To beat Argentina, you first have to quell them, emotionally

FAVOURED: Argentina head coach Michael Cheika during the captain's run at the Stade de Marseille. Pic: Mike Egerton/PA Wire

It was the noise you heard first, a surge of songs and chants, a tumult on the move. And just what the French players least wanted to hear as the victorious Argentinians cascaded into the Stade de France mixed zone, bound together as one as they celebrated their third-place finish at the 2007 World Cup. That is the sort of collective emotion that England will have to deal with on Saturday night in Marseille. To beat Argentina, you first have to quell them, emotionally as much as physically. Think Gus Pichot and Felipe Contepomi of that era. Think of Lionel Messi at the football World Cup. Passion plays big in Argentine sport.

If England fail in that first basic objective, as Ireland did in Lens in 1999 and France did twice in that 2007 tournament, then they will lose. The Pumas have risen to their rightful place on the global stage through their strong sense of each other, through their shared purpose and well-defined identity. You saw that in the bowels of the Stade France all those years ago just as you saw it on the streets of Buenos Aires when Messi and his mates returned as conquering heroes. World Cups are their kind of gig.

Pumas’ captain, hooker Julian Montoya, has referenced this umbilical cord connection with country, stating that rugby also wants to do the nation proud. England know all this. Subduing the opposition is the first premise of any match. But there is far more to this contest than the mano-a-mano battle up-front. Steve Borthwick is well aware that England not only have to get their basics in order – and there haven’t even been too many reassuring signs that his team have even mastered that particular brief – they also have to play some rugby. Before even a ball has been kicked by England in this World Cup – and, believe me, England have done an awful lot of that soul-sapping stuff across August with ball after ball hoofed into the air to be chased by leaden lumps in white shirts – Borthwick has realised that the English Titanic will sink unless he shuffles the deckchairs.

Hence his about-turn in selection. Hence the promotion of Northampton scrum-half, Alex Mitchell, into a starting role, a man not even in the original 33-man squad but drafted once Jack van Poortvliet got injured. Mitchell’s prime asset is that he is not the metronome No 9 that the likes of a Ben Youngs is, a dutiful servant of the original Borthwick play-the-percentages game plan. Mitchell’s omission was due to a perceived weakness in game management. Mitchell is fast and tricky slick in his service and blessed with a keen eye. He may be flawed but he brings alacrity and unpredictability.

Will he really make that much of a difference? His selection is not remotely guaranteed to yield a dividend given that Mitchell’s only test start to date was that calamitous warm-up loss to Fiji last month at Twickenham. But it is the first sign of a change of tack from England who have bored the world to sleep with their strategy over the last nine months. It has not even been effective. It's only justification is victory. And there have been precious few of those (three in Borthwick’s nine matches in charge).

There are other surprises in the line-up, a return to the front-line for that old Leicester slugger, Dan Cole. The Pumas are not the scrummaging ogres of old and Cole is there to exploit any frailties, a noble notion but also fanciful given that England’s World Cup final loss to South Africa four years ago was attributed in part to Cole’s early appearance from the bench after Kyle Sinckler was injured. Such is England’s desperation to shake off their sporting mortal coil they have rushed flanker, Tom Curry, straight back into action despite the fact that his last competitive game was back in May.

England have little option but to roll the dice. They are badly in need of an uplift. Their morale is shot to pieces after a dreadful build-up with suspensions and injury. Their principal hopes resides in two factors – that there is almost zero expectation of them and, yes, that lopsided draw which appears to gift them an easy passage through to the knockout stages.

The England players have not become complete dead-beats across the last 12-18 months. However, they do lack bounce and self-esteem. They have it within them to provide what would constitute something of a shock if they were to win. Borthwick has clutched at the underdog straw earlier when saying that this is the best ever Pumas side. They are not there yet but they have assets fore and aft – conventional grisly forwards in the shape of Tomas Lavanini, Marcos Kremer, and Pablo Matera who will all appreciate their grunt work being put to good use by the likes of Santiago Carreras, Emiliano Boffelli, and the dashing Mateo Carreras in the backs.

Argentina know that they have it well within their capabilities to lay down a marker on this opening weekend of World Cup action. The caveat for either team is that they both ought to qualify with Japan, who lack the clout and class of the last two World Cups, an admittedly improving Samoa and rank outsiders, Chile, to come.

A defeat would not be potentially terminal. England have nothing to lose in that regard. But there is something else on the line for them – redemption in the eyes of their fans. They have a shot in Marseille. One shot. It is high time they took it.