{"id":697740,"date":"2026-07-18T03:02:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T03:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/697740\/"},"modified":"2026-07-18T03:02:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-18T03:02:09","slug":"england-threaten-to-walk-off-pitch-against-argentina-as-plan-emerges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/697740\/","title":{"rendered":"England threaten to walk off pitch against Argentina as plan emerges"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The England skipper has been consulting with his squad about what they will do if there&#8217;s more abuse this weekend<img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"eager\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/0_GettyImages-2264708911.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p aria-label=\"Jamie George of England \" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">Jamie George of England (Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">England captain Jamie George has threatened to lead his team off the pitch against Argentina if there is a repeat of the racial abuse that they suffered in the country last year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Both Asher Opoku-Fordjour and Chandler Cunningham-South were targeted by a small section of fans when warming up with their fellow replacements during the first half of England\u2019s 22-17 victory in San Juan a year ago. Opoku-Fordjour is on the bench for this Saturday&#8217;s Nations Championship match, with tensions high between the two countries following their FIFA World Cup semi-final on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">A World Rugby investigation concluded that an act of racial discrimination had taken place and the Argentine Rugby Union has provided assurances that it was a one-off episode.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">If something similar was to unfold on Saturday in Santiago del Estero, George insists that England would take matter into their own hands.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s something being considered,\u201d the captain said. \u201cIf anything like that happened then it deserves the strongest of reactions. There is no place for that in the world and I feel incredibly strongly about that.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">JOIN OUR WALES RUGBY FACEBOOK PAGE <a aria-label=\"[object Object]Link opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Walesrugbynews\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">Latest news, analysis and much more<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">\u201cWe\u2019ve had discussions around \u2018what if?\u2019. I really hope \u2013 and I\u2019m optimistic \u2013 that the Argentinian Rugby Union has taken it very seriously. At the same time we\u2019ve got a plan B if that doesn\u2019t happen.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">\u201cThe first thing we\u2019d do is make the referee aware of what we\u2019ve seen so it can be properly logged and all the protocols can go into play. What we do outside of that we\u2019re still deciding.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">George says he has been consulting with members of England&#8217;s squad with mixed heritage before deciding what action to take, including Opoku-Fordjour.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s something I will remember for the rest of my life when I heard what had happened \u2013 and it wasn\u2019t directed at me,\u201d said George, who was a late withdrawal from the starting XV in San Juan after being called up for the Lions tour to Australia but was present for the game.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">\u201cIt was directed at my team-mates and I care about my team-mates more than anything.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">\u201cI will continue to have conversations with a select group of players from different ethnic backgrounds and we will come up with a plan.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">\u201cAsher\u2019s obviously aware of what\u2019s coming and he\u2019s had conversations with a few of the other guys. I\u2019m going to him because this isn\u2019t just my call to make \u2013 the abuse wasn\u2019t aimed at me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Get the latest breaking Welsh rugby news sent straight to your inbox for FREE with our daily newsletter. <a aria-label=\"[object Object]Link opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.walesonline.co.uk\/newsletter-preference-centre\/\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">Sign up here.<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">With last November&#8217;s clash also a tense encounter, George is expecting another lively battle this weekend.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s a big rivalry now,\u201d George said. \u201cWe look at Argentina on the calendar whenever the fixtures come out and we know it will be a special occasion.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">\u201cOn the field we\u2019re very aware that when we play Argentina they\u2019re an incredibly proud nation and it\u2019s going to be hostile.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">\u201cThey\u2019re going to be desperate to win, especially on their own turf.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Follow all of our channels to ensure you stay up to date with the latest Welsh rugby news. Sign up to our<a aria-label=\"[object Object]Link opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.walesonline.co.uk\/newsletter-preference-centre\/?view=Solus&amp;mailingListId=e90f3817-255f-4349-881b-d9a4515d3f52&amp;utm_source=solusarticle\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\"> free daily newsletter here<\/a> and our <a aria-label=\"[object Object]Link opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/chat.whatsapp.com\/L8kRCygN2HM6E7iILK0spC\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">WhatsApp channel here<\/a> for all the breaking news.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The England skipper has been consulting with his squad about what they will do if there&#8217;s more abuse&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":697741,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[7166,5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-697740","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-england-rugby-union-team","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/697740","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=697740"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/697740\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/697741"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=697740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=697740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=697740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}