Argentina vs England Predictions - Tight contest in Rugby World Cup 3rd place playoff

I’m backing Argentina to get within eight points.

England have historically dominated this fixture, including earlier in this World Cup. They beat Argentina 27-10 in the opening pool game; however, Los Pumas did beat England 30-29 at Twickenham in November 2022.

Argentina will be pleased with how their World Cup has gone although they have not really been at their best at any point. They qualified second from Pool D behind England.

In their opening pool game, Los Pumas lost 27-10 to England. Despite going into the game as favourites, Argentina never really looked like winning, producing one of their poorest performances this year.

But they did manage to beat Samoa, Chile, and Japan without ever really being at their best. The highlight of the tournament was no doubt their quarter-final success against Wales.

Last week Argentina were truly hammered in the semi-final by a rampant New Zealand outfit. Los Pumas had some decent phases in the first half, but defensively they were not up to scratch.

This is still a big game for Argentina so I have little doubt that Michael Cheika will select a very strong side.

England came into this World Cup under huge pressure. Results had been shocking since their poor Six Nations campaign. 

However, while not looking like world beaters, England topped Pool D ahead of Argentina. That run included a one-point victory over Samoa. 

In the quarter-final England overcame a good Fiji side 30-26 to advance to the semis. There they met the defending champions, South Africa.

No one really gave England a chance, but they gave a very strong performance. While they still lack an attacking edge, England dominated most facets of play and were very unfortunate to take a one-point loss.

Steve Borthwick will be aware that England are coming into his game off a very emotional defeat to South Africa. I’d be very surprised if he doesn’t make quite a few changes.