed once again at the end of October against the Blacks that they were not not to be taken lightly either (38-31 defeat), with their excellent third line Kazuki Himeno as the figurehead.
Argentina aims for the pass of two
Sixteen years: it was the number of years since the last victory of the Argentinian Pumas at Twickenham against England.
This is to say the feat achieved by the men of Michael Cheika last Sunday (victory 30-29), carried by their winger Emiliano Boffelli, author of 25 of the 30 points of his team.
Already falling for the All Blacks on their land this year, Argentina can confirm on Saturday (6:30 p.m.) against Wales that they have definitely changed their status, ten months before the World Cup.
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She will face the Welsh swept away by New Zealand last week (55-23), despite the return of veterans Justin Tipuric, George North or Ken Owens.
“Almost every time they came into our 22 yards, they came away with points.
It's very worrying,"
coach Wayne Pivac admitted to Amazon Prime Video UK after the game.
Scotland with Russell against the Blacks
Victorious over Fiji last week (28-12), Scotland lost flyhalf Adam Hastings to injury, prompting coach Gregor Townsend to recall Racing 92 player Finn Russell, despite his difficult relationship with him.
The Scots will need all the attacking talent of their opener on Sunday (3:15 p.m.) against the Blacks, whom they have never beaten in 31 confrontations, narrowly failing in their last meeting in 2017 (22-17).
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Winners without forcing the Welsh (55-23), the All Blacks have the possibility of recording a sixth victory in a row, an unexpected figure in a year marked by historic defeats against Ireland and Argentina.
"The danger is to copy and paste a formula
," warned New Zealand coach Ian Foster on Tuesday at a press conference, aware of the ups and downs of his team.
In the other meetings of the weekend, Italy, after beating Samoa by a wide margin (49-17), faces Australia on Saturday (2:00 p.m.), while Ireland, emerging victorious from its clash against South Africa (19-16), receives Fiji (2:00 p.m.).