Argentina warm up for the All Blacks in style
Argentina stormed to a 45-27 win over Wales in Buenos Aires on Saturday, with a performance every bit convincing enough to suggest that the All Blacks will not have things their own way when they visit next week.
Leading 16-6 at half-time, and deservedly so, Argentina's ceaseless running in defence and mallet-like running strength in attack earned them a quick second-half try to make it 23-6, a position from which they were never going to lose, despite the wag in the Welsh tail at the end.
Perhaps it is a trifle unfair to single out youngster James Hook for harsh treatment during the first quarter of this report, but then that is precisely what Argentina appeared to do, so perhaps not.
Hook was tackled meatily several times during a first twenty minutes in which the learning curve for the 20-year-old dubbed the "new Barry John" this week became as steep as the Andes.
He was never given an iota of freedom, despite receiving a healthy amount of ball from his pack and fly-half, and then, after 20 minutes, he experienced one of those moments of solo distress and misfortune that can make or break a season, if not an international career.
Hook was given a standard pass from Nicky Robinson, from some ten metres in front of him, and with Hook standing a couple of metres inside his 22. Just briefly, fatally, he looked up with the ball in hand as if deciding where to kick, before actually lining up to do so.
The pause allowed Felipe Contepomi to steal an extra couple of metres, charge the kick down, and Hook could only trot back in horror as Gonzalo Tiesi pounced on the kindly bouncing ball for a try.
He had already missed a kick at goal, and had not once managed to squeeze convincingly over the advantage line. It was an inauspicious start to a first full debut, but the way in which he held his nerve to solidify both running and kicking thereafter suggests that the mentality is strong enough for Hook to keep his development on track.
He was not the only one to fail to cross the gain-line in the first half, as the Argentine defence put in a remarkable hyena-like scavenging performance. Every Welshman unfortunate enough to get a lateral ball was instantly knocked backwards to the ground. Every Welshman fortunate enough to get a ball with a couple of metres of space in front of him found a blue wall gathered at the end of that couple of metres, usually with the same destructive effect.
The Pumas won the first-half turnover count 4-1, snuffing out all Welsh intent to spread the ball. The Welsh had plenty of possession but found it almost impossible to get out of their own half without kicking, and the chasing of the kicks was very poor. By contrast, every Argentine kick was chased furiously, and there was a poignant moment at the end of the first half when Mike Phillips went back to claim a kick -- but then found that the nearest five players to him were all in blue shirts.
Wales, for their part, ran gamely and still showed the willingness to carry the game to their hosts, but for the large part they simply looked tired and stale, and given that many have played a near-endless dirge of a season, the summer recharge probably cannot come quick enough.
Shane Williams cut a lonely figure on the wing as his centres failed to find either imagination or strength to get onto the front foot and feed the offloads into half-spaces that he thrives on. Once from a tap penalty, the ball was shovelled out to him so lifelessly that he was bundled into touch by at least three drifting defenders.
The diminutive Ospreys wing managed to get himself under the ball and deny the Pumas a try after 15 minutes when Martín Durand finished off Argentina's first serious attack by crossing the Welsh line.
By the time Hook's kick was charged down, Argentina already led 6-0, with Federico Todeschini capitalising on his team's superiority to take advantage of two close-range kicks at goal.
The second penalty was given against Ian Evans for slowing the ball down, an offence for which the youngster received a yellow card. Two minutes later, Tiesi scored his try, and the game was already stretching away from the visitors.
The fight in the Welsh at least allowed them to squeeze out seven penalties from the Pumas in the first half, two of which Hook landed to keep Wales within distance.
The second half threatened to descend into ugliness. Within two minutes of its start, Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe had bustled through Gavin Thomas's sloppy tackle and scored a game-clinching try which Todeschini converted.
The Welsh frustration manifested itself in a series of fouls for the next 15 minutes, a high tackle, a tackle off the ball by Ian Gough, a late hit on Juan Martín Fernández, and finally a unarmless high-tackle by Hook, which saw him dispatched to the sin-bin along with Martin Scelzo who retaliated.
