Toulon
may not seem the obvious first word that springs to mind
when thinking of England against Argentina at Twickenham,
but the lively southern French port city will have two of
its current favoured sons on the pitch on Saturday, on
opposing sides.
In the
home dressing room, resplendent with fresh media cuttings
gushing over his latest comeback, is England’s golden boy
Jonny Wilkinson. In the away dressing room, brooding in
textbook Latin fashion, is Juan Fernández Lobbe, an
outrageously talented flanker with a work-rate to match the
best in the business.
Both
made the move from northern England to southern France in
the summer – Wilkinson from Newcastle and Lobbe from
Manchester – and the pair have been instrumental in Toulon’s
bright start to the 2009/10 Top 14 season. The day-to-day
training and playing has also, clearly, brought renewed
admiration for each others’ talents, as well as those of
fellow Pumas Esteban Lozada and Felipe Contepomi - also at
Toulon.
“You
watch these guys train and think they are world-class
players and you think ‘thank God they are on my side.
Unfortunately that will not be the case next week,” said
Wilkinson.
The
England fly-half didn’t play in the drawn summer series
between the two sides, but he’s been keeping an eye on
Saturday’s opponents. “Argentina are an incredibly physical
team – massively fit, fast, powerful and hugely passionate
and skilful,” he said. “They are a team which surprise you
week in and week out,” added the 30-year-old.
Wilkinson admitted Saturday’s
9-18 reverse against Australia
had been “debilitating”, but remained optimistic about
the general direction England are heading in under Martin
Johnson.
“The
devastation and disappointment is good to see. The guys are
incredibly down about it and very keen to get on and move
ahead. I’ve seen it before and it’s a matter of putting it
into place.
“We’ve
now got that marker and we can look at the finer detail to
see who does what best and where they fit into the game
plan. It is now how you move on from your defeats and how
you use them. We’ve got to make sure that it brings us
closer together,” he added.
Lobbe,
who will captain Argentina in Contepomi’s continued absence,
believes his side could replicate their 2006 win at
Twickenham. “We are very excited,” he said. “It could be a
great opportunity to consolidate and make that big step
forward and become a solid group and team.”
When the
two teams met in the summer
England won 37-15 at Old Trafford,
but lost 24-22 in Salta a week later.
England will be looking to
bounce back positively from the Australia defeat, while
Argentina are out to prove their worth (yet again) after
finally being admitted to the expanded Four-Nations from
2012.
Both sides set to unveil
their teams on Wednesday.
