Wales 28, Argentina 52: Jac Morgan suffers dislocated shoulder as Wales start the Tandy era with a hefty defeat

Simon Thomas

Losing at home is nothing new for Wales. After all, it’s 827 days since they last won a Test match in Cardiff.

But losing their inspirational skipper makes this tenth successive defeat on home soil all the more painful.

The disconsolate look on Jac Morgan’s face as he sat on the sidelines with his left arm in a sling during the closing stages of the game said it all.

Just as telling was the moment when Dewi Lake rested his head on Morgan’s shoulder in consoling fashion while sitting next to him on the bench.

It was a picture that spoke a thousand words.

Worst fears were confirmed after the game when it was revealed the flanker had suffered a dislocated shoulder which means the end of his autumn campaign and a lengthy lay-off.

The scale of that blow can hardly be exaggerated.

As Dan Biggar rightly put it after the game while speaking on TNT Sports, Morgan was head and shoulders above every other Welsh player on the pitch.

Another former skipper Sam Warburton added further praise, saying: “The term world class is sometimes bandied around too readily, but Jac Morgan is genuine world class. He is such a smart, brave, intelligent player.”

You just have to look at the match stats for confirmation of Morgan’s class.

Even though he was only on the field for 54 minutes, he made more carries (14) than any other player on either side, while he also won the most turnovers and put in 11 tackles.

On top of that, there was the key part he played in the three tries Wales scored when he was on the pitch.

He was absolutely integral to the first from Tomos Williams, making the surging drive forward which set the attack in motion and popping up in support to give the scoring offload to scrum-half Williams as he was going to ground.

He also paved the way for the second from Lake with a strong carry off a tap penalty.

Then there was his own score, the act of heroism which ended his game and his campaign.

Once again, he took the responsibility at a tap penalty and this time he did it all himself, showing huge strength and determination to ride a tackle and get the ball down.

Yet in doing so, he picked up his injury, with it immediately becoming clear he was in real trouble.

It’s a huge setback and leaves Wales with a decision to make as they look ahead to the rest of the autumn campaign.

Morgan was the only specialist openside in the squad, so a No 7 will have to be brought in, with either the experienced Tommy Reffell or the uncapped, but bang in form Ospreys breakaway Harri Deaves the leading candidates.

One would imagine hooker Lake would be favourite to take over as skipper, having done the job in Japan over the summer.

To add to the injury woes, Morgan’s back row colleague Aaron Wainwright limped off midway through the second half and we wait to see what the full prognosis is there.

So a costly day for Wales and not just on the fitness front.

The attendance of 50,185 was one of the lowest for a home game over the past decade and more than 9,000 down on the last visit by Argentina in 2022, which means a lot of lost revenue.

That was despite ticket prices being very reasonable.

But that’s where we are now with the national team having suffered 18 successive defeats prior to July’s victory over Japan in Kobe.

Uncertainty

Add in all the uncertainty, anxiety and angst over the future of the professional game in Wales and it’s a backdrop which doesn’t really lend itself to full houses.

Moreover, another record defeat - the highest score conceded and biggest losing margin against Argentina - is hardly likely to see a surge in ticket sales for the remaining autumn Tests against Japan, New Zealand and South Africa.

When a team keeps on losing, people will inevitably vote with their feet.

There was one stage where it looked as though Wales might just pull off an unexpected victory when they pulled it back to 14-14 after a nightmare start.

But, in the end, they just weren’t a match for the Pumas who ran in seven tries in all.

That will be an unwelcome stat for new head coach Steve Tandy as will a tally of 30 missed tackles.

For someone who has made his name as a defence coach over the last few years, those will be sobering figures and confirmation that he has a lot of work to do.

What will be particularly concerning is just how easily those tries came for the Pumas.

They were products of soft penalties, soft defence and poor discipline from Wales, with Ben Thomas and Tomos Williams both being sin-binned - Thomas for kicking out at Pablo Matera and Williams for tackling a player off the ball.

The big damage was done either side of half-time as the hosts leaked three tries in the space of six minutes.

They had drawn level with the touchdowns from Williams and Lake to raise hope, but were unable to build on that fightback.

The two quickfire tries conceded just before the interval were especially damaging.

Firstly scrum-half Simon Benitez Cruz sniped over after sustained pressure against 14 men and then, straight from the restart, the Pumas struck again as flanker Matera broke the tackle of Tom Rogers and kicked ahead to set up a sharp finish from elusive left wing Mateo Carreras, a man who Wales just couldn’t handle.

In the blink of an eye, 14-14 had become 14-31 and that gap was extended soon after the restart with a score for the other wing Bautista Delguy via a searing attack which also resulted in a yellow for Williams.

With that, the game was pretty much over as a contest with two more tries from the visitors in the final quarter rubbing salt in the wounds, as fly-half Geronimo Prisciantelli completed his double to cap a classy Player of the Match display.

While defence was a clear problem area for Wales, so was the aerial battle.

Outgunned

They were totally outgunned in the skies with the Pumas comprehensively winning the kick-to-compete contest as they came up with the ball time and again.

The 5ft 8ins Blair Murray had a particularly tough time in that department as he was consistently outjumped and it remains to be seen whether Wales need to go for more height at full-back with Jacob Beetham the obvious option.

With the lineout also creaking to compound the aerial issues, it meant the hosts were starved of possession and territory for much of the game, particularly in the first 50 minutes.

That was a shame because when they did get decent ball, they actually looked quite threatening in attack with good shape, some nice tip-ons and an eye for space.

Their first try was particularly well constructed, with Morgan’s initial surge followed by the ball being moved right and then back left, with Rogers spotting a mismatch as he went outside lock Marcos Kremer ahead of the skipper's superb offload to Williams.

There were also the two well-taken scores off tap penalties and a late consolation for Murray courtesy of a miss-pass from Williams.

If you had said beforehand that Wales would score four tries and 28 points, most people would have taken that.

But rugby is about attack and defence and they were found badly wanting when it comes to the latter.

So now it’s on to Japan which really is a must-win game, a task made all the harder by the absence of the talismanic Morgan.