Wales player ratings vs Argentina | Nations Championship 2026

1. Rhys Carre – 8
Very few scrums in the opening stages, but Carre was influential with ball in hand. Bulldozed his way over the line in the 24th minute, two phases after a quick tap move. A lot of his hard work would have gone unnoticed, as the experienced prop made way at half time. Finished his shift with five carries, six tackles, and a try under the posts.

2. Dewi Lake – 8
Got the lineout drive set up perfectly with an accurate throw, and then charged over the line to dot down for Wales’ first. Dominated his early collisions on both attack and defence. Walked into the sheds with his head held high, contributing twelve tackles in a solid effort.Showed proper heart in the second half on Wales’ line, before coming off with what looked like a minor leg injury in the 57th minute. Contributed 18 tackles.

3. Dillon Lewis – 6.5
Brilliant counter-ruck in the 21st minute, resulting in a Wales penalty, keeping himself busy without a plethora of scrums. Fell off a couple of tackles in midfield before being replaced at halftime.

4. Ben Carter – 6
The Dragons lock was asked to do a lot of the grunt work on defence, and did exactly that, efficiently, too. Off just after at half time, with 15 tackles.

5. Adam Beard – 6
Strong half in the engine room, shifting bodies at ruck time and on defence. One tackle pinged for being too high, which gifted Argentina an opportunity at lineout time.

6. James Botham – 6.5
Wales’ leading carrier in the first half, with nine, powered through tacklers early on, but struggled to impact the game in any other way. Helped hold up one Argentinian attacker close to the line in the second half, getting an arm underneath the ball carrier. 14 carries in his 80-minute shift.

7. Jac Morgan – 7.5
Strong in defence early, making a crunching tackle in midfield. Influential, busy, and was unlucky to not have crossed in the first 40 minutes. During Argentina’s late surge in the first half, Morgan was everywhere on defence, being forced to make 18 tackles heading into the break. Morgan was present in everything that Wales did well in the second half, and helped his side wrestle back momentum.

8. Aaron Wainwright – 7
The experienced Wales loosie was everywhere with ball in hand during the first half, often breaking a couple of tackles in the process. Brilliant steal at lineout time on his own half, when Argentina looked destined to score. Battled brilliantly, and added eleven carries and ten carries.

9. Tomos Williams – 6
Busy as ever, but mostly on defence as Argentina had 67 per cent of the territory, and 60 per cent of the possession. Had six carries in the first half, while nursing a small shoulder niggle. Williams’ service from the breakdown was efficient, there just wasn’t enough of it.

10. Sam Costelow – 5.5
Nice use of kicking game to get Wales in a nice position early, before placing one out on the full. Couple of nervous moments during the first half, including being outjumped for  Justo Piccardo’s try. Couldn’t get his side into the right parts of his field, but probably wasn’t helped by the way the game played out.

11. Josh Adams – 5
Largely unproductive first half for the Cardiff winger, mostly due to how the game panned out. Tried to get involved, but the game didn’t fall his way. Second half was much of the same, in an overall, under-par performance, when the opportunity could have been there.

12. Joe Hawkins – 5.5
Couple of strong interventions defensively, but like many other Wales backs, struggled to impose himself on the contest. Tried to link up with teammates on multiple occasions, but Tandy’s side just couldn’t get going with ball in hand. Played a nice part in Wales’ second half try in the 67th minute, with some nice minor actions that resulted in go-forward.

13. Eddie James – 6
Superb last ditch tackle in the lead up to Argentina’s first try, but then missed a pivotal tackle on the left edge as the home side extended their lead. Not a bad performance all things considered, and was replaced in the 49th minute.

14. Ellis Mee – 6
Won his first aerial duel off a box kick, which led to Lake’s first try in the fourth minute. Argentina continued to pepper the Scarlets fullback, but he was up to the task. Hard to be harsh on Mee, who hardly touched the ball on attack, and was replaced moments after halftime.

15. Blair Murray – 5.5
Crucial intercept close to his own line, but made a poor decision shortly after to offload to a Welsh teammate, who wasn’t on the same page. Continued to battle away, and made a nice break late on.

Replacements

16. Ryan Elias – 5
On at 57 minutes for Lake.

17. Nicky Smith – 4
Scrum struggled after the starting props were replaced.

18. Ben Warren – 6.5
Pinged immediately at scrum time after coming on at halftime, and was mostly used to stop Argentina’s aggressive ball carriers. Powered over with 13 minutes to play, after a long period of attack. Won a late scrum penalty.

19. Teddy Williams – 5

20. Kane James – 5

21. Kieran Hardy – N/A

22. Max Llewellyn – 6
Massive part in holding an Argentinian player as the game was getting away from Wales. Couple of nice carries in the second half.

23. Louis Rees-Zammit – 6
Came on shortly after halftime, and was stripped early by an Argentinian defender. Made a mini break down the right-hand touchline but was reeled in. Brought some impact off the bench, in a game where Wales failed to make their mark. Looked one of the more likely.