Wilson named in second test squad
Newcastle Falcons’ Mark Wilson has been named on the bench for this Saturday’s second test against Argentina in Santa Fe, (KO 20:15 BST) after making his debut against the Pumas in San Juan last week.
Wilson put in the kind of performance that Falcons fans have witnessed time and again over the course of the Cumbrian’s career on the occasion of his first cap, as England secured a dramatic 34-38 win.
Having topped the Aviva Premiership tackle count for the third season in succession, he took that work ethic and commitment into his international debut as the Red Rose’s top tackler in the game with 16.
He makes way for Chris Robshaw in the number six shirt for the weekend’s test, but will be looking to make a telling contribution as one of England head coach Eddie Jones’ “finishers” as he looks to engineer a two-nil series lead.
Saturday’s game will be broadcast live on BBC2.
Speaking on his team selection, England head coach Eddie Jones said: “We know we will need to improve our performance from last weekend if we are going to win on Saturday but we have prepared in detail and intensely this week.
“Argentina will be a much better and stronger side than last weekend so the message to the guys all week has been; it’s up to us to raise our levels.
“It is great to welcome back Chris Robshaw into the squad. He would have been disappointed to miss the first Test but has worked hard to be ready for this weekend. Robbo has been one of England’s best players over the last two years and he will add a lot of experience and work rate into our backrow. It will also be exciting to see Sam Underhill make his debut too having been unfortunate not to play last week because of injury.
“Despite missing 30 players on this tour, we set out to win the series 2-0. It would be a fantastic achievement for this young and talented squad to do that. On Saturday we want to finish the season and the halfway point of a four-year World Cup programme on a real high.”
**England team v Argentina
Saturday 17th June – KO 20:15 BST (Live BBC 2)**
15 Mike Brown, 14 Marland Yarde, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Piers Francis, 11 Jonny May, 10 George Ford, 9 Danny Care, 1 Ellis Genge, 2 Dylan Hartley, 3 Harry Williams, 4 Charlie Ewels, 5 Joe Launchbury, 6 Chris Robshaw, 7 Sam Underhill, 8 Nathan Hughes
Replacements
16 Jack Singleton, 17 Matt Mullan, 18 Will Collier, 19 Nick Isiekwe, 20 Mark Wilson, 21 Jack Maunder, 22 Alex Lozowski, 23 Denny Solomona
