LONG READ What Welsh rugby has to improve to avoid regressing to the dark days

Before Wales encountered South Africa on their ill-fated tour of 1998, they faced Zimbabwe in Harare. As preparation for a match against the Springboks, the date at the Police Grounds was the equivalent of riding a 1970s Raleigh Chopper around the block in readiness for a crack at the Tour de France.

Let’s just say that at breakfast in the tourists’ hotel the morning after the game with Nick Mallett’s Boks, there wasn’t a yellow jersey in sight.

An outing in San Juan against Argentina this time means the step up will be lessened, though an emphatic defeat and a 5,700-mile trek across continents and five time zones hardly ticks every box when it comes to perfect preparation. There again, no one said the new Nations Championship would be without challenges.

Playing South Africa is always tough. Playing Rassie Erasmus’s World Champions away after a long-haul flight in the same week and just a couple of training sessions to tune up is as challenging as it gets. Trying to park outside this writer’s house at 5pm on Fridays doesn’t come close.

It seems reasonably safe to assume not too much sleep would have been lost in chez Erasmus after Wales’s 34-21 defeat by Argentina. The setback could have been a lot heavier. The Pumas made 12 linebreaks compared to Wales’ three. They enjoyed 63 percent of the territory. They made 397 metres with ball in hand compared to Wales’ 224 metres. They had ideas behind whereas Wales’ creativity bank seemed empty.

Yet Wales came within a refereeing decision of potentially finishing within seven of the hosts and picking up a try bonus point. Building on the win over Fiji, the coach will feel there have been some pluses, then. But even boys with dragon tattoos would admit the bag has been very much a mixed one.

Wales have found a decent attacking weapon

It’s probably not going to feature in any fresh collection of 101 Great Welsh Tries, but the maul is proving a useful form of attack for Tandy’s team. Indeed, 44 percent of Wales’ touchdowns in the Nations Championship so far have come via such means. There were two from Jac Morgan and one from Ryan Elias against Fiji, while Dewi Lake did the honours from a lineout against Argentina. Tandy will feel, if it works, use it. And, as the late, great Barry Norman used to say, why not?

Without the maul, Wales wouldn’t have many bullets to fire.

They work it well but there is a case for believing they need to add to their armoury, and quickly, because when they are in the mood, which is quite often, South Africa know how to drive and defend a maul pretty effectively themselves. No-one will be too surprised if they bring it into play frequently in Durban on Saturday.

But, still, for Wales, one of the key forward arts is developing into a strength.

Welsh back play is not where it needs to be

Where to start? With the Welsh midfield triangle, perhaps. Understatement alert: Sam Costelow, Joe Hawkins and Eddie James didn’t exactly fire against Argentina.

Wales continue to search for answers at fly-half. Dan Edwards couldn’t take his chance in the Nations Championship opener and Costelow found the going tough in San Juan. You really do wonder when someone is going to truly nail down the fabled Welsh No. 10 jersey. Carwyn Leggatt-Jones looked the part for Wales U20s in their fine win over Australia at the Junior World Championship in Georgia, but he is only 18 and still learning. His time will come, but he needs to bank experience.

In the meantime, Wales need Edwards or Costelow to stake a firm claim for the shirt.

Nor have the centres looked great. From Llandudno to Llanelli, Eddie James earned plaudits for his efforts during the Six Nations, but he has not beaten a single defender in the Nations Championship or made any clean breaks. Might he be better employed at inside centre instead of at No. 13?

Chopping and changing is the enemy of progress, but Wales’ midfield has been a desert of creativity over the past two games and it will be intriguing to see if Tandy perseveres with the Joe Hawkins-James partnership moving forward. Hawkins has a sharp kicking game and is a deft passer, but those skills haven’t been overly conspicuous of late.

Maybe the slow ball being served up is hampering the Scarlets man. While Argentina recycled with the enthusiasm of card-carrying Green Party members, sending possession back in three seconds or under at 67 percent of their rucks, Wales managed to do the same at just 49 percent of theirs. Stuff like that matters, especially to an inside centre for whom milliseconds can separate being creative and being shackled.

Can we say Wales need to sharpen their back play?. Yes, we can. Argentina were smooth in pretty much everything they did behind the scrum, with Santiago Carreras gliding past Welsh defenders like a speedboat moving around obstacles on a calm lake. He and his back-three colleagues Mateo Carreras and Bautista Delguy beat six Welsh defenders between them, as many as Wales have managed to beat as a team in their opening two Tests this summer.

