Argentina captain Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe believes Toulon colleague Jonny Wilkinson will give England the edge at Twickenham.
Pumas skipper believes England fly-half is "influential" to team
Argentina captain Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe believes Toulon colleague Jonny Wilkinson will give England the edge for their showdown at Twickenham.
Fly-half Wilkinson made a notable return to Test duty after an 18-month absence to kick all of England's points in their 18-9 home defeat to the Wallabies.
Back-row Fernandez Lobbe believes Wilkinson, who scored the all-important drop-goal for England with his weaker right foot in the 2003 World Cup final against Australia, will be a major threat in the upcoming international series match.
"Whenever he plays, he is so influential," said Fernandez Lobbe, who like Wilkinson joined Toulon in the summer.
"He is a world-class player and I am so happy to be allowed to play alongside him at Toulon. He is an amazing guy, an example you will always follow to try to get better.
"I still have in my head him kicking a drop-goal with his right foot in extra-time in the final of the World Cup. If you can do that, you are made for rugby.
"He is really good in defence and that is something that puts him up there with the greatest."
Quality
Wilkinson, who will also face Toulon colleagues Felipe Contepomi and Esteban Lozada in the clash, is all too aware of the quality in the Pumas' ranks.
"You watch these guys train and think they are world-class players and you think 'thank God they are on my side'," said Wilkinson.
"Unfortunately that will not be the case this week."
Injury-ravaged England, who failed to score a try in their meeting with Australia, have slipped back to number eight in the world rankings and have suffered seven defeats in 12 Test matches.
Despite this, Argentina coach Santiago Phelan refuses to be complacent ahead of the Twickenham match and insists his side will have to be on top form if they are to defeat Martin Johnson's side and begin their three-match European tour with a win.
"We are playing England, with all their history and their players," said Phelan.
"I don't look at world rankings or anything like that - if you are playing England at Twickenham, it doesn't matter if they are first or last in the rankings.
"And I thought they played well against Australia. I think people were expecting them to beat Australia and their first half was very good. But in Australia, they were playing an excellent team themselves.
"Anyway, we are just concentrating on the Argentina team now, because we haven't played together for six months."
