Tandy rues Wales’ first-half display in Argentina defeat

Nation.Cymru staff/agencies

Steve Tandy admitted Wales were second best physically as he promised his side would learn from a 35-21 Nations Championship defeat to Argentina in San Juan.

Wales made the ideal start through captain Dewi Lake but were unable to build on their early advantage as the Pumas took control, scoring five tries to inflict Wales’ first defeat of the campaign.

While disappointed with the result, Tandy took encouragement from his side’s response after the break, believing they remained in contention for a losing bonus point until the closing stages.

“We’re disappointed with the result, disappointed with some of the performance in the first half,” he said.

“But I thought, fair play, the boys stuck in and potentially could have got four tries and a losing bonus point at the back end.

“There’s a lot of lessons in there for us. Coming away from home you need to be a bit more accurate and Argentina probably dominated the physicality piece early doors.”

Argentina overturned Lake’s fourth-minute try to lead 28-14 by half-time, with Wales unable to recover despite Ben Warren’s late score.

Tandy identified his side’s inability to match the hosts’ physical intensity as the decisive factor.

“I thought there was more of a response from us in the second half but we are going to have to be more physical in large parts of our game, in particular,” he said.

“That is something that we definitely need to have a look at moving forward.”

Wales also struggled to halt Argentina’s momentum once the home side gained the upper hand, with missed tackles proving costly during a dominant spell either side of half-time.

“We fell off a few tackles in the first half and then that creates momentum and it’s hard to get that wrestled back,” Tandy said.

“There’s something there that we’ll have to go away and look at.

“But I think they’re a good team and they’ve had more time together off the back of the Scotland game as well.”

Despite the defeat ending hopes of a first Welsh victory in Argentina since 2018, Tandy believes the experience will benefit his developing squad ahead of next weekend’s daunting trip to South Africa.

“We felt in a good place coming here and obviously, it’s disappointing the way the game’s finished for us, but it’s a great lesson for us, and we go back and learn from that.”

Dewi Lake

Wales will also await news on captain Dewi Lake after he limped off during the second half.

“We’ll have more of an idea in the next 24 hours,” Tandy said.

Wales now travel to Durban to face world champions South Africa in their final Nations Championship fixture next Saturday.