Wales are capable of fielding a team that can beat Argentina in Cardiff
The Wales team is officially announced on Friday(Image: Huw Evans Picture Agency Ltd)
As if our autumn fixture list wasn’t difficult enough to start with by including games against South Africa and New Zealand – the top two teams in the world rankings – we begin with Argentina, who beat the All Blacks and gave the Springboks a good run for their money in the Rugby Championship.
We have been used to seeing Argentina playing the game through their forwards over the years. They haven’t completely neglected that approach but they have been prepared to use their backs much more with a great degree of success in recent times. Wales will, subsequently, need to be able to organise their defence in the wider channels.
This is where we come down to the business end of Steve Tandy’s new reign as Wales head coach – the selection of the team to play Argentina in his first game in charge on Sunday.
Following the announcement of the full squad, there has been plenty of speculation regarding his expected side and we have all got our own thoughts and opinions, in that respect.
In Gatland’s time you could virtually predict who was going to be in the team because they had to fit into his ‘Warrenball’ ideology. However, this will be a new team to fit into Tandy’s preferences.
Consequently, at this stage, there will be more guesswork involved in predicting his team until a pattern emerges.
His previous experience of coaching at international level will be based on a few years being defence coach for Scotland under Gregor Townsend.
Will his style be risk averse, defence-oriented or will he be influenced by Townsend’s philosophy and be prepared to take a few risks?
Matt Sherratt is his attacking coach. How much of an influence on selection will that be?
I’m particularly concerned with the front row.
I wouldn’t be happy to see Rhys Carre and Archie Griffin taking the field at the same time. Also, Danny Southworth and Christian Coleman will need some game time experience before the South Africa game, when absences will mean they are going to be needed.
There is plenty of choice in the second row and I am in favour of a bit of experience a this stage. We will need to be prepared for a lot of defensive work.
Dafydd Jenkins has invariably been amongst the top tacklers. He also possesses leadership skills which are invaluable at times when the going gets tough.
Dafydd Jenkins of Wales (Image: Huw Evans Picture Agency)
I’ve not been a great fan of Adam Beard in the past. He has always given me the impression he has not been fulfilling his potential.
However, at the moment he appears to be one of the form players. His move to Montpellier and a change of environment seems to have been beneficial.
It is a blow to lose Taulupe Faletau. His all round ability and experience will be greatly missed.
Fortunately, the back row is one of the areas that we have plenty of options. A unit of Jac Morgan, Taine Plumtree and Aaron Wainwright has a good balance, with Morgan Morse getting his opportunity from the bench.
I have seen in some quarters Blair Murray’s position in the team as full back has been in question. But as far as I am concerned he was one of the more committed of our players when we were playing badly.
He was always looking to create something positive when other heads were dropping and should be in the team, for sure.
Josh Adams of Wales celebrates scoring a try with Blair Murray(Image: Huw Evans Picture Agency Ltd)
Louis Rees-Zammit has now become part of the equation and he will, probably, be brought into the team sooner rather than later.
The players available will also be an influencing factor how we play.
Those in the back three are all proven try scorers, therefore, whoever is selected needs to be brought into the game as much as possible.
Tomos Williams is an automatic choice at scrum half. On the bench I would have Rueben Morgan-Williams as cover for his speed of service.
Dan Edwards is the best all-round outside-half we have and his game management is good. It will be beneficial if he were given the opportunity to have an extended run of games. I believe that would be in the best interest of the team in the long term.
However, Callum Sheedy is the form outside half at present but in a more limited way.
His skills are better suited to coming off the bench to take advantage of when the game has opened up in the second half.
The centre partnership is more difficult to predict and will prove crucial in determining how well we can successfully bring the back three into the game.
Although Nick Tompkins is playing well for Saracens, his tendency is to play better for his club than for Wales.
This, I assume, is where Matt Sherratt’s influence will become evident.
I believe they will plump for Max Llewellyn at thirteen with Ben Thomas as the playmaker at twelve.
So, there we have it.
The proverbial monkey is off our backs following our victory over Japan in our last game. Argentina can prove to be a stubborn team to beat but, at the very least, we need to demonstrate that we’re back in business again.
But, I believe we can field a team that, if suitably motivated and pointed in the right direction, has the potential to begin Steve Tandy’s reign as Wales coach with a win.
Pricey’s Wales team v Argentina:
15 B Murray; 14 L Rees-Zammit, 13 M Llewellyn, 12 B Thomas, 11 J Adams; 10 D Edwards, 9 T Williams; 8 A Wainwright, 7 J Morgan (Captain), 6 T Plumtree, 5 A Beard, 4 D Jenkins, 3 K Assiratti, 2 D Lake, 1 N Smith
Reps: L Belcher, G Thomas , C Coleman, M Morse, F Thomas, R Morgan-Williams, C Sheedy, J Hawkins
Graham Price’s column is in association with Nigel Jones, experts in dental implants
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