England's World Cup match against Argentina in Tokyo on Saturday will be like a "war", says Pumas hooker Agustin Creevy.

England are top of Group C with two wins from two while Argentina are second after a win and a defeat.

The Pumas will likely have to beat England to progress to the knockout stages after they narrowly lost to France in their opener.

"I think the battle is going to be in the forwards," Creevy said.

"We need to win the scrum, we need to win the lineout, the maul and the breakdown.

"Saturday's going to be like a war. It's a final for us."

England have won 18 of their 23 meetings with Argentina, including the last nine matches between the two teams.

Sport contests between the countries in the past four decades have often been played against the backdrop of the Falklands War between the UK and Argentina in 1982.

The conflict led to the deaths of 655 Argentine and 255 British servicemen. Three people from the islands also died during the conflict.

Diego Maradona has said his 'Hand of God' goal against England in the 1986 football World Cup was revenge for the Falklands while Fifa fined the Argentina Football Association £20,000 after its players displayed a banner in support of their country's claims to the Falkland in 2014.

Creevy, who played in England for Worcester Warriors, will become the Pumas' most-capped player if he makes an 88th appearance in Tokyo.

"Maybe my experience with Worcester will help me a lot, to see the way that it's going to play out," he said.

The forward praised England for the structured approach that has returned to its well-honed best this year - and as a result pushed them among the key challengers for a second World Cup.

"Sometimes it's boring but I think it's good for England. It works for them," he said.

"We train a lot in scrum skills and our mentality.

"I think we are improving a lot in the scrum. We feel really, really good now but we need to continue. The England scrum is really good."