Jack van Poortvliet had originally been chosen to set the tempo before he damaged ankle ligaments and was ruled out of the tournament. Now Mitchell, despite concerns about his game management, has leapfrogged Danny Care and Ben Youngs, who has no place in the match-day 23.
May’s selection will bring much-needed pace and experience to the back three. The Gloucester wing, who admitted he came close to walking out of the England camp, has been fast-tracked ahead of Max Malins and Henry Arundell.
Once again it shed some light onto a potential change in game plan, and Borthwick resisted switching Joe Marchant to the wing and going for the more powerful midfield of Manu Tuilagi and Ollie Lawrence. Marchant has earned the right to start in his favoured position as one of the rare bright notes of an otherwise dark August campaign.
The return of Tom Curry brings power and experience to the back row but a question mark hangs over his match sharpness, with Lewis Ludlam expected to be given significant game time off the bench. Jack Willis pays the price for an under par display against Fiji.
Dan Cole’s selection at tighthead ahead of Kyle Sinckler and Will Stuart reflects England’s concern at the power of Argentina’s scrum.
Can Mitchell and May bring more attacking verve against an Argentina side that on paper at least looks for the first time to be stronger than England’s line-up? It looks a tall order.
Lyndon B Johnson once said: “Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose.” Borthwick has sent a message to his squad to forget yesterday, and a win on Saturday would go a long way to dispatching the gloom that has hung over the squad for the last month.
England team to play Argentina
15. Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers, 26 caps)
14. Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby, 73 caps)
13. Joe Marchant (Stade Francais, 19 caps)
12. Manu Tuilagi (Sale Sharks, 53 caps)
11. Elliot Daly (Saracens, 59 caps)
10. George Ford – vice-captain (Sale Sharks, 85 caps)
9. Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints, 6 caps)
1. Ellis Genge – vice-captain (Bristol Bears, 52 caps)
2. Jamie George (Saracens, 79 caps)
3. Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers, 102 caps)
4. Maro Itoje (Saracens, 70 caps)
5. Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers, 11 caps)
6. Courtney Lawes – captain (Northampton Saints, 100 caps)
7. Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 45 caps)
8. Ben Earl (Saracens, 18 caps)
Replacements
16. Theo Dan (Saracens, 3 caps)
17. Joe Marler (Harlequins, 82 caps)
18. Will Stuart (Bath Rugby, 29 caps)
19. George Martin (Leicester Tigers, 3 caps)
20. Lewis Ludlam (Northampton Saints, 21 caps)
21. Danny Care (Harlequins, 90 caps)
22. Marcus Smith (Harlequins, 24 caps)
23. Ollie Lawrence (Bath Rugby, 14 caps)
