Rugby World Cup winner Matt Dawson has called on England boss Steve Borthwick to drop his senior stars in favour of fringe players for their third-place play-off with Argentina on Friday. Dawson believes that the head coach will want to name a strong XV in order to seal a bronze medal, but may see greater long-term gains by rotating heavily.
Many will view the tie as a dead rubber, as England and Argentina both will have been hoping to make the final the following day but for defeats to South Africa and New Zealand respectively.
Coaches often differ in their approaches to such games, with some opting to rotate and hand out opportunities for those to impress who have rarely featured, while others want to end the tournament on a high and go full-strength to increase their chances of winning.
Dawson thinks that Borthwick will fall into the latter category, as several members of the team that endured heartbreak in their 16-15 defeat to South Africa in the semi-final could be given the chance to end the World Cup with victory against the Pumas – but England’s Six Nation hopes may be improved if Borthwick rotates.
“Friday’s third-place play-off against Argentina is a funny sort of fixture,” Dawson wrote for the BBC. “It might be one more for fringe players to try and press their case before next year’s Six Nations. It probably won’t be Steve Borthwick’s style, but I would approach it almost like a Barbarians fixture.
“This England squad will never be together again. This tournament is unique to those in that camp. I would give them the space and freedom to bond and socialise together as people, rather than players. Let them create more memories and then go out and chase a win together.”
Someone such as Henry Arundell could get the opportunity to showcase his skills against Argentina. The winger scored a record-tying five tries in his World Cup debut against Chile, but has not featured since amid reports that he had a furious bust-up with captain Owen Farrell on the training pitch.
George Ford could get the nod over Farrell at fly-half, having been unfortunate to lose his place in the knockout stages after a stellar opening few games to the tournament. Borthwick felt that he could not play Ford and Farrell together and the skipper was preferred against the Spingbok and Fiji.
England defeated Argentina with 14 men in their opening match of the tournament and that victory will give Borthwick the belief that they can claim a second win, but whether he listens to Dawson and offers an opportunity to fringe players remains to be seen ahead of Friday’s tie.
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