Seb Atkinson and Will Muir to make England debuts in opening Test against Argentina

Telegraph

03-07-2025

Freddie Steward has been recalled to the England line-up and will start alongside two debutants, Seb Atkinson and Will Muir, in the first Test against Argentina in La Plata this Saturday.
Steward, who won only two caps for his country in the 2024-25 season – both losses, to South Africa and Ireland respectively – will start at full-back in an aerially astute back three with Bath's Muir and Tom Roebuck, of Sale.
Steve Borthwick, the England head coach, has made five changes (see graphic below) to the starting XV who lost narrowly to France in an uncapped match at the Allianz Stadium last month, with Jamie George and George Ford continuing as co-captains. Ford will earn his 100th cap.
Two of the five changes come in the back three, with Steward coming in for Joe Carpenter and Muir replacing the banned Immanuel Feyi-Waboso. The rest of the backline is unchanged, with Atkinson winning a first cap alongside veteran centre Henry Slade who, alongside Ben Spencer at scrum-half, will provide fly-half cover should Ford suffer an injury.
The front row of Fin Baxter, George and Joe Heyes returns but Nick Isiekwe is replaced by Charlie Ewels behind them, partnering Alex Coles. Ben Curry starts at blindside after injury while Sam Underhill is recalled after his suspension for a dangerous tackle during Bath's Challenge Cup final victory over Lyon. Tom Willis reprises his role at No 8.
Eight of the 10 Premiership clubs are represented across the match-day 23, while among the replacements Guy Pepper will win a first England cap should he come off the bench in La Plata. Borthwick has opted for a six-two split between forwards and backs with Chandler Cunningham-South, the Harlequins back-rower, once again covering lock, although Tom Willis also has experience in this area. Ted Hill, who started at blindside in the narrow loss to France XV, is excluded from the match-day 23 altogether.
Argentina name their side for the first Test later on Thursday but, similarly to England missing 13 players on the Lions tour, Felipe Contepomi has chosen to rest some of his stars. Former Leicester captain Julián Montoya will lead the side but Rodrigo Isgró, Tomás Albornoz – the star of the Pumas win against the Lions in Dublin – Marcos Kremer, Juan Cruz Mallía and Santiago Chocobares, among others, are held back for the Rugby Championship later in the year.
England, who have never lost a Test series to Argentina, face Los Pumas in La Plata on Saturday and again in San Juan a week later before travelling to Washington to take on the US on July 19. The Tests against Argentina will be live on Sky Sports before RugbyPass streams the clash with the Eagles.
Analysis: Forgotten man Steward recalled for aerial battle with Argentina
Freddie Steward has become somewhat of a forgotten man in English rugby. The 24-year-old was named at full-back in World Rugby's team of the year in November 2022, having won 31 England caps at that point, but since the 2023 World Cup Steward has won just five.
Since rugby's global showpiece, Steve Borthwick, who knows Steward as well as anyone having coached him during his Premiership-winning stint at Leicester, has opted to use Steward as and when necessary. Where once the full-back might have been considered among the first names on the team sheet, Steward has been relegated to the role of bomb defusal expert, with his aerial expertise to be used only against teams with a propensity for high-ball torrents.
Enter Argentina who, in their victory against the Lions in Dublin, had the number of the touring side in the skies. Wings Ignacio Mendy and Rodrigo Isgró – the latter of whom is rested for the two Tests against England – alongside the silky Santiago Carreras caused the Lions problems in the air on the back of Gonzalo García's accurate box-kicking (although the scrum-half is another of the rested Pumas).
Joe Carpenter is no slouch aerially but it is telling that height and the ability to get off the ground is a common denominator across England's back three, with Will Muir preferred to Cadan Murley on the wing, despite the former being uncapped. Somewhat ironically, Muir gave Steward's Leicester a bit of a hard time in the air during Bath's Premiership final victory last month.
Steward's inclusion is clearly part of a concerted England effort to dominate the aerial exchanges – especially with Ben Spencer, one of Europe's best kicking scrum-halves, starting – but, after this season, to brand the full-back as a one-trick pony would be reductive.
With the Tigers, under Australian duo Michael Cheika and Peter Hewat, Steward has added strings to his bow. Some of his distribution in attack has been as sophisticated and skilful as it has been in his career to date; meanwhile, at 6ft 5in and over 100kg, he has started to chuck his weight around in the carry, too. Questions remain over his pace off the mark but his offering in other areas has improved significantly.
Elsewhere, there are two further eyebrow-raisers: the dropping of Ted Hill and Max Ojomoh's exclusion. Henry Slade's inclusion in the match-day squad is as good as vital given Charlie Atkinson's lack of experience – Slade will act as fly-half cover – but it would have been a true statement of intent had Borthwick thrown more caution to the wind and started Ojomoh alongside Seb Atkinson in the midfield. Both offer dynamism and punch with the ball, but Ojomoh brings tang and timing in his distribution, too.
Borthwick has preferred the experience of Slade over the temptation for an entirely uncapped centre pairing but, with Ford inside them and England as underdogs – in the words of the head coach – this might have been the perfect time to have a real crack at a Pumas midfield missing some of its leading lights.
As for Hill, he was always unlikely to start given Borthwick has been able to call on his pair of beastly work-horses, Ben Curry and Sam Underhill, on the flanks. The Bath blindside was a little standoffish in the uncapped match against France – admittedly, England never used his pace in the best manner. His ability to cover lock, as he did in the Six Nations, makes his absence from the bench yet more curious.
Borthwick believes England are underdogs. Certainly, winning without 13 of their best players in the Argentine bear-pits provides a stern challenge but with the Pumas also missing a few, this squad is easily capable of keeping England's Test series record intact.