Argentina to target England skipper Dylan Hartley at scrum with 'Bajada' technique

Argentina lock Guido Petti said his team will be hoping to topple England's powerful scrum by applying pressure on their skipper Dylan Hartley in their upcoming clash at Twickenham on Saturday.

The 'Bajada' technique developed in 1960s drives all the force into the opponent's hooker with centres around the second rows binding around the props' waists rather than between the legs.

Having watched England's set-piece against South Africa and Fiji, Petti insisted that the home team's scrum will be the target for Argentina this weekend.

"The thermometer of this England team is the forwards winning the physicality," said Petti.

"When they get control there they are very strong. The key in this match is going to be this. Lots of scrums, lots of mauls. The one who dominates these things will dominate the match.

"The forwards of England are very good, very powerful, very strong. It's good playing teams with these strengths. We want to play against the best and England are one of the best."

The 22-year-old former Argentina Under-20 has high regards for the England skipper Hartley and believes they are set for an intriguing battle on Saturday.

"Yes we can do that, and maybe we have to think which scrums to fight and which ones not to," said Petti of Argentina's unorthodox scrummaging technique.

"We know that the scrum will be a very important area for this match.

"Our scrum has improved a lot in the past few matches.

"I think against Scotland we had a great scrum, but England is going to be more difficult.

"Their physicality is their strength. They are very aggressive.

"Dylan Hartley is a great player, he's very experienced and he knows how to lead England.

"But this will be a big battle, and one I think both sides will relish."

The Jaguares lock also stressed on the importance of rankings to have a better placed pool in World Cup 2019 in Japan. Argentina must defeat England at Twickenham to get into the top eight which might help them avoid the group of death in the mega event with the draws to be announced in May next year.

"One of our objectives is to be in the top eight so our defeat to Scotland was not very good," said Petti.

"But we can turn things around if we win against England. It is going to be very difficult but we will give it our all.

"We are really confident despite having two losses on this northern tour.

"The rankings are very important, but also, if you want to be world champions then you have to beat everyone at some point.

"Being in the top eight was our objective for the end of the year. This is our last chance."