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Lack lustre Wales settle for draw with 14-man Argentina

By PA
PA

Wales had to settle for a draw against 14-man Argentina after a tense Principality Stadium encounter finished 20-20.

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Pumas full-back Juan Cruz Mallia was sent off for a dangerous high challenge on Wales scrum-half Kieran Hardy after 29 minutes.

But Argentina led until 10 minutes from time before they were undone by substitute scrum-half Tomos Williams’ try that his fellow replacement Jarrod Evans converted, although Evans missed a long-range penalty to win it during the closing seconds.

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Evans also added the extras to lock Will Rowlands’ touchdown, while Callum Sheedy kicked two penalties, with flanker Pablo Matera and centre Jeronimo De La Fuente touching down for Argentina, and Nicolas Sanchez booted two penalties and two conversions.

Given that Wales were minus 10 players on British and Irish Lions duty in South Africa, it was a battling display against a team that beat New Zealand and drew twice with Australia last year.

But there will also be a sense of frustration that they could not capitalise on Argentina’s indiscipline ahead of the teams meeting again in Cardiff next Saturday.

Cardiff wing Owen Lane made his first Wales appearance since the 2019 World Cup, replacing Tom Rogers among three changes following a 68-12 victory over Canada last weekend.

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Wales v Argentina - Summer Series 2021 - Principality Stadium

Elsewhere, Hallam Amos took over from an injured full-back Leigh Halfpenny and Hardy was handed a start instead of Williams.

The game had been due to take place in South America, but the coronavirus pandemic meant it was switched to Wales, with Argentina as the home side.

Argentina exerted early pressure, but Wales stirred through a powerful midfield break from number eight Aaron Wainwright, before Sheedy drifted a long-range penalty attempt narrowly wide.

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Wales v Argentina - Summer Series 2021 - Principality Stadium

Sheedy’s opposite number Sanchez then opened the scoring with a penalty, yet Wales continued to offer some bright attacking moments, with Amos lively and Lane hungry for work.

Sheedy found the target from close range with an 18th-minute strike to level things up, before Wales suffered a blow when Wainwright’s afternoon ended early in the second quarter.

The Dragons forward departed injured, being replaced by Josh Turnbull, but Wales continued to show plenty of attacking verve ahead of Sheedy kicking a second successful penalty.

Wales v Argentina - Summer Series 2021 - Principality Stadium

The Pumas had plenty of possession and looked to patiently go through phase-play, only for them to be hit by an injury setback as wing Santiago Carreras was forced off.

Referee Matthew Carley then lost his patience following the latest in a series of collapsed scrums, sin-binning Wales prop Dillon Lewis and the tighthead’s opposite number Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro.

Matters then deteriorated for Argentina, who were briefly reduced to 13 men when Cruz Mallia was dismissed for his challenge on Hardy, handing Wales a significant advantage.

Wales v Argentina - Summer Series 2021 - Principality Stadium

But Wales could not make it count as Sanchez hauled Argentina level with his second penalty five minutes before half-time.

And Argentina punished them as the seconds ticked down, with Matera rounding off a spell of concerted pressure as Chaparro rejoined the action, and Sanchez’s conversion opening up a 13-6 interval lead.

Argentina made a dream start to the second period when De La Fuente finished off a slick move, with Sanchez converting, and Wales head coach Wayne Pivac began making changes.

He had already sent on Saracens centre Nick Tompkins for Willis Halaholo, then he quickly followed that switch by replacing Sheedy with Evans.

Wales had to find another gear, and after they put a sustained spell together, Rowlands crashed over for his second try in successive Tests, and Evans’ conversion narrowed the gap to seven points.

Sanchez then missed two penalties in quick succession, and the game remained finely-balanced entering its final quarter.

Williams then pounced from close range, with Evans converting his half-back partner’s try to set up a grandstand finish, before Evans sent a last-gasp penalty wide.

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f
fl 2 hours ago
Springboks' dominance of the world rankings comes under increased threat

good comment, but ranking points being doubled during the RWC won’t actually have the effect you’re implying.


You still only lose ranking points if you’re beaten by a team that you could conceivably beat, hence why Italy lose no points when beaten by South Africa. Wales entering the RWC in 2027 in a group full of teams better than them would mean that they would lose no points, or only a very small amount of points, by being beaten, but would have the potential to drastically improve their ranking with just a single upset win.


E.g. using today’s ranking points, lets imagine Wales drew Ireland, Fiji, and Romania in their pool, losing against the first two but beating Romania, then lost to France in the R16. The worst case scenario (losing to Fiji, Ireland, and France by more than 15 points, and beating Romania by less than 15) would only lose Wales 0.66 points. The alternate scenario (coming within 15 points of Fiji and beating Romania by more than 15) would lose Wales just 0.29 points. The dream scenario of Wales securing a narrow win over Fiji would improve Wales’ score by 3.37 points, although I cba factoring in how that would impact Wales’ draw in the knockouts. Feel free to check these calculations yourself at the website called “World Rugby Rankings Calculator”, which is easily found through google but which I don’t think I can link to directly on here.


Its worth remembering that England finished 3rd at the world cup and Ireland lost in the QFs, but because England had a much easier draw than Ireland they finished the tournament ranked 5th, and Ireland 2nd. Overall the rankings do a pretty great job of fairly reflecting how well teams have played.

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