Morning:
6°c
If Duncan Bell can inflict as much damage on the Argentina front row as he did upon team-mate David Barnes during England training, then the Bath prop will be a major asset at Twickenham on Saturday.
The 6ft 2ins, 19st 8lbs tight-head prop was responsible for taking England's casualty list for prop forwards to nine when he inadvertently landed on loose-head Barnes, after launching himself at a ruck with his eyes closed.
Bell said: "I feel bad because my club-mate David Barnes left the England camp on crutches and I was responsible.
"It was a contact session and I went to clean out a ruck, slipped, missed the ruck and for some reason he was on all fours and I landed on the back of his legs. He was down for about five minutes, which is very strange because this is a guy who played for 20 minutes with a broken arm against Wasps.
"I am gutted for him having got so close to the England team and it was me who did it. Our forwards coach John Wells asked me what happened and I told him that he would have a go at me because I closed my eyes as I approached the ruck to clear out a body, which then moved.
"It is a lesson in life; never close your eyes when approaching a ruck."
Bell has replaced yet another injured Bath prop - David Wilson - for the game against the feared Argentine front row in an England side that failed to dominate the physical exchanges while being beaten 18-9 by Australia on Saturday.
Now, with Wilson's neck damaged, it has fallen to 35-year-old Bell to finally prove he deserves a run at the highest level after overcome a knee injury which threatened his career.
Bell's latest arrival at Test level comes after a meandering career which featured periods at Ebbw Vale and Pontypridd, where he formed a formidable front row with Mefin Jenkins and Gethin Jenkins, both of whom went on to play for Wales, who he briefly considered qualifying for on residency.
However, he then joined London Irish, Harlequins and Sale before ending up at Bath to signal a return to his roots, having grown up in the West Countr,y and attended Colston's school in Bristol, a noted rugby academy.
Having been a member of the 1998 Tour from Hell to New Zealand, Australia and South Africa, Bell eventually made his Test debut against Italy in 2005 when Phil Vickery and Julian White were injured. History has repeated itself, with those two veterans among a long list of props either injured or banned.
"Argentina are world-renowned scrummagers and I am acutely aware of why I'm here and how I got into the team," said Bell.
"That's not to say I didn't think my form was good enough. I had a career-threatening knee injury and was out for 18 months with a couple of operations and when I came back I wasn't thinking about international rugby, it was all about playing another game for Bath that I didn't necessarily think I would get. If I had been forced to retire with my knee it would have been frustrating as I would never have known what was going to be my last game and to be back and now included in the England team starting at Twickenham is great.
"If I'd been forced to quit and people had asked me if my career had been a success, I'd have looked back and said I had played for England twice but it wouldn't have been called a success.
"Yes, other people would have seen winning two caps as a success but to play in these game is really important and I cannot think ahead to possibly facing New Zealand next week because I could get dropped. My focus is solely on Argentina."
