All-action Yarde is itching to have a go

 
6 November 2013

The last time Marland Yarde faced Argentina he scored two tries in an England debut that finally convinced Stuart Lancaster to use specialist wings in the No11 jersey.

Harlequins full-back Mike Brown was on the left wing for the Six Nations but reverted to No15 for the two Test victories in Argentina last summer, including the second game in Buenos Aires which introduced Yarde to international rugby.

The London Irish wing’s two tries and eagerness to hit rucks, make tackles and generally use as much energy as possible in the national cause, made a big impression on head coach Lancaster, who gave the wing a first Twickenham appearance in last Saturday’s 20-13 win over Australia.

Although Yarde’s strong run set up the position that led to Chris Robshaw’s try he incurred the wrath of the referee with an early tackle on a player still in the air and then a block on an opponent who had kicked ahead. The first misdemeanour was down to a timing error while the block was, although he protests his innocence, a ‘professional’ decision to stop a try resulting from the kick-chase.

Now, Yarde gets to face Argentina at Twickenham on Saturday although the Pumas team, unlike the one defeated 51-26 in Buenos Aires, will include their players from France’s Top14 league.

Yarde, whose father really is named Scotland, said: “I was really excited the night before the Australia game and struggled to get to sleep because I just wanted to get on with it. Once the match started I tried to take everything in my stride and get my hands on the ball as early as possible.

“I did think I was going to get to the try line when we attacked from Mike Brown’s run but Adam Ashley-Cooper put in a really good tackle. However, we got the try from the charge down after the line-out and I was delighted to have a positive impact for the team.

“Hopefully, against Argentina I will get a lot more carries with the ball. I marked a couple of their kicks because it was the right thing to do against Australia but on Saturday if it’s right to have a go then that’s what I love to do. At Test level, everything is under so much more scrutiny and you have to make the right decisions.”

Saracens prop Mako Vunipola has a knee ligament injury — Alex Corbisiero and Joe Marler are the alternatives for Saturday at loose-head — while Rob Webber covers for Tom Youngs, whose wife is expecting a baby.

New Argentina coach Daniel Hourcade has picked a big pack of forwards and has Saracens centre Marcelo Bosch in the back line.

Marriott Hotels, official partner of England Rugby, is giving fans the chance to travel brilliantly across the world of rugby. Win tickets and rugby goodies at Facebook.com/MarriottHotelsUK

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in