Wales vs Argentina Review – Autumn Nations 2025
Wales 28 – 52 Argentina
Feels strange to say that, given we lost by 24 points and conceded 7 tries, this felt like a gain overall for Wales. At no point did it feel as though we were going to win (not helped by a genuinely weak start) but like Italy vs New Zealand last year, it was a defeat where Wales felt capable of challenging one of the world’s strongest teams. After the game, both Dewi Lake and Steve Tandy mentioned they felt it was a 50/50 performance, and given they’ve only been together for 2 weeks, that’s an achievement in and of itself against a more experienced Pumas side who’ve been playing consistently since June.
The start though, may have cost us in the long run. At times, Wales looked dejected and struggling for air against a relentless bombardment of kicks and rucks, and one might have wondered if a stronger beginning could have kept them more fired up. It was hard to see a 14 point lead in the first 10 minutes, and some of the younger players looked unconfident. Others rose to the occasion, and I’ll cover player ratings later, but overall Argentina were simply far more clinical; every Welsh mistake had an effect on the game, while Wales needed to work a lot harder for their scores.
Overall, is this a disappointing result? Wales didn’t click as well as I expected, so I suppose it qualifies, but I don’t think it’s anything to be alarmed about. Defence will need to improve against more free-flowing teams like New Zealand and Japan, the former of whom can put 50-60 points on stronger sides than Wales, but if we keep up this level of power, we should still beat the latter. Argentina had every advantage going into this game besides the homefield; physically larger, better aerial options, far more experienced players (how often do teams get to field two centurions of Montoya and Matera’s quality?), more in-form players coming off of the Rugby Championship, and far more to lose had they fallen short.
You can’t call it anything other than a mixed bag for Wales, but the trolls and doomsayers are far off the mark; we can work with this.
Player Ratings:
1: Rhys Carré 5
Hyped up to be a sizable carrying threat, but he only managed 5. Less so his fault, but he was generally underutilised in a game where his physicality was needed. Didn’t really scrummage well either.
2: Dewi Lake 7
A strong carrying game, Lake brought his typical gameplay to a fairly average degree. Not a bad game for him, but his lineout errors still haven’t faded entirely, and he really needs to stamp those out if Wales’ lineout is to be a weapon. The try takes him up a point.
3: Kieron Assiratti 7
Weirdly good game; a very criticised player for his lack of positive impact and mediocre scrummaging, but he held out every scrum against Vivas and made a better carrying effort than usual. Showed he does in fact have a solid ceiling, though this score may flatter him; this may have been his best Wales game so far.
4: Dafydd Jenkins 6
Like Lake, mostly just played as well as usual. On the other hand, Jenkins’ workrate backfired, as he conceded the most penalties of anyone in the match, but 2 penalties isn’t really a problem. Should grow as the month goes on.
5: Adam Beard 5
With how much his lineout skills were needed, he was just ok. His great maul defence definitely caused Benitez Cruz some issues, but he was mostly invisible on attack. Lots of tackles, though.
6: Alex Mann 7
The same excellent tackler as usual, and with how well he’s played in his last 3 Wales games, may be here for another few this month. The first 10 minutes were rough, however, as he took a minute to get going and got outplayed by more experienced Argentine attackers. Actually made some solid carries too, but has some things to work on for Japan.
7: Jac Morgan 9
Once again, Wales’ best player. Showed some remarkable strength, restraining the power and dynamism of even Oviedo, but that injury will worry Tandy. Was genuinely considered for player of the match despite not playing 80 minutes and being on the weaker team; a testament to his value.
8: Aaron Wainwright 7
Trademark strong carries, but an above average defensive effort too. Has definitely nailed down this jersey in Faletau’s absence if he hadn’t already, though Argentina’s own power left him with little to show for it.
9: Tomos Williams 8
Wales’ second best player. A fairly harmless yellow aside, was an excellent carrier and distributor who kept Wales in the game. Will be one of the most important players going forward until the next World Cup cycle, and this game showed why.
10: Dan Edwards 6
A mixed performance; his inexperience showed as Argentina’s mighty forward pack pressured him into some questionable kicks, but he nailed every conversion and made an absolutely beautiful run where he beat 3 defenders in quick succession. I’m expecting him to keep this jersey against Japan.
11: Josh Adams 5
Outside backs had an unusually weak game here, though Adams tried to make something of every opportunity he held the ball. Defensively underwhelming with a 33% tackle success rate, but didn’t have a lot to work with in the first place.
12: Ben Thomas 3
Should he have been carded? As Nigel Owens pointed out, it’s hard to penalise a player for foul play they didn’t actually make, but even with the 10 minutes taken away, Thomas didn’t really do much else except hand the ball to Prisciantelli for the latter’s second try. The few carries he made didn’t do him many favours, and this was probably his worst game so far.
13: Max Llewellyn 7
Finally, finally managed to bring something close to his Gloucester form last season to the test arena. While his try was disallowed, his defensive workrate surprised me, with 16 tackles showing he’s more than just a carrier. Wales have struggled to nail down the 13 jersey, but Llewellyn made a great case here.
14: Tom Rogers 4
Rogers was supposed to be our best aerial player, limiting Argentina’s influence over the high ball, and instead we got a budget Rio Dyer. While his ability to chase was impressive, he missed almost every opportunity he had to slow down the Pumas ball, and only made one linebreak compared to his great attacking form last Six Nations. Louis Rees-Zammit made much more of a positive impact in much less time.
15: Blair Murray 5
Another mixed bag; Murray has come under criticism for his lack of height limiting his aerial influence, and while I think he is technically solid in this area, he didn’t prove it here. Consistently pressured, his solid workrate on both sides of the ball saved him from a lower score.
BENCH
16: Liam Belcher 6
Nice bench impact, as his usual workrate was felt more than most, but not enough to really turn any tides.
17: Nicky Smith 6
Better carrying performance than usual; he made more carries than Carré, weirdly enough. Not much impact at scrumtime though; Wales went backwards when Gallo came into play.
18: Archie Griffin 6
Same as Smith, though we’ve come to expect good carrying from Griffin.
19: Freddie Thomas 5
Unnoticed and mostly underwhelming, though he didn’t have the time to do much else.
20: Olly Cracknell 5
Showed how his carrying presence could help Wales, but only made 4. Smith and Griffin made more impact in a similar amount of time.
21: Kieran Hardy N/A
He played for about 5 minutes. I’m not petty enough to judge anyone for having no impact in that time
22: Jarrod Evans 6
No real drop-off compared to Edwards, nailed his one conversion, and worked well with Rees-Zammit on the outside.
23: Louis Rees-Zammit 7
The real bench impact of the game, but with 3 turnovers lost, he’s not exactly back to his best. Could’ve added an extra try to Wales’ tally to alleviate some of the negativity, but it wasn’t to be. If he starts the next game, I’ll be looking forward to it.
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