England have dismissed Argentina’s attempts to “rattle them” following claims from the Pumas hooker Agustin Creevy that they are boring, and have vowed to prove him wrong on Saturday.
Creevy had suggested that while English rugby’s structured approach can be effective, it can also be dull. With Argentina needing to win to have any realistic chance of reaching the knockout stage he also predicted the match will be “like a war”.
The England hooker Jamie George hit back however, insisting that the “boring” jibe was not justified. George is used to similar accusations at his club, Saracens, and said: “I don’t think we do play boring rugby. I’m not overly surprised that he’s tried to say that, but he’s entitled to his opinion and hopefully we prove him wrong on Saturday. In my opinion I don’t think it’s very justified. I’m sure he’s just trying to rattle us a bit. He’s more than welcome to try.”
England scored seven tries in their last outing against the USA, two of which came from driving mauls. Argentina meanwhile, were similarly effective at the set-piece against Tonga last weekend and Creevy expects the battle between the forwards to be key.
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Team guides
Pool A: Ireland, Japan, Russia, Samoa, Scotland
Pool B: Canada, Italy, Namibia, New Zealand, South Africa
Pool C: Argentina, England, France, Tonga, USA
Pool D: Australia, Fiji, Georgia, Uruguay, Wales
“Obviously their maul and their scrum is a massive part of their game but it’s the same for us,” said the England flanker Sam Underhill. “It’s a massively important part of the game now. The best teams have the best set piece. For us it’s a threat to nullify but it’s also an opportunity to impose ourselves on the game. I think that would probably fall under the category of boring rugby but it’s an area we’re pretty excited about.”
Creevy was basing his views on English rugby after two seasons with Worcester from 2013 and 2015. “He just might have been at a boring club [in England], I don’t really know,” said England’s attack coach Scott Wisemantel. “I don’t think that is the case and he obviously hasn’t been watching much of the Premiership. There are some excellent teams in the Premiership with so many different styles. And it is a bit like me making a judgment call on the Jaguares. They are very different.
“[Our attack] is varied and can be very structured at times but you have to remember in this tournament a third of our tries have come from unstructured play. I don’t necessarily agree [with Creevy].”
