England switch Buenos Aires hotel to dodge Argentina World Cup celebrations

England have moved their Buenos Aires base ahead of their return home on Monday, choosing a hotel near the airport to sidestep any celebrations should Argentina beat Spain in the FIFA World Cup final — a precaution taken after Wednesday night’s scenes left players reaching for earplugs until 4am.

Hundreds of thousands of Argentina fans flooded the Plaza de la República following the Albiceleste’s 2-1 semi-final victory over Thomas Tuchel’s England side, gathering around the famous Obelisk that sits directly outside the hotel where Steve Borthwick’s squad had been staying. Fireworks continued through the night, steel fencing was erected around the building, and earplugs were distributed to players and staff.

“I wouldn’t suggest that everybody got a great night’s sleep last night — there were still fireworks going off at 4am this morning,” Borthwick said. “Most of us were on the other side of the hotel and earplugs were issued to everybody, so we were prepared for that.”

The England rugby head coach described going up to the hotel terrace late in the evening to find players watching the spectacle unfold below. “People jumping up and down for hours in the streets. Fireworks going off. It was something to see,” he said. “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.”

The squad travels to Santiago del Estero for Saturday’s Nations Championship fixture against the Pumas before returning to Buenos Aires the following day — a timeline that risks a repeat of the 2022 scenes when millions descended on the Obelisk after Argentina lifted the World Cup. The decision to relocate to an airport hotel removes that logistical uncertainty.

Borthwick has named an unchanged XV from the side that beat Fiji last week, meaning Henry Pollock remains on the bench despite scoring a hat-trick as a replacement. The 21-year-old has attracted attention in Argentina after footage emerged of him making faces and gesturing for quiet at a crowd of locals — many wearing national colours — from the team bus after a training session on Wednesday.

Borthwick defended the back-row forward’s conduct. “Henry’s full of character,” he said. “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.”