Courtney Lawes has missed out on being selected for England’s final game of the 2023 Rugby World Cup, with Tom Curry getting the nod at number six for the third-place play-off against Argentina.
Lawes was widely expected to be given a send off at the end of his international career after he announced his retirement from England duty on Monday, but England have preferred Tom Curry at blindside flanker.
England’s most capped men’s player Ben Youngs will play his last game for England on Friday night, whilst fifth most capped Lawes’ misses out on the same swansong.
Much of the commentary from in and outside the England camp has been about a ‘last dance’, with several players in their mid-to-late 30s, and whilst the play-off is often dreaded, it will signal the end of an era in English Rugby.
Youngs will make his 127th and final appearance in an England shirt, having debuted in 2010 under Steve Borthwick’s captaincy. Under Borthwick’s management, Youngs has fallen behind Alex Mitchell and Danny Care in the pecking order but is afforded a start to bid farewell to a formidable career on Friday.
Tom Curry moves to blindside flanker in place of Lawes, whilst Ben Earl stays at number eight having played the most minutes of any England player this tournament.
Curry has been the centre of a press frenzy this week because of mid-game allegations he made to Ben O’Keefe of a racist comment by South African Hooker Bongi Mbonambi, but he’s given the chance to add to his excellent performance alongside his ‘kamikaze twin’ Sam Underhill this Friday.
Youngs may not be alone in making his final test appearance; international retirement could well be on the cards for Dan Cole and Danny Care, who are both 36. Another potential international retiree is Joe Marler, but the loosehead has dropped out of the 23 alongside Lawes. Marler is only 33 but retired once before in 2018.
Also missing out on Friday evening are Billy Vunipola, Kyle Sinckler, Elliot Daly and Jonny May. All four are the wrong side of 30 and have been focal points of criticism of the England team in the last world cup cycle. Could they have played their last tests for England?
England are playing just their second ever third-place play-off. Their only previous, in 1995, saw them make just two changes despite an infamous drubbing by one Jonah Lomu in the semi-final. This time out, eight new players enter the matchday 23, with fringe players Theo Dan, Will Stuart, Underhill, Henry Arundell, Bevan Rodd, Dave Ribbans and Lewis Ludlum given chances.
It might be the last time we see Ribbans in and England shirt for the foreseeable future. The lock has signed a three year contract with French club Toulon, and like Jack Willis and Joe Marchant, looks set to fall victim from England’s eligibility rules. Their refusal to pick players based abroad seemed rigid, but special dispensation is being lined up for Racing 92-bound Henry Arundell, who starts on the wing.
Much more experienced in the game nobody wants to play, Argentina will complete a hat-trick of third-place play-off appearances in the last five World Cups. They beat hosts France in 2007 but lost to South Africa in 2015.
Eight players to face England also played in the 2015 play-off. Los Pumas are also seeing the end of an era, with esteemed names such as Agustín Creevy, Tomás Cubelli, Nicolas Sanchez and Juan Imhoff – the latter of which will not feature – part of a cohort likely to retire from tests.
Argentina perhaps have a bigger point to prove than England having limped to an embarrassing 44-6 loss to New Zealand last week.
Just three changes have been made from last week, but there are five differences to the 23 that succumbed to George Ford‘s boot in either side’s opener six weeks ago. Most notably, mainstay centre Santiago Chocobares drops out for Jerónimo de la Fuente, and Cubelli returns to scrum half for Gonzalo Bertranou.
That dramatic opener seems a world away now, but the sentiments produced by that game are fairly consistent with the present. England have shown their ability to fight through tooth and nail, but still lack try scoring threat and consistency. Argentina are World Cup specialists but often slip at their biggest hurdle.
What the teams do have in common, however, is an abundance of emotion heading into this game given the calibre of players dancing that one last time. Hopefully, this will produce a fiery and watch-worthy clash.
Written by Tom Jeffreys
ENGLAND: Smith, Steward, Marchant, Tuilagi, Arundell, Farrell (c), Youngs; Genge, Dan, Stuart, Itoje, Chessum, Curry, Underhill, Earl
Replacements: George, Rodd, Cole, Ribbans, Ludlam, Care, Ford, Lawrence
ARGENTINA: Malia, Boffelli, Cinit, De la Fuente, M Carreras, S Carreras, Cubelli; Gallo, Montoya (c), Gomez Modela, Petti, Rubiolo, Gonzalez, Kremer, Isa
Replacements: Creevy, Sclavi, Bello, Alemanno, Bruni, Bazan Velez, Sanchez, Moroni
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