Argentina punish porous Wales in Nations Championship

MATCH REPORT: Argentina snuffed out the brief Welsh rugby revival on Saturday with a 35-21 win in San Juan to conclude the second round of the Nations Championship.

Argentina, who had locked up a four-try bonus point by half-time, finished with five tries while Wales scored three, all through front-row forwards.

The result meant that after two rounds of matches, only three of the 12 teams had a perfect record: Ireland, who top the Northern Hemisphere table; and South Africa and New Zealand in the South.

Argentina had lost a high-scoring opener at home to Scotland the previous week. Wales edged Fiji in Cardiff to secure back-to-back Test wins for the first time since 2023.

On Saturday, the Pumas, who made five changes from their losing side, feasted on the Welsh defensive frailties exposed by the Fijians, mixing close-range power with penetrating running through the porous visiting defence out wide.

“They were a bit more physical than us and they beat us in that battle,” Wales skipper Dewi Lake told Welsh broadcaster S4C

“We were dropping off too many tackles. We have to work harder and be quicker.”

Wales jumped into a second-minute the lead when hooker Lake bludgeoned over from close range.

Argentina responded by slicing through the Welsh in an attack that ended with No.8 Joaquin Oviedo diving over on five minutes.

After 14 minutes, wing Bautista Delguy leapt to collect a high ball and feed centre Justo Piccardo who scored.

Wales hit back with another close-range, front-row try, this time from hulking prop Rhys Carre after 23 minutes.

In defence, Wales struggled to slow the hosts, who cut through twice to secure a four-try bonus by half-time.

Flanker Marcos Kremer crashed over after 34 minutes and fullback Santiago Carreras added the second just before the break.

The hosts threatened to turn a romp into a rout early in the second half as Oviedo trotted over untouched seven minutes after the restart.

Argentina crossed again but the score was ruled out and after that the hosts seemed to settle for containment.

Wales coach Steve Tandy threw on star back Louis Rees-Zammit, rested after last week. Yet, it was a replacement prop Ben Warren, who scored the last try in the 65th minute as Wales stuck to a successful formula. Another frontal assault created a gap in the home defence and Warner flopped over for a try.

In a match without a single converted penalty, both flyhalves were impeccable with their conversions. Tomas Albornoz scored all five Pumas tries, while Sam Costelow, recalled by Wales, landed his three attempts.

For Argentina:
Tries: Oviedo 2, Piccardo, Kremer, S Carreras
Cons: Albornoz 5

For Wales:
Tries: Lake, Carre, Warren
Cons: Costelow 3

Teams:

Argentina: 15 Santiago Carreras, 14 Bautista Delguy, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Justo Piccardo, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Tomas Albornoz, 9 Gonzalo Garcia, 8 Joaquin Oviedo, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Santiago Grondona, 5 Matias Alemanno, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Tomas Rapetti, 2 Julian Montoya (captain), 1 Boris Wenger.
Replacements: 16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Francisco Coria Marchetti, 19 Franco Molina, 20 Pablo Matera, 21 Simon Benitez Cruz, 22 Matias Moroni, 23 Ignacio Mendy.

Wales: 15 Blair Murray, 14 Ellis Mee, 13 Eddie James, 12 Joe Hawkins, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Jac Morgan, 6 James Botham, 5 Adam Beard, 4 Ben Carter, 3 Dillon Lewis, 2 Dewi Lake (captain), 1 Rhys Carre.
Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Ben Warren, 19 Teddy Williams, 20 Kane James, 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Max Llewellyn, 23 Louis Rees-Zammit.

Referee: Paul Williams (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Angus Gardner (Australia) & Nika Amashukeli (Georgia)
TMO: Eric Gauzins (France)