Argentina Side For Wales Test

Looks like a good team. Will be a tough game.

Probably the strongest side Argentina could field maybe with Scelzo coming in for Figallo but nothing either way really.

I think Wales will win this but Argentina will be looking more at the performance in this game trying to build on combos in time for the World Cup.

I really want to see Argentina and Italy doing well at the world cup. I'm gutted Argentina are in the same group as England and Scotland as I want both of them to get to the quarters too. Hopefully Italy can really upset the apple cart in their group.

Rugby needs to keep growing and it seems like Argentina and Italy have plateaued for a while now. Hopefully joining the 4 nations will really help Argentine rugby - I'd also love Italy to finish in the top half of the six nations at some point in the near future.

Is Marcus Ayerza injured or just not deemed good enough?

I wouldn't be surprised to see that side beat Wales. I hope we don't take this lightly or it could be embrassing

Is Marcus Ayerza injured or just not deemed good enough?.

Roncero is a bit of an Argentinian legend and so Marcos seems to find himself playing second fiddle. Against a mobile team like Wales I would have though Ayerza would have been the preferred choice, he's good enough at the set piece and he is like having an additional backrower around the park.

Looks a very threatening Argie side, pace on the wings and plenty of power in the centre. The pack look meaty and should give the Welsh tight five another going over, will be interesting to see the backrow battle as that's where Wales hung on last week and kept themselves in the game.

formerly known as Sam wrote:

Is Marcus Ayerza injured or just not deemed good enough?.

Roncero is a bit of an Argentinian legend and so Marcos seems to find himself playing second fiddle. Against a mobile team like Wales I would have though Ayerza would have been the preferred choice, he's good enough at the set piece and he is like having an additional backrower around the park.

Looks a very threatening Argie side, pace on the wings and plenty of power in the centre. The pack look meaty and should give the Welsh tight five another going over, will be interesting to see the backrow battle as that's where Wales hung on last week and kept themselves in the game.

Would have said the opposite to be honest. That midfield is more abut guile and cunning rather than power.

But the guys name is Bosch! Surely he's powerful?

To be honest I hadn't seen Bosch play in a while but from memory I seem to remember him being solid in defence and pretty good at attacking holes in defences and forcing his way through. There's no Tuilagi/Roberts esque size in there but neither should be bullied.

Its a perfect game for Argentina as they prepare for England. Wales having played England twice will be able to give them the full lowdown on England over a beer or two after the game

It's Argentina's first game since last Autumn. Even the PI sides have had more preperation.

Loads of changes for Wales mean there could be issues but should win.

Are Argentina still joining the Tri-Nations next year? Is it conditional on anything?

Are Argentina still joining the Tri-Nations next year? Is it conditional on anything?.

Nope they are definitely joining next year.

Its a perfect game for Argentina as they prepare for England. Wales having played England twice will be able to give them the full lowdown on England over a beer or two after the game .

Yeah, Wales can tell them to watch out for England's tight five. I'm sure that will really scare the Argies...

I wouldn't want to be Paul James on 60 minutes when Scelzo comes off the bench fresh!

I suprised Paul James is being wheeled out again, he was stuffed in the scrum by Stevens then faired even worse against Cole who was rampant and now he's getting another go against the Argentinians. Maybe he's done something to upset Gatland.

Paul James was not stuffed by anyone, in fact he carried a bit of an under-strength front row and I would have liked to have seen him rested and wrapped up in bubble-wrap. He's one of the players who gave their all in both games against England.

nottins_jones wrote:Paul James was not stuffed by anyone, in fact he carried a bit of an under-strength front row and I would have liked to have seen him rested and wrapped up in bubble-wrap. He's one of the players who gave their all in both games against England.

Completely agree with this, and I would like to see our most likely second choice L/H given a game against the agrentinian front row, step forward Ryan Bevington.

I would imagine you'll be surprised to see a steady scrum this Saturday Sam, this welsh front row is one of the best in Europe for the ospreys, dominating many a good front row.

If Wales win will they do a lap of honour as they did against England?

To be honest I can't understand why people are saying Arg are not as strong as they were 4 years ago, that team looks ok to me, if they can control the pace of the game and do the basics right then Wales might not be as lucky as they were against England.

I agree this is Wales strongest available front row, I hope Hibbard is match fit though!

Don't rate Bevington, I am sure he will make a great prop one day, just not yet. I would say both Duncan and Iestyn are comfortably ahead of haim at present.

Bath - The welsh players thanked a record crowd for turning out and us welsh appreciated it. I'm not quite sure what your beef is other than you lost the match. At least we don't do laps of honour when we lose as your boys did against NZ. Here's some bubbly to go with the sour grapes

But anyone would have thought you had just won the WC not a WC warm up game!

