Wales 33 Argentina 16:THREE DOWN and two wins in the bag, Wales today begin preparations for the final game of the autumn confident of their place in the world. When the international board refreshes its rankings today, Wales are likely to jump above Argentina and into seventh place with a real prospect of doing some harm to Australia, currently third, when the teams meet on Saturday in Cardiff.
Drawing form lines in rugby is risky but Wales’ three-tries-to-one defeat of the Pumas was light years away from the mucky business of Twickenham the week before, when England just about got home.
From the moment Stephen Jones tapped a penalty and scurried into the corner 15 minutes into the game, the outcome was clear and the result conclusive enough for Warren Gatland to say that 22 months from opening their World Cup game against South Africa, Wales are progressing nicely. “We are pleased with that performance, it was a step up”.
The Jones try was a curious affair, if only because the Welsh kicking coach Neil Jenkins was alongside the outhalf with the kicking tee when Jones put his head down and headed for the right corner, spotted by just one Puma, the wing Mauro Comuzzi. Without suggesting he was looking for an excuse, their captain Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe hinted that the referee George Clancy had told him to speak to his players about their scrummage.
“I haven’t seen a try like that in years at this level,” said Lobbe, “and we are really disappointed with ourselves.”
Mind you Lobbe was also frustrated at the way Clancy refereed the scrum and in particular with the number of penalties awarded against the Argentinian loose-head, Rodrigo Roncero.
“I am not an expert in that area but it was very tough to be penalised when we were going forward,” Lobbe added.
However, one way or another the Wales frontrow was clever enough to neutralise what was the Puma’s only attacking weapon. With Agustin Pichot gone and Juan Martin Hernandez and Felipe Contepomi injured, Argentina are not the side that came third at the last World Cup.
Through Shane Williams Wales have rediscovered how to score tries. The wing twice fed on mistakes to reach his half century of tries in Test rugby.
“It’s great if you have players in your team with the X factor and we are lucky to have some of those,” said Gatland.
WALES: Hook; Halfpenny, J Roberts, Davies, S Williams; S Jones, Cooper; Jenkins, Rees, P James, A Jones, Charteris, Powell, M Williams, R Jones. Replacements: Bishop for Davies (73 mins), T James for S. Williams (73), Peel for Cooper (66), Bennett for Rees (68), D Jones for P James (57), Thomas for Charteris (68). Not Used: Lydiate.
ARGENTINA: Agulla; Borges, Tiesi, Rodriguez, Comuzzi; Fernandez, Figuerola; Roncero, Ledesma, Scelzo, Sambucetti, Albacete, Leonardi, Abadie, Fernandez Lobbe. Replacements: San Martin for Tiesi (76 mins), Urdapilleta for Comuzzi (71), Ayerza for Scelzo (66), Carizza for Sambucetti (63), Campos for Abadie (71). Not Used: Basualdo, Lalanne.
Referee: George Clancy (RU).
Attendance: 60,974
