Match Preview – Argentina vs Wales

Argentina play host to Wales on Saturday. The match is a must win for Los Pumas who were no match for Wales in game one in San Juan last weekend.

Daniel Hourcade’s strategy was well beaten by Wales. Yet he has shown faith in his team, retaining 14 of the starting players from last weekend and retaining the same 23 players.

The one change to the side sees veteran Martín Landajo returning to play scrum-half. He takes-over from Gonzalo Bertranou in the position. Bertranou was forced-off via a minor injury in San Juan.

Welsh Head Coach Warren Gatland has made five changes from San Juan. Staying on as captain is second-rower Cory Hill while Tomas Francis, Ellis Jenkins, Ryan Elias, Aled Davies and Owen Watkin are to all start.

Francis takes over at tighthead from Dillon Lewis and Elias replaces Elliot Dee as Wales’ starting hooker. They are to join Rob Evans in the front-row.

An unchanged second-row sees Cory Hill and Adam Beard retained. Ellis Jenkins is the one change to the back-row. He takes over from Seb Davies to join James Davies, and Ross Moriarty.

In the backs there is a first test start for Aled Davies. He replaces Gareth Davies to form a halves combination with Rhys Patchell. The remaining change sees New Zealander Haleigh Parkes vacating the mid-field with Owen Watkin taking his place to join Scott Williams in the mid-field.

In San Juan the teams were even in scrums and the set-piece was relatively balanced overall. What tilted the match heavily in Wales’ favor was their control of the break-down. Flanker James Davies was the standout performer in this area.

Containing Davies will be crucial in Santa Fé yet Hourcade does not have a specialist opened flanker. Instead he is playing with the bulk of Marcos Kremer and Pablo Matera as his flankers. Preventing Wales from disrupting Argentina int he tackle area will require pace to the breakdown from all with Landajo required to organize them.

Also in Wales’ favor last weekend was decision making. There Europeans were smarter both in terms of what to do while the game was flowing and at winning penalties. Agustín Creevy will need to lead with greater intelligence to ensure his team can get the points when they are on offer.

Saturday’s test match is to be the 18th match overall played between Argentina and Wales and the 8th in Argentina. Wales have won 12 times compared to Argentina’s 5 wins. Argentina’s most recent win was in 2012 in Cardiff. Wales have won the three matches since then.

Wales’ win in San Juan last Saturday was too easy. The Welsh easily defended against Los Pumas. Through an organized defense the Europeans cruised to victory. Daniel Hourcade has surely learned his lesson and will not play the same predictable match into the hands of the Welsh. Argentina are expected to win in Santa Fé by 8 points.

ARGENTINA
1 Santiago García Botta, 2 Agustín Creevy (capt.), 3 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 4 Guido Petti, 5 Tomás Lavanini, 6 Pablo Matera, 7 Marcos Kremer, 8 Javier Ortega Desio, 9 Martín Landajo, 10 Nicolás Sánchez, 11 Ramiro Moyano, 12 Jerónimo de la Fuente, 13 Matías Orlando, 14 Bautista Delguy, 15 Emiliano Boffelli

Replacements: 16 Julián Montoya, 17 Javier Díaz, 18 Santiago Medrano, 19 Matías Alemanno, 20 Tomás Lezana, 21 Gonzalo Bertranou, 22 Santiago González Iglesias, 23 Sebastián Cancelliere

WALES
1 Rob Evans, 2 Ryan Elias, 3 Tomas Francis, 4 Adam Beard, 5 Cory Hill (capt.), 6 Ellis Jenkins, 7 James Davies, 8 Ross Moriarty, 9 Aled Davies, 10 Rhys Patchell, 11 George North, 12 Owen Watkin, 13 Scott Williams, 14 Josh Adams, 15 Hallam Amos

Replacements: 16 Elliot Dee, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Bradley Davies, 20 Josh Turnbull, 21 Tomos Williams, 22 Gareth Anscombe, 23 Tom Prydie

Date: Saturday, June 16
Kickoff: 16:40 local (12:40 Pacific, 15:40 Eastern)
Venue: Estadio Brigadier Lopez, Santa Fé
Referee: Jaco Peyper (SARU)
Assistants: Mathieu Raynal (FFR) & Andrew Brace (IRFU)
TMO: Marius Jonker (SARU)