England v Argentina LIVE: Rugby World Cup build-up

 England's 2023 Rugby World Cup campaign is something that the rugby's longest-serving nation has looked forward to ever since it became clear that South Africa would win the 2019 final. Even before full-time in Yokohama, there was a sense that England had the ability to build on that loss to come back stronger in four years time.

They still might, but the four years between the two tournaments have been turbulent to say the least for English rugby. The past 12 months alone have seen their most successful coach (statistically) sacked, three top-flight Premiership clubs liquidated, and groundbreaking defeats suffered to Argentina, Scotland, France and Fiji. So now the World Cup is finally here, can England look in the right direction under Steve Borthwick after so much doom and gloom?

Argentina will no doubt have fond memories of Rugby World Cups in France. In 2007 Los Pumas truly broke onto the global stage, upsetting the odds to reach the semi-finals and finishing third at the expense of the hosts for good measure. The last year has seen the South Americans defeat New Zealand, England and Australia away from home, and in the relatively open Pool D, they'll fancy their chances of securing top spot and a favourable quarter-final opponent. 

Both sides have stuttered somewhat in 2023 though, with Los Pumas suffering a heavy defeat to New Zealand before being on the right and wrong end of tight scorelines against Australia and South Africa (twice) respectively. England fared worse in their summer warm-ups, losing in Wales and Ireland either side of victory against the former at Twickenham, followed by a 30-22 home loss to Fiji which sunk the side to their lowest known depths.

And so, to the game itself, which is a repeat of the pool stage match played in 2019 which saw England win 39-10. Argentina's 30-29 victory in October 2022 was the beginning of the end for Eddie Jones, but England will be hoping that the re-match is the making of Borthwick, kick-starting his own era with a victory in this must-win match.

MORE: Which sides are favourites to win the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France?

What time does England vs Argentina kick-off?

England play Argentina in Pool D of the 2023 Rugby World Cup at the Stade Velodrome in Marseille, France. The game kicks off at 8 p.m. GMT on Saturday, September 9, 2023.

Here are the kick-off times for this game around the world:

Location Date Time

UK Sat, Sept. 9 8 p.m. GMT

Australia Sun, Sept. 10 5 a.m. AEDT

Canada Sat, Sept. 9 3 p.m. ET

New Zealand Sun, Sept. 10 7 a.m. NZDT

USA Sat, Sept. 9 3 p.m. ET

India Sun, Sept. 10 12:30 a.m. IST

Singapore Sun, Sept. 10 3 a.m. SGT

Malaysia Sun, Sept. 10 3 a.m. MYT

Hong Kong Sun, Sept. 10 3 a.m. HKT

England vs Argentina TV channel, live stream

TV networks worldwide will be showing all 48 matches at the tournament live, including many on free-to-air television.

On social platforms alone, video content from the Rugby World Cup and organisers World Rugby drew more than 2.1 billion views in 2019 – almost six times the previous figure.

  TV channel Streaming

USA — Peacock

Canada TSN

TSN+

UK ITV ITV X

Australia Stan Sport Stan Sport

New Zealand Sky GO Sky GO

India — Fan Code

Hong Kong BeIN Sports BeIN Sports

Malaysia BeIN Sports BeIN Sports

Singapore BeIN Sports BeIN Sports

The tournament also has its own app, delivering highlights, news and more across the seven weeks of action in France.

MORE: A deep dive into the history of rugby's Webb Ellis World Cup trophy

England vs Argentina line-ups

Injuries and suspensions have done their best to disrupt England's preparation for this Pool D opener, but this game gives previously fringe players a fantastic opportunity to stake their claim into the side. Alex Mitchell replaced scrum-half Jack van Poortvliet in the squad, and comes straight into the starting side, as does winger Jonny May, who was a last-minute replacement for Anthony Watson and scored a try against Fiji.

Suspensions to captain Owen Farrell and the squad's only specialist number eight Billy Vunipola have also opened up spots to impress against Los Pumas, with George Ford taking the number 10 jersey and Marcus Smith on the bench. Courtney Lawes will lead the side out and packs down at blindside, with a fit-again Tom Curry on the other flank and Saracens utility Ben Earl deputising at the back of the scrum.

England starting XV: Freddie Steward, Jonny May, Joe Marchant, Manu Tuilagi, Elliot Daly, George Ford, Alex Mitchell; Ellis Genge, Jamie George, Dan Cole, Maro Itoje, Ollie Chessum, Courtney Lawes, Tom Curry, Ben Earl.

England replacements: Theo Dan, Joe Marler, Will Stuart, George Martin, Lewis Ludlam, Danny Care, Marcus Smith, Ollie Lawrence.

Emiliano Boffelli was the crucial factor in Argentina's victory over England last autumn, scoring 25 of their 30 points at Twickenham, 20 of which came off the tee. He's one of 16 players who featured that day to make the matchday 23 for this game, with the Carreras brothers Mateo and Santiago also in the mood to add plenty of points.

Los Pumas' fearsome scrum will be lead by hooker Julian Montoya, who will likely be replaced at some point by former captain Augustin Creevy from the bench. The flanker combination of Pablo Matera and Marcos Kremer will also be something England need to watch out for, with both offering the leadership and power that oozes throughout this pack.

Argentina starting XV: Juan Cruz Mallia, Emiliano Boffelli, Lucio Cinti, Santiago Chocobares, Mateo Carreras, Santiago Carreras, Gonzalo Bertranou; Thomas Gallo, Julian Montoya, Francisco Gomez Kodela, Matias Alemanno, Tomas Lavanini, Pablo Matera, Marcos Kremer, Juan Martin Gonzalez.

Argentina replacements: Augustin Creevy, Joel Sclavi, Eduardo Bello, Guido Petti, Pedro Rubiolo, Rodrigo Bruni, Lautaro Bazan, Matias Moroni.

MORE: England's results so far in 2023 as World Cup in France approaches

England vs Argentina betting odds, prediction

Given how evenly-matched these two sides were in their last meeting, and how up-and-down their results have been since, picking a winner is certainly a difficult task. Argentina's 30-29 victory in October 2022 saw the lead change hands six times throughout the 80 minutes, and we could be in for a similarly end-to-end contest at Stade Velodrome.

Our partner bookmakers can barely split them either, with Unibet offering the exact same odds of $1.95 for either side to get the victory. BetOnSports slightly favour England at 10/11, but with Argentina at evens, there's still the sense that this game could go either way.

However, given the poor form of England in particular coming into the tournament, we feel that this game may well belong to Argentina - by fractions that is. It'll be close, cagey, and a real grind for both sets of players, but Los Pumas' recent defeats of some of the world's leading nations stands them in good stead to take the points here.