Mon 14 Nov 2016 | 03:33
Wales edge Argentina for confidence building win

8
Comments

Wales restored pride by beating Argentina 24-20 in Cardiff, a week after going down 32-8 to Australia. Tries were scored in the second half by Gareth Davies and Liam Williams, while Leigh Halfpenny converted one and slotted four penalties, for a 14-point personal haul. 

The victory ends Wales' run of five successive defeats, pleasing acting head coach Rob Howley.

"We justly deserved the win. The players were frustrated at halftime as we had a lot of pressure in the first half and we weren’t rewarded for the dominance. But even in the last ten minutes we gave up too many opportunities.

"When players like Warburton and Alan Wyn Jones comes in they make a difference. I was also pleased with the Scott Williams and Jonathan Davies combo.

"Generally I was pleased with our performance. But it’s important you take your opportunities and I think we played some good stuff in the wide channels. But we have things to improve on. But I think we answered some of the criticisms from last week.

"A win gives you confidence that you are doing things right. It gives the players a lot of confidence and self-belief because we have won against a very good Argentinian side."

Argentina head coach, Daniel Hourcade, said his team struggled to get their running game going.

"We kicked too much and when you play the northern hemisphere sides they try to slow the ball. Wales did very well in stopping our game and we were never able to feel comfortable."

8 Comments

  • jonnyenglish
    10:47 AM 18/11/2016

    That show from Biggar was utterly pathetic. Takes away from what was a tense win despite a poor performance. Never liked him - still dont.

  • welshosprey
    8:25 PM 15/11/2016

    Papering over the cracks. Performance was awful, dire to watch and lacking any skills at all, we were lucky Argentina were poor. We've got to be the worst attacking nation in tier 1 for sure.

  • dancarter
    5:51 PM 15/11/2016

    Maybe Biggar is becoming petulant after realising he is in line to become the Lions' midweek fly-half? I am actually starting to dislike Biggar more than Liam Williams, which takes some doing after Williams' deliberate late hits on Cornal Hendricks and Paddy Jackson.

  • stroudos
    3:37 PM 15/11/2016

    100% agree. And I'm delighted that this act of twattery is so far the most discussed moment of the game. Because that shows that this behaviour still stands out as heinous and unacceptable. Refs and/or authorities have got to clamp down on this prick very soon though or others will copy and we'll be on the slippery slope to wendyball.

  • drg
    9:13 AM 15/11/2016

    He's such a petulant pleb! Maybe if he spent more time focusing on his own shit than flapping around and squawking like some distressed seagull then he'd actually stop tries like that. He could have done so much more to try and disrupt that, but no he's flapping around moaning. ..

    What a dick.

  • dancarter
    10:32 PM 14/11/2016

    He loves moaning about a decision. If anything, Biggar clearly has a pull at Hernandez once he realises he's not getting there first. Hernandez doesn't have to alter the line he is running to accommodate Biggar when he's chasing the kick. It's a shame Nigel Owens won't referee Wales games, I don't think he would let him get away with it. A Nigel Owens dressing down and marching him back 10m might put a stop to it.

  • joeythelemur
    10:16 PM 14/11/2016

    A bit of embarrassing nonsense from Dan Biggar on that Argentina try. Ball is kicked through and he gets beaten to it, but all he can do is whine about something (interference?) even while the play is still happening! He was so focused on playing it up that he went from the right side of the ball to the wrong side by the end. He probably isn't going to want to watch the slo-mo replay on that, he looks ridiculous.

  • incinerate
    5:54 PM 14/11/2016

    "We need to focus and stop making silly penalties"
    This ought to be the Pumas' motto by now after all these years.