England's rugby union team has relocated their Buenos Aires base to a hotel near the international airport to avoid being caught up in any potential World Cup celebrations should Argentina's football team defeat Spain in Sunday's final.
The team's current hotel was experiencing significant noise from fireworks and street celebrations, even before Wednesday's rugby match against Argentina. "I wouldn't suggest that everybody got a great night's sleep last night – there were still fireworks going off at 4am this morning," said England coach Steve Borthwick. "Most of us were on the other side of the hotel and earplugs were issued to everybody, so we were prepared."
Borthwick acknowledged the atmosphere as "something to see," noting that many players remained on the hotel terrace watching the crowds. "We'd obviously all wanted England to win but one of the experiences of touring is seeing a spectacle like that in a different part of the world."
On-field Incident
Earlier in the week, England flanker Henry Pollock was involved in an incident where footage emerged of him taunting local football fans outside their hotel. The 21-year-old back row was seen gesturing from an upper window of the team bus as it returned from training. Argentina fans responded with gestures, and one was seen punching the bus windows.
Borthwick defended Pollock's actions, stating, "Henry's full of character. We want character in our game and we want character in our squad. This squad really embraces what he brings. It takes all kinds of different personalities and we've got some players who wouldn't do that and then you've got Henry who would go and do that. We embrace it. I think it was done in good nature and it came from a very good place."
Match Context
The decision to move hotels comes as England prepares for their match against Argentina. England has a strong recent record against Argentina, having won nine of their last 10 meetings. This includes both Test matches during their tour last summer. England has named the same starting XV that secured a decisive 73-8 victory over Fiji in their previous match. Argentina's squad includes several players based in England, such as Santiago Carreras, Matias Moroni, and Guido Petti.