England captain Jamie George vows to walk team off if racist abuse returns in Argentina

England captain Jamie George is willing to walk his team off the field if it is subjected to racial abuse again in Argentina on Saturday, when England face the Pumas in the Nations Championship in Santiago del Estero.

A year ago in San Juan, England's Black players Asher Opoku-Fordjour and Chandler Cunningham-South were racially targeted by spectators while warming up before the match. World Rugby condemned the abuse but could not go further because the perpetrators could not be identified. The Argentine Rugby Union now warns fans against racial abuse.

"It's something being considered," George said on Friday. "If 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. We've had discussions around 'What if?' I really hope — and I'm optimistic — that the Argentinian Rugby Union has taken it very seriously. At the same time we've got a plan B if that doesn't happen. The first thing we'd do is make the referee aware of what we've seen so it can be properly logged and all the protocols can go into play. What we do outside of that we're still deciding."

George was a late withdrawal from the San Juan match because he was called up by the British and Irish Lions on tour in Australia, but he was on the sidelines. "It's something I will remember for the rest of my life when I heard what had happened — and it wasn't directed at me," he said. "It was directed at my teammates and I care about my teammates more than anything."

The captain is working with a select group of players, including Opoku-Fordjour, on a possible course of action: "This isn't just my call to make — the abuse wasn't aimed at me."

England have beaten the Pumas in all five matches under coach Steve Borthwick. Argentina last won this contest in 2022.

Sources

• AP News