LONG READ Improving Wales look to upset Argentina in their own backyard

“You’re my hero,” said the souvenir-hunting local in his 20s to Mefin Davies after Wales played Argentina in Tucuman in 2004, following up the compliment with a request that the hooker from Nantgaredig hand over the socks that he had just worn against the Pumas.

Not entirely convinced by the chap’s show of adulation, Davies replied: “What’s my name, then?”

“James,” replied the gent.

He didn’t get his socks.

Argentina can be an interesting place for rugby players to visit, a point Gavin Henson will doubtless vouch for after memorably being pelted by a toilet roll while attempting a conversion in the opening Test on that tour. Maybe it wasn’t the supporter hurling the said bathroom paper that truly sticks in the mind, but the way Henson untangled the stream of tissue from around his body before coolly bisecting the posts from wide out. As a riposte, it took some beating.

Wales played a two-game series against the Pumas back then and did the same on trips in 2006 and 2018, but this weekend they are in town for just the one Test, in San Juan on Saturday, before crossing continents to face South Africa in Durban. Possibly, after Scotland’s win over Argentina in Cordoba last weekend, some might be tempted to feel the challenge for Steve Tandy’s team in South America is not as daunting as initially appeared, but it is unlikely the Wales head coach will be among them.

Argentina hadn’t played together for eight months heading into the Scotland match. Can we suggest they were so undercooked that some of their players looked as if they’d just emerged from the freezer section of a local supermarket? Possibly.

At the very least we can point out that cohesion was severely lacking.

Nor did the absence of talismanic forward Marcos Kremer, away for the birth of his son, help the cause, while several other France-based players, including Efrain Elias, Santiago Chocobares,  Justo Piccardo and the injured Juan Cruz Mallia were also missing.

Let’s also factor in that the Scots were exceptional: resolute at forward and as smooth behind the scrum as the gentle breeze that blows through Cordoba. On Wales’ tour in 2004, Mike Ruddock bemoaned his side’s first-Test profligacy, saying: “We probably bombed two or three hundred chances.” If Scotland bombed two or three chances last weekend, it’s hard to recall them. Theirs was a masterclass in clinical rugby.

Coach Felipe Contepomi welcomed back Kremer, Elias and Piccardo into the Pumas’ set-up this week, with the certainty being that Argentina will be determined not to lose back-to-back home Tests against European opposition. Their backs had their moments against the Scots, with class- act Santiago Carreras flickering skilfully in his home city and Lucio Cinti and Tomas Albornoz audacious runners in their own right.

Can Wales take the pitch in the shadow of the Andes with quiet belief that they can be competitive? Hard to say. The last time these sides met, in Cardiff last autumn, they were a space flight apart.

They also brought on a 21-year-old tighthead prop in Tomas Rapetti who made an impact to the point where it appeared the reconfigured Pumas’ front row were being powered by a tractor in low gear. Just maybe, the new kid del barrio could prove a worthy heir to a great Argentina tighthead lineage that features the likes of Patricio Noriega, Omar Hassan and Martin Scelzo.

Can Wales take the pitch in the shadow of the Andes with quiet belief that they can be competitive? Hard to say. The last time these sides met, in Cardiff last autumn, they were a space flight apart. Argentina won almost limitless ball from peppering Blair Murray with high kicks, and they had the backs to take advantage. Their forwards gained control and behind the scrum the visitors to Cardiff threatened continually. Wales averaged just 2.67 metres a carry compared to Argentina’s 4.17 metres every time they took the ball forward. The South Americans made 14 linebreaks and beat 30 defenders. They were more dynamic than Wales, more powerful and more skilful. Oh, and the Welsh defence wasn’t up to much, either, with 30 tackles missed in the 52-28 defeat.

But if a week is considered a long time in politics, what about eight months in rugby? How much can change in that time? Tandy will hope a heck of a lot. Two Test victories in a row and a success over the Barbarians would suggest Wales are making progress, and it was impressive how they found a way to defeat Fiji in Cardiff.

