Tom Curry admires the passion that is a hallmark of Argentina’s game but wants England’s calling card to be the habit of winning.
The rivals clash at Twickenham on Sunday in their final meeting before colliding at next year’s World Cup in a heavyweight collision that is likely to determine who finishes top of Pool D.
Argentina finished bottom of the most recent Rugby Championship but having beaten Australia at home and New Zealand away, they are showing clear signs of revival under Michael Cheika.
England, meanwhile, are looking to build on their 2-1 series victory over the Wallabies in July knowing they have only 13 Tests until they face the Pumas in Marseille.
Curry made his debut against as an 18-year-old against Argentina in 2017 and has a keen understanding of what makes their players tick.
“Emotion. They’re very passionate people. England can be emotional too and there’s a passion in rugby that you don’t see in many sports,” the Sale flanker said.
“But it’s about transferring that emotion into accuracy and physicality – and that’s the exciting part.
“We want to be known for winning. That’s the ultimate goal in sport. It comes from playing and training together.”
Curry insists England will not look to exploit Argentinian passion by winding them up, instead focusing their attention on making an explosive start in the first of four Autumn Nations Series matches at Twickenham.
“We want to set the tone in the first 20 minutes and we do that physically – attack, defence, breakdown,” he said.
“It involves emotion like every game – you’re representing your country – but setting the tone in the first 20 comes down to physicality and accuracy.
“You can get swept away by what they’re doing. We need to bring out the best in ourselves and that doesn’t come from worrying about what they’re going to do.”
