Eddie Jones, the England head coach, is poised to recall flanker Chris Robshaw and promote centre Piers Francis for the second Test against Argentina in Santa Fe on Saturday.

Sam Underhill, the openside flanker, is poised to be involved in a match-day squad for the first time as Jones’s team look to become only the second England side to claim a series victory in Argentina. Jones has made it clear he is expecting a ferocious backlash from the Pumas after their thrilling 38-34 victory in San Juan. Francis, the Auckland Blues playmaker who will join Northampton Saints later this summer, looks set to be rewarded for his impressive cameo off the bench by coming in for Alex Lozowski at inside centre.

Three starters from that game – Joe Launchbury, Tom Curry and Nathan Hughes – sat out contact training on Wednesday but that is thought to be as a precautionary measure. With Robshaw fit again after recovering from an ankle injury, Jones faces an unenviable decision about who to leave out of the back row. Curry, who turns 19 today, and Newcastle flanker Mark Wilson were highly impressive in making their debuts last week.

Wilson is the likeliest to make way. Jones has frequently compared the 27-year-old to Robshaw and described him as “a real revelation”. That leaves Curry, who became England’s youngest starter in 90 years, and Underhill in a straight shootout for the openside slot. Underhill, who is bound for Bath from Ospreys, was preferred there for the uncapped fixture against the Barbarians last month only to injure his shoulder in the first half. Curry, his replacement, won the man-of-the-match award.