Sir Clive Woodward: These are the signs that Steve Borthwick's side are on the way to becoming a champion team - and who I think will be the matchwinner against a tough Argentina side

On Friday, I spoke to the Association of Secondary Headteachers in Essex.

I was tasked with delivering a presentation about the DNA of champion individuals and teams. As I was doing my preparation, I stopped to think about the state of the current England side and their journey.

Steve Borthwick does not yet have a champion team. But he is undoubtedly on the right path.

When I sat down with Borthwick for a big Daily Mail Sport interview at the end of October, I was firmly of the belief England had the potential to have a very strong autumn.

But I think the campaign has gone way beyond expectations having beaten Australia and especially New Zealand so convincingly. If Argentina are also dispatched on Sunday, it will be England’s first November clean sweep since 2017. If that happens, to use teaching parlance, Borthwick’s end-of-year report would undoubtedly be an A*.

There is now a real confidence in this England team. 

I’ve been impressed with their defence and physicality. Their squad is now packed with quality and strength in depth in all positions. Across the board, there has been undoubted progression. England are in a very, very good place.

International coaching is also a very, very difficult job.

So, Borthwick deserves immense credit for the year he’s had, so long as it doesn’t unravel at the last against the Pumas! I always expect England to win at home. As the national coach, you’ve got to set high standards.

So, with that in mind, while November has been a great success so far, let’s not get too carried away. As I’ve written previously, the acid Test for the progression of this team will come when they need to take a big scalp away from home.

But that can wait for now.

Argentina are a very, very dangerous team and I think their full-back Santiago Carreras is one player who will show at Twickenham on Sunday an area where England can still improve. Carreras is just fantastic. English fans will be very familiar with him as he’s been playing in the PREM for a few years now, first with Gloucester and now Bath.

Last weekend in Edinburgh, Argentina were 21-0 down to Scotland when Carreras appeared off the bench early in the second half. It’s no exaggeration to say he totally changed the course of the game almost single-handedly. Carreras is an out-and-out game breaker.

I couldn’t understand why he was on the bench in Scotland and is in the same role again for England. If it’s for welfare reasons, then that is to be applauded. But I’ve no doubt Carreras should be starting. England will be pleased he isn’t beginning the game that’s for sure. One question I’d still have about England is do they have a Carreras-type player behind the scrum?

Borthwick already knows his team can play in a variety of ways to win. But to be a truly champion team, England need to be able to pull a rabbit from a hat when needed.

Sometimes, in the closest games or at the latter stages of a World Cup, matches are decided by the finest of margins. I’m not sure yet if when the opportunity arises, England have the players and skills to go the length of the field to score. That doesn’t mean playing Barbarians-style rugby. And it’s not necessarily a criticism because this England side is still developing. This may well come in time.

I just see this as an area to look at, especially given this weekend’s opposition because Argentina provide a fantastic attacking threat. They score some great tries and, when it’s on, aren’t afraid to run the ball from anywhere.

We’ve seen that already this year. The Pumas have beaten both the Lions and New Zealand and have attacking threats across the board. One man I think can be England’s gamebreaker is Immanuel Feyi-Waboso. The Exeter wing is a brilliant player and undoubtedly worth his place in the team. But I’d like to see a bit more from him, even if he is still very young. Feyi-Waboso has been compared to Jason Robinson. When I coached Robinson with England, he was the very definition of a gamebreaker.

He’d create something from nothing.

Our tactics as a result were just to give him the ball as much as possible. Feyi-Waboso is a brilliant and dangerous runner. But if I were coaching him, I’d be quite tough and say to him he needs to do more to get possession. Can he come in off No 10 more? I think he can improve his link play and decoy running too. Wings are for scoring tries, but also creating and joining phases together.

Carreras can do all that. Feyi-Waboso is clearly different to Carreras in that he’s a specialist wing whereas the Argentine is a full-back or fly-half. But at the same time, if he can add to his game in the areas I mention, then he can do a similar job.

Argentina and Carreras will be hurting from their 2-0 summer defeat by England.

I think it’s going to be a truly great game. Argentina won’t fear England and they’ll believe they can attack them from anywhere. England are going for their 11th straight win.

And there is no way they’ll be taking this game lightly despite three wins already this autumn, not with players with points to prove in their team like Elliot Daly, Max Ojomoh – who is a late replacement for the injured Fraser Dingwall – and Henry Slade. 

I’m actually very nervous about this one and with Ojomoh and Slade, England are starting with another new centre pairing. I think it’ll be decided by a score. England to win, albeit narrowly. And if that happens, it will be a very, very good Christmas in the Borthwick household!