Rugby College: Simon Thomas: Wales produce champagne rugby to finally break autumn hoodoo

Sunday, 17 November 2013

Simon Thomas: Wales produce champagne rugby to finally break autumn hoodoo

Wales ended their autumn drought in style with a record win over Argentina to give Gethin Jenkins a day to remember as he won his 100th cap for his country.

Tries by Mike Phillips, George North, Toby Faletau and Ken Owens, plus 20 points from the boot of Leigh Halfpenny, secured a resounding victory, as prop Jenkins joined Gareth Thomas, Stephen Jones and Martyn Williams in the elite 100 club.

Going into the Millennium Stadium clash, Wales had not won an autumn international since beating

Argentina in November 2009, losing 10 and drawing one of the next 11.

But that barren run was brought to an end in emphatic fashion, as Warren Gatlandâ€™s men gained sweet revenge for last yearâ€™s home defeat at the hands of the Pumas.

In the process, they played some scintillating attacking rugby, producing Harlem Globetrotters stuff at times as the moved the ball with real enterprise, backs and forwards interlinking to great effect.

Try-scorer Faletau was named Man of the Match and was indeed at his athletic best, delivering a classy all-round display at No 8.

There were also excellent performances from the likes of Phillips, Scott Williams, Richard Hibbard, Liam Williams, top tackler Justin Tipuric and skipper Sam Warburton.

Scrum-half Phillips may be unattached at present, but you canâ€™t see him being without a club for too long on this showing, especially in the first-half, when he scored one 70 metre try and set up another for North.

Scott Williams rose to the challenge as the senior centre in the absence of the crocked Jamie Roberts and Jonathan Davies, being heavily involved throughout, while debutant Cory Allen grew in confidence alongside him, before picking up a dislocated shoulder.

Hibbard added to his cult-hero status, flying into the tackles with fearless abandon, with Liam Williams providing the answer to the wing crisis, capping a fine display by putting Faletau away for his try.

The scrum wasnâ€™t as much of an issue as had been feared, with rookie tight-head Rhodri Jones surviving his testing examination against Marcos Ayerza and showing up well in the loose, while the line-out provided a stream of possession.

All in all, it was a pretty convincing and comprehensive victory and one which sets Gatlandâ€™s gang up nicely for their remaining autumn Tests against Tonga and Australia.

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The main criticism of Wales during last weekâ€™s defeat against South Africa was that they were not clinical enough. Well, they certainly made up for that in the first-half yesterday, returning with points from just about every venture into enemy territory.

Gatlandâ€™s men showed a positive intent from the outset, retaining possession well and going through the phases, and they had their first reward on five minutes when they went ahead through Halfpenny.

Then, four minutes later, came the opening try of the match, courtesy of a long-range effort from the revved-up Phillips.

As Nicolas Sanchez received a rushed pass from half-back partner Martin Landajo, he saw hooker Hibbard coming for him and understandably took his eye off the ball, which he fumbled into the path of Phillips, who was in like a flash, intercepting and setting off for the line.

Wing Santiago Cordero seemed to be closing him down, but Phillips used North as a decoy and threw an audacious dummy that Cordero bought hook line and sinker, enabling him to angle away to the line.

Cordero was to show his own attacking threat a few minutes later when he beat five men on a weaving run that led to a yellow card for Tipuric, who was binned for tackling full-back Joaquin Tuculet off the ball.

That seemed a touch harsh on the Ospreys openside who was attempting to get to Cordero, but thankfully for Wales it didnâ€™t prove a costly decision.

Fly-half Sanchez hit the post with the resulting penalty and the Pumas failed to score a single point during the 10 minutes when they had an extra man as the reduced hosts stepped up a gear.

If the visitors were profligate, then Wales were anything but, with Halfpenny on target again from 45 metres ahead of another try on 23 minutes that saw Phillips and North combine.

It was a score that was a pre-planned move straight off the training field. Alun Wyn Jones won lineout ball off the top and flicked down to Phillips who delivered a superbly disguised inside pass to North, with the more involved wing bursting on to it at pace and going inside Horacio Agulla to touch down.

Argentina finally opened their account through Sanchez, but it was Wales who had the final word in the half with Halfpenny slotting a kick from wide out on the right to secure a 23-3 interval lead.

Following a trading of penalties after the break, the hosts put themselves out of sight shortly before the hour mark with another well-worked try. Slick passing saw the ball moved left to Liam Williams who handed off Cordero and gave the inside scoring pass to the supporting Faletau.

The scoring was completed 14 minutes from time when replacement hooker Ken Owens rounded off a well-organised driving maul from an Alun Wyn Jones line-out take.

With that, it was job done and with their autumn hoodoo broken, Wales can move on in good spirits.