All Wales’ three tries last time out came from front-row forwards, a statistic that says much.

The coaches would have been pleased to see Louis Rees-Zammit looking purposeful when he came on, while Blair Murray’s speed, adventure and kicking game continues to add brightness to an otherwise grey Welsh backline. Ellis Mee also competed strongly in the air. But there wasn’t much else for Wales to get excited about behind the scrum.

Defence needs stiffening

Argentina may have been slick in attack, but new Wales defence coach Peter Murchie will wince at his charges missing 32 tackles.

The irony is Wales had some standout defenders, among them the superb Jac Morgan (22 tackles), Dewi Lake (20), Ben Carter (18), James Botham (17) and Adam Beard (15), but too many others let the defensive doors swing open.

“We were slightly off it around our physicality, first-time tackles, speed around the ruck – the basics where you need to be at this level,” said Josh Adams later.

Wales’s defence has had problems in the past. At one point, things were so bad that even the folks at The Repair Shop would have deemed the Welsh rearguard beyond fixing.

Murchie has the advantage of working with willing players and he hasn’t been in post long, but he will know there have to be improvements, because a side that concedes five tries, as Wales did last weekend, is leaving themselves a lot to do to win.

The unlikely try man

There are some notable wings who never quite managed a streak like it, but when he powered his way over to score against Argentina, the 130kg prop Rhys Carre took his tally of tries for Wales to five in six matches.

Best remembered, of course, is the gem the big man claimed against Ireland at the Aviva Stadium in the Six Nations, when he pounded clear after pawing away Robert Baloucoune like a grizzly bear reacting to a wasp invading its personal space. Last weekend’s effort probably won’t win any awards, as the Dublin score did, with the tank-like Carre using his strength and bulk to crash over the line from short range, but, still, they all count and Wales will take them however they come.

The tall guys (and the hooker) deliver

It’s a sentence that hasn’t been written too often, but if all concerned are not careful, the Welsh lineout is in danger of becoming reliable.

Consider the facts: Wales have thrown into the set-piece 44 times this summer, including the game against the Barbarians, and won the ball on 43 occasions. Rounding matters up, that’s a 98 percent success rate, startling for those of us who’ve been around long enough to remember the days when it sometimes appeared Welsh sides might have difficulty outjumping the vertically challenged crew that gave Gulliver such trouble.

But Ben Carter, Adam Beard, Taine Plumtree (against the Barbarians), Dewi Lake and Ryan Elias have helped Wales enjoy a fine lineout campaign. All concerned, as well as the unheralded lifters, deserve a nod of recognition.

More carriers needed

Defence experts are split over whether the Royal Navy could do with more carriers. The Wales rugby team? It really isn’t in doubt. More carriers would definitely benefit them.

Argentina had a No. 8 in Joaquin Oviedo who made more ground in possession than Wales’ entire starting pack. His was a prodigious effort, but Tandy needs more from his forwards, and particularly the tight five. Coming off the field with one-metre carrying stats shouldn’t be seen as acceptable.

But all concerned should know that already.

Talent in the pipeline

Reinforcements are on the way? Well let’s just suggest, as the old BT ad did in relation to General Custer, that they might be here in the morning.

It will take time for the Wales U20 class of 2026 to come through, but at least there are signs that theirs is a decent crop.

Defence and spirit won the day for them against Australia, seasoned by dashes of exceptional skill. Steff Emanuel has no shortage of class, for sure, while Caio James plays every game as if his life depends on it; Deian Gwynne leads from the front and the two 18-year-olds, Tom Howe and Carwyn Leggatt-Jones, are among the Welsh game’s brightest prospects. The young Scarlets tighthead, Jac Pritchard, also looks the part and his regional mate Will Evans is a big unit who takes some stopping. Evan Minto carries strongly and makes things happen, while Tom Bowen is quick and eager and the 6ft 4in full-back Lewis Edwards is good in the air and makes things happen in attack.

All of those players have the potential to go far, but development doesn’t happen overnight and some will come through quicker than others.

But Tandy will have been keeping an eye on the Welsh youngsters in Georgia.

In testing times for Wales, every scrap of talent has to be made to count.