Wales will try to bounce back when they face Argentina at the Principality Stadium on Saturday.
An eight-attempt hammering at the hands of New Zealand precisely the start that Wayne Pivac’s side would not have sought for their autumn training schedule. Pivac responded by making adjustments for the visit of the Pumas, adding the variety of Louis Rees-Zammit as a fullback. .
What will your rate be like this weekend? Our editors give you predictions:
It’s the middle of autumn. Halloween costumes were worn and saved for another year, the gardens are covered in leaves and Wales began their rugby programme before Christmas with a whimper that exploded.
It was once said that the Welsh team had perfected the habit of leaving the blocks in November like a turtle with onions. In fact, there wasn’t much of a show last weekend when New Zealand took the win in Cardiff.
Can we expect more this weekend? It couldn’t get much worse. Can?
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Argentina beat England last week when it was feeding on a few crumbs of possession. He did it because he was clinical, taking his own with ball in hand and with Emiliano Boffelli with fatal precision in front of goal. He also defended with attitude and passion.
To beat them, Wales will have to be much better at turning their tension into problems and they will have to be more physical. The return of Dan Lydiate helps on this front, but the scrum may be weaker with the absence of Tomas Francis. Everything will feature the war of the five most sensible.
This Argentina team doesn’t have the scrum strength of the outstanding Pumas groups of yesteryear: “100 heads of farm animals running on you” is how Jonathan Humphreys described the Pumas package after a game at Llanelli in 1998, yet Wales are known for their ensemble. Neither do paintings. In addition, Argentina was disciplined against England. Even Tomas Lavanini, a player known for having aroused the discontent of the referees, made an effort on this front, conceding only the two penalties.
Wales want a win to dispel the concept that things are going crazy 10 months before a World Cup. But the Pumas have momentum and seem to be well placed, as is the case with Wayne Pivac’s team.
Wales 24-26 Argentina
Wayne Pivac’s apology about the need to spend more time with Welsh players at camp doesn’t really take into account how their playing time is controlled in professional clubs. He can hardly complain about how few experienced players they are when their minutes at clubs are largely dictated. – especially when the English players you choose, such as Saracens Sam Wainwright, have had a bit of domestic minutes.
So, it’s more the lack of minutes before camp, than the time spent at camp itself, that you may see some other rusty functionality of some. However, only pride deserves to see some kind of response, while the difference between New Zealand and Argentina – who are closer to South Africa in their portage setup, deserve to help Wales’ defence a bit after a horrible weekend.
But, despite this very likely response, Argentina is heading towards this as a favorite. Probably both aspects will look at it to turn it into a tug of war, with Los Pumas comfortable without the ball. Wales have shown signs that they still enjoy this aspect of the game, more due to their ineffectiveness with the ball in hand, but Argentina seem more solid in what they do with Michael Cheika.
I am afraid that autumn will be a little longer.
Wales 18-23 Argentina
I would expect Wales to be more physical up front after all the complaints they won after the All Blacks game, with the inclusion of Dan Lydiate helping on that front and bringing greater balance to the backline.
But Argentina is 3 places above Wales in the global rankings for a reason. His effects this year have been much greater overall and will be brimming with confidence after his standout win at Twickenham. watch the Pumas sneak in.
Wales 21-23 Argentina
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