ENGLAND have highlighted the impact of Ben Earl as Steve Borthwick faces calls to unleash Henry Pollock from the start in Saturday’s clash with Argentina in Santiago del Estero.

Pollock delivered a high-octane hat-trick in a 32-minute cameo off the bench in last weekend’s 11-try destruction of Fiji and a host of former internationals, including Ben Youngs, Chris Ashton and Jeremy Guscott, have have demanded his promotion to the back row.

But the athletic 21-year-old is competing for the number eight jersey with Earl, who has been one of the most consistent performers of the Borthwick era and England’s go-to ball carrier.

After two rounds of the Nations Championship, Earl is positioned third in the carrying charts across all teams with the bulk of his hard explosive yards into the heart of the opposition pack.

Head coach Borthwick names his team for the final leg of the July tour today, and England senior assistant coach Richard Wigglesworth insists both options are under consideration.

“There’s no resistance to Henry playing but Ben Earl has been one of our best players for a long, long time,” Wigglesworth said.

“There’s always a clamour to get someone in, but there’s not that much of a clamour to get someone else out of the team, so we’re looking at both. We always want competition for places – that’s really healthy.”

All but one of Pollock’s 12 caps have been won as an impact sub and the expectation is that he continues in that role against the Pumas. Wigglesworth denies England have been too conservative with his development.

“Henry’s done an awesome job off the bench in terms of the pace and dynamism that he brings against tiring legs,” Wigglesworth said.

“But we’re fully aware of what he can do from the start because of what he’s done for Northampton in big games.

“I don’t think we’re being that cautious with Henry. He’s forced his way into the team.

“He played for our Under-20s and England’s senior team in the same Six Nations, so that’s not a cautious move by us.

“He went on the British and Irish Lions tour last year on the back of what he did with us. We know we’ve got a strong back row, but we’re happy with what he’s doing for us.”

As ever, a question mark hovers over the the midfield combination of Seb Atkinson and Henry Slade – who started against Fiji – potentially being broken up by the promotion of Benhard Janse van Rensburg.