Jamie George hits back at Argentina hooker Agustin Creevy's claims that England play 'boring' rugby

Must-win game: Jamie George is not getting rattled ahead of England's clash with Argentina
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Will Macpherson2 October 2019

Is English rugby boring? Depends who you ask here in Tokyo this week, as the build-up to England's meeting with Argentina on Saturday intensifies.

Argentina must win to keep alive hopes of quarter-final qualification but they have lost all eight meetings between the teams this decade.

On Wednesday it was the turn of a hoard of Englishmen to defend their style of play following Argentinian attempts to ­“rattle” them.

The rattler was Agustin Creevy, who claimed that “structured” English play could be “boring”, based on his time playing for Worcester ­Warriors. If he plays on Saturday, Creevy will become Argentina’s most-capped player.

Having spent his whole career at ­Saracens, Jamie George is used to such accusations. ­“Trophies in the bag,” he joked, after flanker Sam Underhill said “there are no points for style”.

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They dismissed Creevy’s comments as mind games - the sort for which their coach Eddie Jones is known the world over.

“I don’t think we play boring rugby,” said George. “I’m not overly surprised he said that but he’s entitled to his ­opinion and hopefully we prove him wrong on Saturday.

“I don’t think it’s very justified. I’m sure he’s just trying to rattle us a bit. He’s more than welcome to try.”

England’s attack coach Scott ­Wisemantel, an Australian, also hit back at Creevy.

“He just might have been at a boring club [Worcester],” he said when asked about the comments. “I don’t think that is the case and he ­obviously hasn’t watched much of the Premiership. There are some excellent teams with so many different styles.

“[Our attack] is varied and can be very structured at times but in this tournament a third of our tries have come from unstructured play. I don’t necessarily agree.”

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With Mako Vunipola, Jack Nowell and Henry Slade available for selection when Jones names his team, England have a full complement of 31 players.

“We’ve got a huge few weeks ahead,” said George. “We’re not getting ahead of ourselves, we’re aware this match is potentially the biggest of our lives. We know how much we need to win it.

“We have 31 players in the best ­condition of their lives and that’s credit to the medical staff.”

England look likely to field twin ­playmakers in George Ford and Owen Farrell, to bolster their tactical kicking game, and twin opensides in Underhill and Tom Curry, in a bid to dominate the breakdown.

That covers two of this tournament’s hottest themes. Saturday’s game, though, looks certain to be a titanic battle up front. Both teams have enjoyed success with the driving maul.

Underhill said: “Their maul and scrum is a massive part of their game but it’s the same for us. The best teams have the best set-piece. For us it’s a threat to nullify but it’s also an opportunity to impose ourselves on the game”

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