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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.
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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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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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.
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.
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.
Comments on RugbyPass
You probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
12 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
1 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
1 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
4 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
16 Go to commentsJake White is a brilliant coach and a master in the press. This is another masterclass in media relations and PR but its also a very narrow view with arguments that dont always hold water. White wants his team to win, he wants the best players in SA and wants his team competitive. You however have to face up to the reality of a poor exchange rate and big clubs with big budgets. SA Rugby cant compete and unless it can find more money SA players will keep leaving regardless of Springbok eligibility and this happened in 2015 - 2017. Also rugby is not cricket. Cricket has 3 formats and T20 cricket is where the money is at. When it comes to club vs country the IPL is king but that wont happen because the international calendar does not clash with the club calendar in rugby. So the argument about rugby going down the same path as cricket is really a non-starter
16 Go to commentsNZ rugby seem not to have learnt anything from professional rugby. Super rugby was dying and SA left before they died with the competition. SA rugby did a u turn on their approach to international players playing overseas and such players are now selected for Bok teams. As much as each country would love to retain their players playing in local competitions, this is the way the world is evolving my friends. Move with it or stay 20 years behind the times. One more thing. NZ rugby hierarchy think they are the big cheese. Take a more humble approach guys. You do not seem to have your players best interests at heart.
3 Go to commentsBeaches? In Cardiff? Where?
1 Go to commentsHe is right , the Crusaders will be a threat. Scott Barrett, ( particularly), Fergus Burke , Codie Taylor, ( from sabbatical) etc due back soon for the Crusaders. There are others like Zach Gallagher too. People can right the Crusaders off, Top 8 , here we come !!
1 Go to commentsWe will always struggle for money to match the other sides but the least the WRU can do is invest properly in Welsh rugby. Too much has been squandered on vanity projects like the hotel and roof walk amongst others which will never see a massive return. Hanging the 4 pro sides out to dry over the last decade is now coming back to bite the WRU financially as well as on the pitch. You reap what you sow.
1 Go to commentsWhat do you get if you cross a doctor with a fish? A plastic sturgeon
14 Go to commentsWhat happened to feleti Kaitu’u? Hasnt played in a while right?
1 Go to commentsGregor I just can’t agree with you. You are trying to find something that just isn’t there. Jordie Barrett has signed until 2028. By the end of that he would have spent probably 11-12 years on Super Rugby and you say he can’t possibly have one season playing somewhere else. It is absurd. What about this scenario, the NZR play hard ball and he decides to leave and play overseas. How would that affect the competition. There seems to be an agenda by certain journalists to push certain agendas and don’t like it when it’s not to their liking. I fully support the NZR on this. Gregor needs to get a life.
3 Go to commentsHope he stays as believe he can do a great job.
1 Go to commentsMake what step up? Manie has a World Cup winner’s medal around his neck and changed the way the Springboks can play. He doesn’t have anything to prove to anyone. The win record of the Boks with him in the team is tremendous. Sacha can be wonderful and I hope he has a very succesful Bok career, but comparing him to Manie in terms of the next Bok flyhalf is very strange. Manie is the incumbent (not the next) and doing pretty incredibly.
4 Go to comments00 😍 U
1 Go to commentsSabbaticals have helped keep NZ’s very best talent in the country on long term deals - this fact has been left out of this article. Much like the articles calling to allow overseas players to be selected, yet can only name one player currently not signed to NZR who would be selected for the ABs. And in the entire history of NZ players leaving to play overseas, literally only 4 or 5 have left in their prime as current ABs. (Piatau, Evans, Hayman, Mo’unga,?) Yes Carter got an injury while playing in France 16 years ago, but he also got a tournament ending injury at the 2011 World Cup while taking mid-week practice kicks at goal. Maybe Jordie gets a season-ending injury while playing in Ireland, maybe he gets one next week against the Brumbies. NZR have many shortcomings, but keeping the very best players in the country and/or available for ABs selection is not one of them. Likewise for workload management - players missing 2 games out of 14 is hardly a big deal in the grand scheme of things. Again let’s use some facts - did it stop the Crusaders winning SR so many times consecutively when during any given week they would be missing 2 of their best players? The whole idea of the sabbatical is to reward your best players who are willing to sign very long term deals with some time to do whatever they want. They are not handed out willy-nilly, and at nowhere near the levels that would somehow devalue Super Rugby. In this particular example JB is locked in with NZR for what will probably (hopefully) be the best years of his career, hard to imagine him not sticking around for a couple more after for a Lions tour and one more world cup. He has the potential to become the most capped AB of all time. A much better outcome than him leaving NZ for a minimum of 3 years at the age of 27, unlikely to ever play for the ABs again, which would be the likely alternative.
3 Go to commentsJake White talks more sense than anything I've read in the last 5 years. Hope someone's listening.
16 Go to commentsThe Springboks tried going down the road of only picking home-based players and it was an unmitigated disaster in 2016 and 2017. Picking overseas-based players has been one of the main reason the Boks have done so well since 2018, not only because of the quality Rassie could call on, but because of the knowledge and experience those players brought into camp from England, France and Japan. With some of the big names playing abroad it also gave younger players in SA the chance to break through at franchise level. Would we have seen the emergence of a Ruan Nortje if RG and Lood were still at the Bulls? Not so sure. I understand why Jake would want to block players leaving since his job depends on good results but it’s an approach that would take Bok rugby back to the bad old days and no South African wants to see that.
16 Go to comments