Better Wales teams than this one might have lost that match, perhaps by trying to take on the islanders at their own game – anyone conjuring a mental image of Nantes 2007, when a Welsh side not shy on talent chose to cross swords in a running rugby duel with the acknowledged masters of the art, can be forgiven – but Tandy’s players were pragmatic and played to their strengths. It was a performance the coach was rightly pleased with.

The usual names were to the fore in the forwards: Lake, Morgan and Wainwright, as reliable as three of the firemen from Trumpton. Skipper Dewi Lake largely found all his lineout targets and led from the front; Jac Morgan, as adept at putting out breakdown fires as anyone, snaffled two turnovers, made 17 tackles and scored a couple of tries; Aaron Wainwright averaged almost four metres a carry and put in a strong defensive shift.

The eye-catching show behind came from Blair Murray, a one-man version of the Red Arrows with his speed and daring delighting onlookers. He may be a shade vertically challenged when it comes to competing for the high ball, but he adds a creative touch to an otherwise prosaic Welsh backline.

But there was more. The Welsh scrum, which many had expended hours of worry over, gained the upper hand; locks Adam Beard and Ben Carter proved tireless workers in the tight and grafters in defence; Rhys Carre proved again what an asset he can be close to the opposition line.

Beard, the much maligned and X-whipped Beard, may well be worth a paragraph on his own, with the 6ft 8in lock answering his many critics by achieving two turnovers, getting into double figures in terms of his carrying metres and completing 13 tackles. At mauls, he also proved a significant presence.

The eye-catching show behind came from Blair Murray, a one-man version of the Red Arrows with his speed and daring delighting onlookers. He may be a shade vertically challenged when it comes to competing for the high ball, but he adds a creative touch to an otherwise prosaic Welsh backline and needs to be accommodated somewhere.

Concerns for Tandy? Start with that lack of imagination in the backs. Perhaps it was because they were playing the freewheeling, offloading, defender-bewildering Fijians that Wales looked as blunt as a policeman’s cosh. Or perhaps, as previously touched on, they simply adapted to circumstances and declined to play the game on the opposition’s run-from-anywhere terms. Or maybe it was a bit of both: Wales lack electric runners and so decided to focus on other areas, which absolutely made sense.

Whatever, Tandy could do with the odd imaginative player emerging between now and the next World Cup.

Maybe at some point he’ll also be able to light the LRZ touchpaper. Thirty-eight minutes into the Fiji game, Shane Williams said from the ITV commentary box: “I’m trying to work out whether Louis Rees-Zammit has actually touched the ball yet in this game. He’s done a lot of chasing.”

If Wales want to expand their game they could do worse than ask one of world rugby’s quickest players to be a touch more bold. Right now, Wales are not exploiting Rees-Zammit’s potential fully.

Ben Kay pointed out that he had featured – successfully – in a lineout maul, before Miles Harrison came up with the killer stat: Wales’s fastest and potentially most lethal player had carried just once throughout the game up to that point. He did take the ball forward once more before being replaced on 55 minutes.

Somehow, Wales needed to involve him more, and Rees-Zammit himself needs to involve himself more. Williams himself used to try to touch the ball a handful of times in the first five minutes of every game. By the end he would look to have had a score of touches at the very least. “If a wing has the ball upwards of 20 times in a game, there is more than a decent chance he will score a try,” the little man once told this writer. There are risks in going searching for ball, but if Wales want to expand their game they could do worse than ask one of world rugby’s quickest players to be a touch more bold. Right now, Wales are not exploiting Rees-Zammit’s potential fully.

Tandy will hope his tighthead props emerge from the Argentina Nations Championship test in credit, as well. Dillon Lewis and Ben Warren surprised more than a few against Fiji, helping Wales achieve a scrum advantage, but the head coach needs those chosen for duty in San Juan to be similarly effective. Even if the scrum isn’t as important to the Pumas as it once was, those in light blue and white shirts have traditions to uphold and will be looking to challenge their Welsh opponents.

A tough challenge awaits Wales in western Argentina, then, thousands of miles from home and with patchy preparation that Tandy reckoned might amount to just one full training session.

Few will give them much hope but there are worse places to be than in the underdogs’ kennel.