What would have hurt the Welsh even more was the way in which nearly every indiscretion was punished by Todeschini. Many will remember him for a similar performance he produced against the Lions last year in Cardiff, and he was a dead-eye once again on Saturday, landing 11 out of 12 kicks in all.
Three penalties for the indiscretions above took the Pumas to 32-6 ahead, but Gareth Delve finished off the first truly fluid Welsh move of the afternoon on the hour mark, taking the ball on the overlap from Lee Byrne.
Nicky Robinson's conversion bounced over off the crossbar to make it 32-13.
Todeschini kicked his seventh penalty and then Tiesi, who has become a cult hero of London Irish fans and is Argentina's most promising talent by some way, rounded off a truly excellent rugby move, started with a break by Hernández, followed up by several phases of possession before a long pass from Todeschini found Ledesma with a choice of overlappers on the left.
Another perfect Todeschini kick then made it 42-13, and yet another penalty made it 45-13 three minutes later. Every time the Pumas entered Welsh territory, they registered points. It was devastatingly effective.
There was a wag in the tail of the game from Wales which saw Williams round off a scintillating inter-passing move started by Hook and continued by Byrne and Robinson, and Byrne scorched home from the restart for a second try in as many minutes, Hook converting both.
The locals were possibly guilty of allowing their minds to wander off to the post-match function. But who can blame them? They had recorded their first series victory over Wales and fully deserved a hearty asado and some good red wine. Jerry Collins and company have been warned.
Man of the match: From the Pumas there were any number of candidates, both Fernández Lobbe brothers played well, especially Juan Martín, and Gonzalo Longo and Mario Ledesma were excellent around the field. Juan Martín Hernández was solid as oak under the high ball, all of the backs tackled superbly. For Wales, Shane Williams had several good moments, as did Alun Wyn Jones in the line-out and Huw Bennett in the loose. But for his playmaking, tackling, handling and kicking, Federico Todeschini gets the nod.
Moment of the match: Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe's try just after half-time clinched the game and was a marvellous individual moment of strength and skill produced on the back of a perfect controlled and patient build-up.
Villain of the match: There were a few ugly moments, but James Hook's high tackle on Juan Hernández was probably the ugliest.
The scorers:
For Argentina:
Tries: Tiesi 2, J-M Fernández Lobbe
Cons: Todeschini 3
Pens: Todeschini 8
For Wales:
Tries: Delve, S Williams, Byrne
Cons: N Robinson, Hook 2
Pens: Hook 2
The teams:
Argentina: 15 Juan Martin Hernández, 14 Francisco Leonelli, 13 Gonzalo Tiesi, 12 Felipe Contepomi, 11 Lucas Borges, 10 Federico Todeschini, 9 Agustín Pichot (c), 8 Gonzalo Longo, 7 Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe, 6 Martín Durand, 5 Rimas Alvarez Kairelis, 4 Ignacio Fernández Lobbe, 3 Martin Scelzo, 2 Mario Ledesma, 1 Rodrigo Roncero.
Replacements: 16 Pablo Gambarini, 17 Marcos Ayerza, 18 Manuel Carizza, 19 Martín Schusterman, 20 Nicolas Fernández Miranda, 21 Jose Maria Nuñez Piossek, 22 Federico Serra.
Wales: 15 Lee Byrne, 14 Mark Jones, 13 Jamie Robinson, 12 James Hook, 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 Huw Bennett, 1 Duncan Jones (captain).
Replacements: 16 Richard Hibbard, 17 John Yapp, 18 Rhys Thomas, 19 Gareth Delve, 20 Andy Williams, 21 Nathan Brew, 22 Matthew Watkins.
Referee: Dave Pearson (England)
Touch judges: Alain Rolland (Ireland), Giulio De Santis (Italy)
Television match official: Eric Darrière (France)
Assessor: Frans Muller (South Africa)
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