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Jones wary of 'under pressure' Pumas

Bagshot - Eddie Jones has forecast an "under pressure" Argentina will celebrate with beer and steak if they beat his England side at Twickenham on Saturday.

The Pumas have had a miserable 2017 so far, winning just one out of nine Tests - and that against Georgia in June - with many pundits believing they are paying a heavy price for selecting only those players with the Argentina-based Jaguares for Test duty.

England have won all three of their Tests against 2019 World Cup pool opponents Argentina since Jones took charge, including a 2-0 series win in Argentina in June with a squad depleted by call-ups to the British and Irish Lions tour of New Zealand.

But the England coach believes that were Argentina to record just their second win over England at Twickenham, following a 25-18 success in 2006, it would salvage the Pumas' season.

"It's going to be a tough game," Jones told reporters after unveiling his team on Thursday.

"Argentina are coming off the back of not a good season. Their coach (Daniel Hourcade) is under pressure, their players are under pressure," the Australian added.

"But they know if they beat England at Twickenham then their whole season turns around.

"They can go back to Buenos Aires and sit on the beach as heroes. Everyone will want to buy them a beer. Everyone will want to buy them a steak.

"I'm confident we (England) will play well and if we play well enough the result will come our way."

Jones made good on his promise to rest "deconditioned" players involved in the Lions gruelling 1-1 series draw with world champions New Zealand by leaving out inside centre Owen Farrell and lock Maro Itoje from his latest matchday 23 to play Argentina.

"We always said we would look at each player individually to where they're up to and see what they needed to do. We decided to rest two," Jones explained.

"I've picked the best 23 because we want to win this game against Argentina. It's very simple."

Henry Slade has replaced Farrell, with the Exeter playmaker starting in the No 12 shirt instead of Saracens rising star Alex Lozowski, who is on the bench.

"Henry's got a lot. He's got nice feet, good balance a good head. He's got some speed, courage -- he's got everything there is," former Australia and Japan coach Jones said.

The 24-year-old won the first of his seven caps two years ago and featured in both of England's wins away to Argentina in June.

"Henry has been around the team for a few years now and he earned his stripes on tour in Argentina. He was important for us out there and played some good footie," Jones said.

"He's not a surprise to the team, he's been around. He's been waiting for an opportunity and now he gets it."

Teams:

England

15 Mike Brown, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Henry Slade, 11 Elliot Daly, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Chris Robshaw, 5 George Kruis, 4 Courtney Lawes, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley (captain), 1 Mako Vunipola

Substitutes: 16 Jamie George, 17 Ellis Genge, 18 Harry Williams, 19 Joe Launchbury, 20 Sam Simmonds, 21 Danny Care, 22 Alex Lozowski, 23 Semesa Rokoduguni

Argentina

15 Joaquin Tuculet, 14 Ramiro Moyano, 13 Matias Moroni, 12 Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias, 11 Emiliano Boffelli, 10 Juan Martin Hernandez, 9 Martin Landajo, 8 Tomas Lezana, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Matias Alemanno, 3 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 2 Agustin Creevy (captain), 1 Santiago Garcia Botta

Substitutes: 16 Julian Montoya, 17 Lucas Noguera, 18 Enrique Pieretto, 19 Benjamin Macome, 20 Leonardo Senatore, 21 Gonzalo Bertranou, 22 Nicolas Sanchez, 23 Sebastian Cancelliere

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