Oh and by the way I'd rather have some to go with the sour grapes, Bubbly plays up my stomach

BATH_BTGOG wrote:But anyone would have thought you had just won the WC not a WC warm up game!

Oh and by the way I'd rather have some to go with the sour grapes, Bubbly plays up my stomach

That's your perception Bath and it's pretty obvious where it's come from and why it's there. Just own it. If the welsh team want to applaud their fans irrespective then it really has little to do with opposing fans does it.

But the problem is that Wales biggest ambition in rugby is to beat the English, after all these years why don't you guys move on, would a Welshman sit down during the opposing teams anthem if it was any other team in the world? I some how doubt it!

The way in which the players celebrated the win was a disgrace, IMO.

BATH_BTGOG wrote:But the problem is that Wales biggest ambition in rugby is to beat the English, after all these years why don't you guys move on, would a Welshman sit down during the opposing teams anthem if it was any other team in the world? I some how doubt it!

The way in which the players celebrated the win was a disgrace, IMO.

are you whining again? you really need to get out more if you think your post is true, I'm actually beginning to feel sorry for you now.

BATH you're banging on like a welshman with 3 chips on his shoulder and you're still peddling that myth. In my days beating England was about as interesting as watching Allan Carr Muppet Man - You english like to roll that one out of course to make yourselves important. Trot along, we've had 2 Grand Slams ourselves and since professionalism have slowly dragged ourselves back to competing. Go back to the 6 nations match at the Millenium and look at the joy and shear delight on your players after beating Wales at the MS for the first time in 8 years.

You lot crack me up, along with the "Wales only want to beat the english" myth is the "Ireland like to raise their game against England" myth - Yeah, like about 8 times in 9 matches.

But it was a disgrace, it was a World Cup warm up!

Will the Welsh do a lap of honour this week?

BATH_BTGOG wrote:But it was a disgrace, it was a World Cup warm up!

Bath man! chill out, look for the good in the players, perhaps they were just thanking the record crowd for turning out to "just a world cup warm up match". Gatland praised the fans for turning out in the numbers they did in the post-match interview. Perhaps their support did something to help the players when under pressure for long periods.....

you know, home advantage and what not.

I think the mods are going to have to step in and sort this out, it's clearly going to get personal in here soon as this BATH-BT bloke HAS to be on a wind-up, no one can whine this much after a loss.

Bath, that was a scratch 2nd string welsh team against Englands first XV who had deservedly won the 6 Nations - I thought a little welsh mutual applause and appreciation was warranted - nothing over the top of course, it was a pretty poor performce by the boys, but they hung in there eh!

So, guys, the Argentinian team selection....

Do most of these guys play in clubs in France? How will the 4 nations work with regards to player release?

I think Argentina could be a lot better than people think. They could surprise Wales, as well as possibly beating England or Scotland in their pool. I'll watch this game with real interest.

Whatever Argentina achieve abdabs it will not be a surprise. 3rd in the last RWC with a set of forwards to rumble anyone and with one of the best 10's out there IMO Wales have to be at their very best on Sat.

BATH_BTGOG wrote:But it was a disgrace, it was a World Cup warm up!

You have Haskell on your side, he celebrated his walk over try like a juiced up American football player against Wales

Looks like he used all his juice up doing that

Id place Argentina around Scotlands level at the moment, great forwards, backs not up to a great deal with a few stand-out players.

I think they'll do well to get out of their group at the World-Cup, Scotland showed they can beat them with series win in Argentina (though I'm not sure what their squad looked like at the time). England should beat them them as well.

However, any side taking Argentina lightly would be fools!

I can't believe BATH is going to ruin another thread.

In regards to the game - Argentina are a very good side though results seem to indicate not as good as 4 years ago. However am glad we picked a strong side as it will be a tough game.

I just wish Jenks and Rees were fit (along with Stodds of course)

I would imagine you'll be surprised to see a steady scrum this Saturday Sam, this welsh front row is one of the best in Europe for the ospreys, dominating many a good front row..

Not really, I'm well aware just how good the Welsh scrum can be (I'm a Tigers fan, I've seen us play the Ospreys a few times). James may have given everything for the Welsh cause and put his body on the line but at the scrum in both games he gave away penalties and really should have have either been carded or have given away a penalty try on Saturday, as he either stood up or collapsed for five on the bounce in front of the Welsh try line. If Nick Easter had been concentrating on controlling the ball rather than dreaming of scoring it would have been a definite 7 pointer.

Id place Argentina around Scotlands level at the moment, great forwards, backs not up to a great deal with a few stand-out players.

The Argentinians have the players to beat pretty much any side going. The problems they have stem from a lack of collective training, they don't play many games together and so get together as a squad all too rarely. As mentioned above this is the first game they'll play together since last Autumn.

