View from next door: Argentina

The first game for Cymru in the Steve Tandy era and, if you listen to some doom mongers on social media, it’s the end of the world as we know it and we all may as well pack up and go home.

After a 28-52 loss there is always going to be disappointment. Nobody wants to lose by 24 points or have 50+ points put on them, but there has to be some perspective around the game as a whole and where this Welsh team is on the road to the 2027 Rugby World Cup. There also needs to be a huge uptick in what is posted online in the way of “analysis”, but more on that later.

Cymru were undoubtedly improved in patches; two solid stints of attacking pressure during the mid-point of each half produced four tries – the first time that’s been achieved at home since a loss to Scotland in round one of the 2024 Six Nations – defensive phase play was solid on the interior of the line, the scrum had no issues throughout proceedings, and the defensive maul was dominant.

There was a good amount of chatter about the 30 missed tackles statistic post-game, but those conflating it with a poor defensive system were well off. Firstly, missed tackles aren’t necessarily a great metric of whether a defensive system works or not, Shaun Edwards’ Welsh defence used to miss a decent quantity of tackles purely down to the line speed and spot blitzes it brought.

In this case though over 50% of the missed tackles were on the edge of the defence or in broken play/transition. It’s not ideal, no question about that, but easily fixed in just a week and more likely to happen against a team which has the quality runners that Argentina possess.

One area of concern that is universally accepted as an issue is the aerial game. Arguably more crucial than defensive issues and possibly even the set piece in modern rugby union, ruling the skies is the key to winning the territory battle. The men in red miserably failed in that regard on Sunday to leave us struggling to put pressure on the Pumas and inviting pressure on ourselves.

There is a simple point to be made around Blair Murray pushing 5’7″ on a good day and not having a huge spring, with taller opposition players having a natural advantage over him, but Cymru also need to work on how they protect the full-back from chasers and getting enough numbers around the drop zone to snaffle any loose possession that springs from an aerial battle.

Overall though it was a good base from which Tandy and his coaching staff can build on through this Autumn and beyond. Some easier fixes around that edge defence and aerial work, and some long-term development work which will require patience. Unfortunately too many on social media haven’t got that required patience or the ability to understand the context of Welsh rugby.

Soap box time.

It is utterly pointless berating Cymru for a lack of physicality or calling for changes in selection to bring more physicality. We simply do not have enough of it. There may be a XV that can be scraped together that has enough out-and-out physicality to dominate set pieces and gain line for an hour, but at the expense of speed, touch and athleticism.

There would also be no depth on that front. Let’s say Tandy does base his selection and game plan around the biggest, most physical players in the national player pool, then two or three injuries strike in key positions. Suddenly we’re picking lighter and/or more athletic players in a direct and pragmatic system that doesn’t suit them.

It is also a terrible take to describe players as “poor” or “not international standard”. Picking out individuals from the team and just slagging them off online with no nuance or depth of thought is not good analysis. Someone replied to a post on the weekend claiming that “Ben Thomas wouldn’t even play for Neath”. Surely we’re better than that?

It was Thomas who came in for a lot of stick online, but when pressed on why the responses don’t hold much weight. “He doesn’t carry”, “He just ships the ball on”, “He’s not dominant in defence”. He’s not picked to carry or be dominant in defence, he’s picked to get possession into the wide channels where the x factor players can get their hands on the ball in a bit of space.

Of the seven line breaks that the home side made on Sunday, Thomas assisted three of them and made one himself. That is the game plan the coaches have identified that works best for the players in the current national team player pool. Elements of that can be disagreed with, and over time there may be slightly more of a balance to strike, but the basic principle is inarguable.

That’s not to say that Thomas was absolutely perfect, nobody was. There needs to be time for combinations to settle though; Dan Edwards and Thomas had played 134 minutes together before Sunday, Edwards and Tomos Williams just 62 minutes. They’ve previously been together under the somewhat questionable guidance of Warren Gatland too.

These partnerships, and the team as a whole, need time to adjust to each other and to the principles put in place by this new coaching ticket. So let’s all take a step back, keep the wider picture in mind and see what Tandy’s Cymru build over the next few weeks and months before lighting up the internet with reactionary freezing cold takes.