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Wales seal series win over Pumas with impressive victory in Sante Fe

Rhys Patchell 10/2/2018
Rhys Patchell kicked Wales to a series win over Argentina as they triumphed 30-12 in Sante Fe.

Rhys Patchell kicked Wales to a series win over Argentina as they triumphed 30-12 in Sante Fe.

A dominant performance saw Patchell notch 20 points from the tee, while brilliant tries from Josh Adams and Hallam Amos secured the triumph.

Argentina managed two tries through Bautista Delguy and right at the death through Julian Montoya, but Wales suffocated Los Pumas at the breakdown and forced errors all over the park.

WELSH COMPOSURE

Wales started the stronger, controlling territory and possession for the majority of the first half.

Patchell knocked over two penalties after great line-speed from the Welsh forced handling errors in the Argentinian attack.

A rare misplaced pass from Patchell was picked up by Adams on the wing, who looped back around and darted through the middle, dancing his way through the defence and stepping the last defender to dive over for his first international try.

Argentina managed to get on the scoreboard when Guido Petti Pagadizaval made a great break through a gap in the Welsh defence, before spinning it out to Delguy, who raced clear and touched down in the corner.

The Welsh were solid at the breakdown, resulting in two more penalties, which Patchell comfortably slotted to give Wales a 19-5 lead going into the break.

MORE OF THE SAME

Two more penalties were knocked over by Patchell after the break, as Wales continued the professional performance to increase their lead.

Lightning-fast hands from Scott Williams and Ross Moriarty spread the ball out wide to George North, who passed back inside to the oncoming Amos to dive over and make it 30-5.

The night was marred slightly when a scuffle broke out moments before the final whistle, ending with Moriarty seeing red.

Argentia showed spirit to keep Wales out and even managed to grab another score themselves after 85 minutes, with Montoya running in from close range following a scrum five metres out.

Nicolas Sanchez converted with the last kick of the game, but ultimately it was a comfortbale conclusion for Warren Gatland’s men.

NO FEAR

Warren Gatland said: “The way we defended we were really hungry, guys playing with no fear and playing with some self-belief and confidence.

“It’s great for Welsh rugby, hopefully those guys come away from here with a huge amount of confidence and self-belief in their own ability.

“The boys have been great, the players are all really hungry, they’ve been brilliant on and off the field on this tour.

“It’s been challenging at times but they’ve just got their head down so I’m really proud of that performance.

“There’s probably a few of the other guys sitting at home a little bit worried at the moment but we’ve achieved all the things we wanted to do in terms of developing some depth, some players here in the last few weeks really put their hand up.”

Rhys Patchell said: “The boys worked really hard, Argentina came hard at us in the first 10 to 15 minutes physically, certainly in the pack, and I felt we fronted up there, we got stuck in.

“The group has worked hard and it’s nice to know that the hard work does get rewarded.

“The game is a lot easier when you get on the front foot, and fair play to the pack they gave us a front foot rise to this win.”