It's their first full Test match but they have played the French Barbarians twice and a South American XV once.

Looking forward to this match. Will be my first for a while as a neutral! Pretty sure i'll be cheering for our cousins over the bridge.

Apologies if that came across condescending Sam!

I sort of agree regarding the scrum last wknd especially, although I think that was more down to the front row collective, Mitchell was struggling and Burns had a pretty dire game overall to be fair. The penalty try was coming, the ref seemed to hesitate with a few decisions in the game for both sides (the hand reaching for the yellow before thinking twice for Banahan possibly). However right or wrong the calls he made were, he was hesitant and I think that (along with Easters uncharacteristic mistake at the base) was why no penalty try awarded.

I think the front row this weekend is the strongest we have available, I also think it'll be more than a match for the Argies, until the replacements come on around 60 minutes and from there it'll be 20 minutes we could do without having many scrums.

4 Years ago, I would have agreed with you, I think when they lost Pichot (SH) and Corleto (FB) it really hindered their backline.

I think that (along with Easters uncharacteristic mistake at the base) was why no penalty try awarded.

No it was purely down to Easter's mistake. For most of the game he was willing to let things go as long as the ball came out. If Easter had kept control he would have had no choice but to give a penalty. Some of the later scrums were what infuriated me, he told the England scrummy to use it despite England going forward which was ridiculous and then he told Corbs and Mitchell that they'd be both off if the next scrum went down. That's plain lazy, one side is bringing down and the other prop shouldn't have to stop the push in order to stop a penalty being won.

The penalty try was coming, the ref seemed to hesitate with a few decisions in the game for both sides

I think Banahan got away with it because England hadn't been given the final warning that Wales had prior to the Roberts yellow. Evened out though as North got given the benefit of the doubt when swiping the ball into touch. Of course the difference being England would have probabley played better minus Banahan where as although, North was quiet he at least looked dangerous the couple of times he touched the ball.

Agree regarding North. I've read so many different versions of what was happening in the front row that game you'll have to excuse my lack of argument there. I've never played front row and the technicalities escape me, but, no doubt, England were winning the scrum battle with spare. I definitely dont envy the ref's job with the scrum, seems even more of a lottery than the breakdown.

Who would you put on the wing for England? Banahan couldnt run through someone half his size from 10 yards out, I hope he took some stick for that.

Back to the original thread, anyone think this Argies squad will come near a repeat of 2007?

BATH_BTGOG sounds very much like HERSH best way to deal with him is to completely ignore him.

Ohh God - I'd forgotten about HERSH - this place really is going like 606 was

Who would you put on the wing for England? Banahan couldnt run through someone half his size from 10 yards out, I hope he took some stick for that

I'd have played Sharples or Monye. Either have more pace and Sharples really has a finishers instinct. The English backline looked agonizingly short of pace without Ashton and Manu. That cannot continue into the RWC otherwise we'll get slaughtered. Power is good but there needs to be more than just power on offer to the 10 otherwise a well drilled defence (like Wales) will pick off the big runners (especially ones as slow as England's) far to easily.

I can't say i've seen much of Sharples (watching Pro-12 and Welsh/Celtic ints) but when he came on in the 1st Wales-Eng match he immediately looked at lot more threatening than Banahan (or Tindall) in both games.

Monye, in the few games i've seen, seems a bit inconsistent, but I am ready for people to prove me wrong.

BATH_BTGOG wrote:Will the Welsh do a lap of honour this week?

Why are you asking us?

I'm not a big Monye fan to be honest, he is very quick and if given an opportunity tends to finish it. Has Lions experience as well so we know his defence is good at international level and that the big event don't phase him.

Sharples really burst onto the scene this season had played a bit in the season before. Has a very good strike ratio of 18 tries in 29 games for Gloucester last season and at 21 and in his first full season that's pretty special. It's a shame he didn't get more game time and came on outside Banahan who can't pass as opposed to Manu who was trying to bring the wingers into the game more than he normally does at Tigers.

Either would have brought some pace and either would have shown enough foot work/speed/hand off to score past Williams in the corner. Williams was metres away that really was a terrible miss by Banahan, the rugby equivelent of an open goal.

Probably another lap this week but more of a send off for the welsh team as its their last game before the RWC. A sort of good luck lads and an appreciation for your efforts. More of a , "all the best lads lap" rather than a lap of honour though -

I've always liked Monye (similar player to Mark Jones with a better strike rate) i remember him breaking on the outside along the touchline against France at twickenham when England tore them apart (2009?). Always stuck in my mind as an example of what I like to see from a winger with pace.....

Whatabout playing armitage as a winger/2nd fullback? Or tuilagi, i know hes had a few games there for Leicster, how did he go on the wing over the season? Both are showing some decent form.