Elliot Daly will make his first appearance since the British and Irish Lions tour to Australia after being named on the wing for England’s clash with Argentina on Sunday.
Daly starts the final match of the autumn at Allianz Stadium in place of Tom Roebuck, who has been ruled out by a foot injury, with head coach Steve Borthwick making six changes to the side that defeated New Zealand 33-19.
Daly’s Lions tour was ended by a fractured forearm sustained against the Queensland Reds on July 2 that required the insertion of a plate containing 16 screws.
Although cleared by a specialist to face New Zealand, it was decided the versatile 33-year-old needed another week before being ready for full contact, resulting in his return for the Pumas showdown.
A bruising collision with the All Blacks resulted in autumn-ending injuries to Roebuck, Ollie Lawrence and Jamie George, while Ollie Chessum and Tommy Freeman had already been ruled out.
The knock-on effect sees Henry Slade take Lawrence’s place at outside centre, forming a midfield combination alongside Fraser Dingwall.
Luke Cowan-Dickie comes in at hooker to fill the void left by George’s hamstring issue and is joined in a new-look starting front row by Ellis Genge and Asher Opoku-Fordjour.
Tighthead prop Joe Heyes, a breakout star of the campaign, is jettisoned from the 23 altogether with the final change seeing Ben Spencer take over at scrum-half with Alex Mitchell dropping to the bench.
Charlie Ewels makes his first appearance of the autumn amongst the replacements with Theo Dan providing hooker cover.
England are chasing an 11th consecutive victory and an autumn clean sweep having dispatched Australia, Fiji and New Zealand already this month.
Argentina will arrive at Twickenham on the back of a 33-24 win over Scotland in Edinburgh that was secured after fighting back from a 21-0 deficit.
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“Last weekend gave us plenty to build on and now the challenge is to push our performance further,” Borthwick said.
“Argentina play with emotion and physicality and they’ve shown they can beat the best in world rugby this year. We know how dangerous they can be and we are preparing for a fiercely-contested Test match.
“We have felt exceptional support at Allianz Stadium throughout this series. It provides a real lift for the players, and we hope to create lasting memories for our supporters on Sunday.”
England XV to face Argentina
Freddie Steward, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, Henry Slade, Fraser Dingwall, Elliot Daly, George Ford, Ben Spencer, Ellis Genge (vice-captain), Luke Cowan-Dickie, Asher Opoku-Fordjour, Maro Itoje (captain), Alex Coles, Guy Pepper, Sam Underhill, Ben Earl
Replacements: Theo Dan, Fin Baxter, Will Stuart, Charlie Ewels, Tom Curry, Henry Pollock, Alex Mitchell, Marcus Smith.
