Preview - Argentina v Wales
Warm welcome in cold Patagonia
There is an amount of novelty in this first game of the two-Test series between the Pumas and Wales in Argentina. There is the novelty of venue above all – down in Patagonia in the south of South America, just into Patagonia and on the Atlantic coast.
Fast-growing Puerto Madryn is nearly as far south as New Zealand's Invercargill, a lowly latitude for a Test match where the weather is liable to be inclement and, at least, cold. Weather cold but welcome warm, because Argentinians are warm-hearted and welcoming and because historically Welsh people settled in Patagonia.
They came in the middle of the 19 century in search of a place where they could be cosily Welsh and not subject to increasing Anglicisation. They started a town and called it after West Walian Madryn Castle. It means that Puerto Madryn has a double reason for celebration – a rugby test and the arrival of Welshmen to an area where Welsh is still spoken.
Wales come to Patagonia with a new coach in Gareth Jenkins. He is getting a first taste of international rugby and of the history adhering to such occasions.
"The experiences we have had already in Patagonia have been eye opening and we have been quite literally made to feel right at home here," he said on arrival in Puerto Madryn.
"The occasion on Sunday will be historic, but we know we must focus on the task in hand and be at the very top of our game if we are to stand a chance of beating the Pumas."
There are two new caps in the starting team – flank Alun Wyn Jones and lock Ian Evans. Three of his players stand to win their first caps if they get off the bench – fly-half James Hook, hooker Richard Hibbard and prop Rhys Thomas, who, like Haldane Luscombe, was recruited by Wales when still a schoolboy in South Africa.
There are others in the team who give it a new look – Jamie Robinson back after an absence of three years and doing the new-boy act all over, this time outside his brother Nicky who is at fly-half where Stephen Jones usually is, and Matthew Rees who has only one cap.
The most capped player in the team is Shane Williams with 30 caps – not many for this age.
The team has an experimental air about it in the changing face of international rugby, dominated as it is by the imminent World Cup.
The Pumas have a more settled look – at least in name for they have just been through the unsettling period of possible strike and the upset of a union teetering on the edge of bankruptcy.
They have had to make a late change to their bench after Martín Durand withdrew because of a back injury and was replaced by Santiago Sanz.
But skipper Agustín Pichot still has some battle-hardened men around him, players who have become worldly wise on the playing fields of Europe.
There are also youths in centres Gonzalo Tiesi, who is on the brink of stardom, and Rafael Carballo, a 25-year-old descendent of one of Christopher Columbus's men who has not played for the Pumas before, and wing Federico Serra who is in for Ignacio Corleto, who continues to be injured.
Serra, 27, has just two caps – against Chile in 2003 and against Japan inn 2005. Tiesi, who promises so much, has just turned 21 and has five caps, his first came when he was 19 years of age. Carballo played twice last year for Argentina 'A' – against Canada and against an England XV, on each occasion in partnership with Tiesi.
Players to watch: Shane Williams (Wales) was so exciting in 2005 that 2006 was something of a disappointment. Will he get 2005 back and again excite the world? And will Juan Manuel Leguizamon be the star he has promised to become?
Head to Head: There are two units in particular who could provide interesting contests – the centres and the front rows. Those are always interesting clashes, but the one in the front row could be very interesting, especially that of rookie Matthew Rees against old hand Mario Ledesma. How Rees holds his nerve could be crucial to Welsh hopes. Then there are the bulky, hairy Joneses against the hard men in Martín Scelzo and Rodrigo Roncero. More individually there is the contest between the great but ageing Agustín Pichot and the young, big, abrasive Mike Phillips.
Prediction: It's all a bit unknown, this novel match, but we predict a Puma victory by ten or more.
Previous Results:
2004: Wales won 35-20 in Buenos Aires
2004: Argentina won 50-44 in Tucumán
2001: Argentina won 30-16 in Cardiff
1999: Wales won 23-18 in Cardiff
1999: Wales won 23-16 in Buenos Aires
1999: Wales won 36-26 in Buenos Aires
1998: Wales won 43-30 in Llanelli
1991: Wales won 16-7 in Cardiff
Teams:
Argentina: 15 Juan Martín Hernández, 14 José María Nuñez Piossek, 13 Gonzalo Tiesi, 12 Rafael Carballo, 11 Lucas Borges, 10 Federico Todeschini, 9 Agustín Pichot (captain), 8 Gonzalo Longo, 7 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 6 Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe, 5 Rimas Álvarez Kairelis, 4 Ignacio Fernández Lobbe, 3 Martín Scelzo, 2 Mario Ledesma, 1 Rodrigo Roncero
Replacements: 16 Marcos Ayerza, 17 Pablo Gambarini, 18 Santiago Sanz, 19 Martín Schuterman, 20 Nicolás Fernández Miranda, 21 Francisco Leonelli, 22 Federico Serra
Wales: 15 Lee Byrne, 14 Mark Jones, 13 Jamie Robinson, 12 Matthew Watkins, 11 Shane Williams, 10 Nicky Robinson, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Alix Popham, 7 Gavin Thomas, 6 Alun Wyn Jones, 5 Ian Evans, 4 Ian Gough, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Matthew Rees, 1 Duncan Jones (captain).
Replacements: 16 Richard Hibbard, 17 Rhys Thomas, 18 John Yapp, 19 Gareth Delve, 20 Andy Williams, 21 James Hook, 22 Chris Czekaj.
Date: Sunday, 11 June 2006
Kick-off: 14.30 (local) (19:30 GMT)
Venue: Estadio Raúl Conti, Puerto Madryn, Chubut, Argentina
Expected weather conditions: Scattered clouds with a high of 15°C
Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Touch judges: Dave Pearson (England), Eric Darrière (France)
Television match official: Giulio De Santis (Italy)
Assessor: Frans Muller (South Africa)
