FIRST HALF
The Welsh team was the dominant horse at all times and took a deserved victory after last week’s painful defeat against the Wallabies. Both teams made many mistakes but it was the Europeans who were able to take better advantage of the errors of their rival.
The first half was very close, with both teams defending with great determination, the Welsh clearly dominated the first 40 minutes but could not put it on the score board. After a penalty by Leigh Halfpenny in their own 22, Nicolas Sanchez scored the first 3 points for the Pumas. The response was quick and the Welsh came back through two penalties kicked by Halfpenny.
The Pumas were overcome by the superiority of the Welsh, because of this they made continuous infringements on defence. This paid off for the Welsh at the 39 minutes when Ramiro Herrera was sent to the sin bin.
Half time score: Wales 6 – Argentina 3
SECOND HALF
After a poor first half without tries, the second half would offer us more action in the red zone. Just 3 minutes in, Wales scored the first try of the game through one of the most spectacular players on the field, Liam Williams. The skinny Liam (he just weighs 87 kg for his 1.85 m, very thin for a test player) was a real nightmare for the Argentines who had problems stopping him throughout the game. Oddly, Leigh Halfpenny missed the conversion, something that is not habitual for him.
The visitors’ response came quickly, and after a very quick and intelligent move by Martin Landajo, Juan Martin “El Mago” Hernandez dived under the posts to convert the first try for the South Americans. Nicolas “The puppy” Sanchez made the conversion successfully.
After the Pumas try, Wales continued to dominate and put pressure on the Argentine team. So much pressure paid its fruits and at the 55th minutes Gareth Davies scored the second and last try for the Welsh, Leigh Halfpenny made the conversion without problems.
At that point in the game, Daniel Hourcade made some changes, and one of them was Tomas Lezana, who was an important reinforcement for his team. At 62 minutes, Martin Landajo scored the second try for the Pumas in a very controversial move. In the replay the ball was not seen at any moment to be touching the in-goal, but nevertheless the TMO validated the try for the Argentineans. I must say it was a mistake because the rule indicates that the ball should be seen clearly.
After that controversial decision there were no more tries in the game. Leigh Halfpenny converted 2 more penalties for his team and Nicolas Sanchez converted a penalty for the Pumas to determine the final result that was a tight but deserved victory for the Europeans.
Full time score: Wales 24 – Argentina 20
THE WRAP UP
This victory is very important for the Welsh team after the tremendous beating received just a week ago by the Australians. The team will gain confidence after beating a difficult rival and on this victory they will be able to form a good platform build for the next 6 Nations tournament to be held at the beginning of the next year.
[one_half last=”no”]
The game changer
The try to Gareth Davies was a special moment in the game since the Pumas never could overcome that blow and ran from behind for the rest of the match.[/one_half]
[one_half last=”yes”]
Man of the match
Alun Wyn Jones was the official man of the match but for me it was Liam Williams, the new Welsh weapon who was unstoppable for the Argies.[/one_half]
The Details
Score & Scorers
[one_half last=”no”]
Wales 24
Tries: L Williams 43’, Davies 55’
Con: Halfpenny 56’
Pens: Halfpenny 15’, 24’, 66’ and 77’[/one_half]
[one_half last=”yes”]
Argentina 20
Tries: Hernández 48’, Landajo 62’
Cons: Sanchez 49’ and 63’
Pens: Sanchez 4’ and 74’[/one_half]
Cards
Yellow Card: Herrera 39’
