Three down and two wins in the bag, Wales today begin preparations for the final game of the autumn confident of their place in the world. When the international board refreshes its rankings today, Wales are likely to jump above Argentina and into seventh place with a real prospect of doing some harm to Australia, currently third, when the teams meet on Saturday in Cardiff.
Drawing form lines in rugby is risky but Wales' three-tries-to-one defeat of the Pumas was light years away from the mucky business of Twickenham the week before, when England just about got home, although Argentina – possibly because they are drawn to play England at the 2011 World Cup – were too polite to say so.
From the moment Stephen Jones tapped a penalty and scurried into the corner 15 minutes into the game, the outcome was clear and the result conclusive enough for Warren Gatland to say that 22 months awayfrom opening their World Cup with a game against South Africa in Wellington, Wales are progressing nicely. "We are pleased with that performance, it was a step up," said the coach. "The next step is try to get our percentage of wins up to 75%, but we are pleased with the progress we are making."
The Jones try was a curious affair, if only because the Welsh kicking coach Neil Jenkins was alongside the fly-half with the kicking tee when Jones put his head down and headed for the right corner, spotted by just one Puma, the wing Mauro Comuzzi. Without ever suggesting he was looking for an excuse, their captain Juan Martin Fernández Lobbe hinted that the referee George Clancy had told him to speak to his players about their scrummage. "I haven't seen a try like that in years at this level," said Lobbe, "and we are really disappointed with ourselves. I believe everyone in the stadium thought he was going to kick for goal."
Mind you Lobbe was also a little more frustrated at the way Clancy refereed the scrum and in particular with the number of penalties awarded against the Argentinian loose-head, Rodrigo Roncero. "I am not an expert in that area but it was very tough to be penalised when we were going forward," Lobbe added.
However, one way or another the Wales front row was clever enough to neutralise what, on the day, was the Puma's only attacking weapon. With Agustín Pichot gone and Juan Martin Hernández and Felipe Contepomi injured, Argentina are not the side that came third at the last World Cup.
Through Shane Williams Wales have rediscovered how to score tries. The wing twice fed on mistakes to reach his half century of tries in Test rugby. His return to form after the lull which followed being made world player of the year had Gatland purring. "It's great if you have players in your team with the x factor and we are lucky to have some of those," said Gatland.
