Kruis and Wood return to England line-up for Argentina clash

England coach Eddie Jones has made four changes to the line-up for the upcoming Old Mutual Wealth Cup series clash against Argentina to be played on Saturday at Twickenham.

Northampton Saints flanker Tom Wood and Saracens back-row George Kruis have returned to the XV as England aim to extend their unbeaten streak to 13.

Kruis has made a rapid recovery from an ankle surgery and will take the place of Joe Launchbury from the team that played against Fiji after the Wasps lock was handed a two-week ban for a kicking incident.

Meanwhile, Wood will replace Teimana Harrison at openside flanker, who will now move to the bench at the expense of Nathan Hughes.

Mike Brown and Jonny May also return to the XV replacing Alex Goode and Semesa Rokoduguni at fullback and right wing respectively.

"Selection was interesting this week, but it shows how competitive and how much depth we are developing," head coach Jones said.

"George has worked really hard after his injury," Jones said.

"He has been a fine player for us and with Joe Launchbury's unfortunate but justified suspension, it's a great opportunity for George to find his feet again.

"Tom is a lively, committed player and that is what we are going to need against a big Argentinian pack."

Jones also defended his decision to drop Rokoduguni despite a man of the match performance from him against Fiji.

"Roko has improved, we are really impressed with his progress, but there are areas of his game he needs to work on," Jones said.

"He needs to go back to Bath and work on those and if he does that he'll get another opportunity.

"We feel May and Brown are best against Argentina. Brown is a strong player in the air, he is strong defensively, carries the ball back hard and we are anticipating it is going to be a tough contest.

"Jonny May has got great finishing skills and we believe that is going to be important against Argentina."

The 56-year-old also had high regards for Argentina, who according to him was better than South Africa and Australia in the Rugby Championship 2016.

"This game against Argentina is a big step up for us as they were probably the second best team in the Rugby Championship. They played some exceptional rugby," Jones said.

"They are a quality team, have power in the forwards, speed and guile in the backs as well as great experience.

"We appreciate they have threats across the field and they have always been a physical, tough side.

"They still have their set-piece armoury in the scrum and line-outs so we're looking forward to a great game of rugby against them."

England team to face Argentina:

15. Mike Brown, 14. Jonny May, 13. Jonathan Joseph, 12. Owen Farrell, 11. Elliot Daly, 10. George Ford, 9. Ben Youngs, 1. Mako Vunipola, 2. Dylan Hartley, 3. Dan Cole, 4. Courtney Lawes, 5. George Kruis, 6. Chris Robshaw, 7. Tom Wood, 8. Billy Vunipola

Replacements:

16. Jamie George, 17. Joe Marler, 18. Kyle Sinckler, 19. Charlie Ewels, 20. Teimana Harrison, 21. Danny Care, 22. Ben Te'o, 23. Henry Slade