Rowntree: Respectful of Argentina's scrum

England open up their RWC challenge against the Pumas - with the match seeing two of the leading packs in the world go head-to-head.

The fact Argentina's starting front-row of Mario Ledesma, Rodrigo Roncero and Juan Figallo have all honed their talents in the Top 14 in France could spell double trouble for England.

The 2003 World Cup winners, though, are no slouches in the set-piece - with scrum coach Rowntree relishing the battle up-front against the Pumas.

"You test yourself as a player, as a front row forward, against the Argentineans and the French," said Rowntree. "And when you've got Argentineans playing with French clubs, that doubles the challenge.

"As a youngster, one of my first caps was against Argentina and that was a difficult evening. It's a benchmark of scrummaging gurus - how do you do against a team like Argentina or France?

"Are they the best in the business? We'll see in this competition.

"They're always a handful as a nation. A very physical outfit, the whole team: forward line, back line, they won't give up.

"It's always a very hard, physical encounter against them and I don't think that will ever change.

"That philosophy on scrummaging is to be respected - but we like scrummaging as well!"