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Newcastle boss backs his Falcons to become key Pumas against England

Matias Orlando, Mateo Carreras and Matias Moroni have formed the Three Amigos at Newcastle, lighting up the Premiership (Photo by Chris Lishman/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Dave Walder, the Newcastle Falcons head coach, is backing his trio of Pumas to cause England problems at Twickenham on Sunday with wonder wing Mateo Carreras having already lit up the Gallagher Premiership with his try scoring talents.

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Walder believes a frustrating period as an unused member of the Pumas squad in New Zealand during the recent Rugby Championship was the catalyst for Carreras’s outstanding form that has seen him deliver five tries this season, including one from deep inside his own half against Northampton.

With Argentina playing a more expansive game, the Newcastle centre partnership of Matias Orlando and Matias Moroni are set to start for the Pumas against England and if Carreras is included it will give the Falcons three players in the back line.

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That would raise spirits at a Falcons team that is currently bottom of the Premiership going into Saturday’s home with Bath. Falcons have Adam Radwan back from England training which means a potential head to head with Carreras cannot happen at Twickenham, however, the Newcastle lock Sean Robinson has remained with England in the build up to the match.

Walder said: “Mateo was surprised by his call up because he had flown out to New Zealand in the Rugby Championship and held a tackle bag for two weeks and came back a little bit disheartened and maybe that lit the fire to start the season so well for us. He is competitive, a tough character and its great to see him get the recognition. I hope he starts on Sunday and the only disappointment is that he won’t be up against Adam Radwan.

“The form the Argentina players showed for us was great and I would expect them to either start or be on the bench against England. Felipe Contepomi has come in with (head coach) Michael Cheika and they have got the balance about right and can change their style depending on the opposition. I like what Contepomi does with the team and their players are combative but also have that little bit of finesse as well.

“It will be a good challenge for England who are coming off the back of their summer tour where they won the series against Australia but then Argentina won for the first time in New Zealand in the Rugby Championship.

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“The first test of the autumn is always interesting and with Argentina having played more recently that could be a factor and then you have England selection and how many new combinations there will be. Argentina will fancy their chances but England at home – you would be foolish to back against them.”

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RedWarrior 4 minutes ago
Many England fans echoing the same gripe following Six Nations loss

The English defense was excellent in the first half. This is considering Ireland's attack has improved significantly since the Autumn with former Leinster attack coach Goodman. Ireland were beaten by NZ in the Autumn, are behind SA and arguably behind France so de facto 4th in order (rankings take time to catch up) As Eddie Jones said Ireland are still in that elite group so England's domination in the first half is noteworthy.

I believe they have spent the time since the Autumn largely on defence. On broken play they were relying on Smiths instint along with some jiggery pokery. For Smiths early line break a Twindaloo blocked Baird which left the gap for smith. It looked like he did Aki, but Baird was a little late arriving and clever play by Tom Curry allowed the gap for Smith. Earls line break was Smith spotting Baird coming out and beating him with a beautiful pass to Earl.

We saw the rehearsed plays for a couple of Ireland's tries. The Aki try was just identifying that England tended to hide Smith on the wing creating a vulnerability which Ireland exploited with one of Akis great finishes.

Although Ireland were relaxing at the end the two English tries were good enough quality and we may see more of it next week (Scotland will also have taken note).

Although on the easier side of the draw Borthwick almost took England to a RWC final.

But in common with the top4 you need to have firepower to get those tries in big games. Can Borthwick manage that? I don't think so.

Next week even if England have a great first half again, you would be looking at France converting 3 of those Irish chances and pushing on after the break.

Can Borthwick develop a plan to beat France in the next few years. If the answer is no England need to find someone who can.

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