Argentina v England: Teams

Brian Smith admits England will have to put in an improved display against Argentina in Salta on Saturday if they are to emerge victorious.

England will complete a series triumph against the Pumas if they prevail in the second Test at Estadio Padre Ernesto Martearena.

The Pumas were dismantled 37-15 at Old Trafford last Saturday but the amount of kicking meant the match was far from a classic.

All three tries were set-up with the boot - six of England's last seven have now been scored that way - but backs coach Smith is unrepentant.

"We want to win the series. Last weekend it had rained for two days straight," he said.

"When we went out to look at the pitch it was good but we didn't want to play too much rugby early as there's a risk involved in that.

"What we did was quite effective. We kept the scoreboard ticking over, dropped goals and nailed our penalties. Then we opened things up.

"Ideally we want to play rugby but first and foremost we want to win. Argentina are very good in defence. Our objective is to attack space. If a team has good line speed it makes sense to turn it around.

"If it's isn't coming up quickly you have chances with the ball in hand. It's horses for courses and we want to see the boys to play what's in front of them."

Expectation

England start Saturday's showdown with the same backline that featured at Old Trafford and Smith expects the increased familiarity to have an effect.

"We've been pretty happy by and large with the performance of all the backs in the last two games," he said.

"Matt Banahan has made a good fist of the opportunities he's been given on the wing and we're expecting the midfield combination to be a little bit better having played together once already.

"Obviously we'll have to be at our best to beat Argentina. If we play the way we did last weekend it won't be good enough because they're hurting and will come back at us.

"We need to improve by around 25 per cent in attack terms to get the job done."

Argentina have rung the changes as they look to bounce back from defeat.

Coach Santiago Phelan has picked Francisco Leonelli and Santiago Fernandez at wing and centre respectively, while Alfredo Lalanne starts at scrum-half alongside number 10 Juan Martin Hernandez.

There are also changes in the pack, with Mario Ledesma and Marcos Ayerza starting in the second row. Juan Pablo Orlandi and Alberto Vernet Basualdo both drop to the bench.

In the second row, Rimas Alvarez takes over from Manuel Carizza. Genaro Fessia starts at flanker in place of Alvaro Galindo.

England: 15 D Armitage (London Irish), 14 M Cueto (Sale Sharks), 13 D Hipkiss (Leicester), 12 T May (Newcastle), 11 M Banahan (Bath), 10 A Goode (Brive), 9 D Care (Harlequins), 8 N Easter (Harlequins), 7 S Armitage (London Irish), 6 C Robshaw (Harlequins), 5 L Deacon (Leicester),4 S Borthwick (Saracens, capt),3 J White (Leicester), 2 D Hartley (Northampton), T Payne (Wasps)
Replacements: 16 G Chuter (Leicester), 17 D Wilson (Newcastle), 18 B Kay (Leicester), 19 J Haskell (Wasps), 20 P Hodgson (London Irish), 21 S Vesty (Leicester), 22 M Tait (Sale Sharks).

Argentina:15 H Agulla (Brive); 14 F Leonelli (Saracens), 13 G Tiesi (Harlequins), 12 S Fernandez (Hindu), 11 G Camacho (Buenos Aires CRC); 10 JM Hernandez (Stade Francais), 9 A Lalanne (London Irish); 1 R Roncero (Stade Francais), 2 M Ledesma (ASM Clermont Auvergne), 3 M Ayerza (Leicester Tigers), 4 R Alvarez (Perpignan), 5 P Albacete (Stade Toulousain), 6 G Fessia(Cordoba Athletic), 7 JM Leguizamon (Stade Francais), 8 JM Fernandez Lobbe (Sale Sharks - capt).
Replacements: A Vernet Basualdo (Stade Toulousain), JP Orlandi (Rovigo), M Carizza (Biarritz Olympique), E Lozada (Toulon), N Vergallo (Dax), M Avramovic (Montauban), L Gonzalez Amorosino (Pucara).