Ben Youngs will win his 127th and final England cap in the World Cup bronze-medal match against Argentina on Friday night. The Leicester Tigers scrum half has announced his decision to retire from international rugby, calling time on a 13-year England career. Youngs, 34, will sign off having won a record number of caps and played at four World Cups.
Courtney Lawes announced his international days were over after England’s World Cup semi-final defeat by South Africa. Youngs, who played with Lawes at England age-group level, has now followed suit and he is unlikely to be the last, with Joe Marler, Dan Cole, Jonny May and Manu Tuilagi among the cohort of senior England players weighing up their futures.
Steve Borthwick was the England captain when Youngs made his debut on the wing as a replacement for Ugo Monye in a 15-15 draw with Scotland in 2010. Now the head coach, he has selected Youngs to start his final game for England.
“Ben has been a tremendous player for English rugby for such a long time,” Borthwick said. “Our record cap-holder. A player who has seen a lot in four World Cups and who has played an important role within this squad helping the team, particularly Alex Mitchell, progress. He’s a brilliant player and a fantastic team man.”
Youngs will start in the half backs alongside Owen Farrell. Tuilagi will continue his centre partnership with Joe Marchant, for whom the bronze-medal match is his last England game for three years. Marchant will remain in Paris after the World Cup and take up a three-year contract with Stade Français, which makes him ineligible for England selection.
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Farrell said England would not be short on motivation against Argentina. The pain of losing the semi-final to South Africa is still raw. The game will mark the end of an era for some long-serving players, and England are fired up by the way Tom Curry has been treated this week.
The Sale Sharks flanker will win his 50th cap at the age of 25, which is an impressive achievement for a player so physical and abrasive. Curry could have missed the game, given he took a battering against South Africa and the investigation into his allegation that the Springbok hooker Bongi Mbonambi racially abused him remains open.
But Curry made clear that he was desperate to play against Argentina and he will reprise the “Kamikaze Kids” back-row partnership with Sam Underhill, who will start at open-side flanker having been drafted into the squad as an injury replacement for Jack Willis.
“Tom wants to get involved in this contest on Friday. It’s his 50th cap, it’s an unbelievably proud week for him and it’s going to be the same for a few others. It’s Ben’s last game as well,” Farrell said.
“We want to make sure this week is about doing them proud. We want to represent the shirt properly, and we want to make sure we make the fans proud again. We’ve got plenty of motivation. Everywhere you look, it seems like we have.”
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While the selection of Youngs marks the end of an era, Borthwick has picked a back three with a fascinating future. Marcus Smith has come through the concussion protocols and been selected at full back, with Freddie Steward shifted to one wing and Henry Arundell, who scored five tries against Chile, on the other.
How that trio interchange roles will be key. England will want Steward to defuse any aerial threat in defence. There is arguably no full back better in the world at catching the ball and then making yards when he lands. He dealt brilliantly with a deluge of high balls in the South Africa game.
But when England are on the attack, or on the rare occasion when they will look to counterattack rather than kick, they need Smith on the ball. He brings an extra dimension when attacking from deep and in the wider channels.
By the end of the Chile game, Arundell was tracking Smith’s movements in the hope of popping up on his shoulder to be put through a gap, just as Chris Ashton used to do, and it proved a fruitful partnership.
Ellis Genge starts at loose-head prop, with Theo Dan at hooker and Will Stuart at tight-head. Maro Itoje starts again in the second row, where he is joined by Ollie Chessum, while Ben Earl continues at No 8.
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Argentina have made three changes to their starting XV from the 44-6 semi-final defeat by New Zealand. Pedro Rubiolo comes in for Tomás Lavanini in the second row, Tomás Cubelli replaces Gonzalo Bertranou at scrum half and Jerónimo de la Fuente is given the nod ahead of Santiago Chocobares at inside centre.
England v Argentina
Rugby World Cup third-place play-off
Stade de France, Paris
Friday, 8pm (UK time)
TV ITV 1
