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The Wales coach has some thinking to do after a long trip to Argentina
They say never change a winning team. Certainly, almost everyone involved in Wales’ 39-24 win over Fiji on Saturday will feel they deserve to keep their places.
But, after 17-odd hours of travel from one continent to another, there’s perhaps good reason why Steve Tandy might feel the need to freshen up his side a little ahead of the clash with Argentina in San Juan next Saturday.
It’s the brutal reality of the new Nations Championship, which has replaced the traditional summer tours.
Odds are that Tandy and his coaching team will have to turn to almost all of his 33-man squad in the coming weeks, with another arduous trip to South Africa to follow the week after.
The Springboks are on another level to the rest of the global game right now, but Los Pumas showed vulnerabilities in their defeat to Scotland on the weekend.
That might not be enough for this current Wales side to pounce, but they should certainly be looking to make Argentina nervous.
The other counter-argument against wholesale changes, beyond breaking up a winning side, is that Wales will likely have just the one proper training session this week in Argentina.
Whatever they go with, the work will already need to have been done back home in Cardiff.
Fitness-wise, it looks like everyone came through the Fiji match unscathed – which is no small victory, given how physical the Flying Fijians were on Saturday.
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As such, Tandy has some decisions to make ahead of naming his team later this week.
Some areas of the team are likely to remain untouched.
The midfield combination of Joe Hawkins and Eddie James, having just started a fifth Test in a row, is building in confidence and understanding.
Changing that now would seem a backwards step, even with the likes of Ben Thomas, Max Llewellyn and Mason Grady waiting in the wings.
The other area that will surely remain unscathed is the front-row.
Dewi Lake, while unfortunate to captain a side that scored three tries from mauls and yet none of them fell to him as starting hooker, had a typically strong game.
Both props either side of him, Rhys Carre on the loosehead and Dillon Lewis on the tight, caused all sorts of problems for the Fijian scrum – with Carre also popping up with another trademark score early in the second half.
Once again, you’d expect Tandy to ask Carre in particular to empty the tank before turning to the likes of Nicky Smith, Ryan Elias and Ben Warren off the bench – with the latter not looking out of place on his Test debut.
Second-row too is unlikely to change. Ben Carter has established himself as a starter, while Adam Beard put in a big shift as Wales’ set-piece delivered.
There are other players who are nailed on, like Tomos Williams, Jac Morgan and Aaron Wainwright. Josh Adams, despite having his critics in recent seasons, showed his value too – pouncing for an opportunistic try.
Blair Murray, brought back into the 15 jersey, had a good game – dealing as well as one could with Fiji’s onslaught while providing a moment of magic ahead of Carre’s score.
However, there could still be a change in the back-three.
Louis Rees-Zammit, moved back to the wing after five Six Nations matches at full-back, didn’t really get heavily involved on Saturday.
Now, chances are that Tandy will still persevere – looking to get the best out of the Bristol Bears wing who will be chomping at the bit after his longest run in the Welsh jersey without a try.
But, perhaps – especially given how Scotland got some change out of the aerial battle against Argentina on Saturday – there’s an argument for Ellis Mee starting.
Fly-half could also see a change. It was a brutal afternoon for Dan Edwards, with Fiji’s midfield waiting to offer some amateur spinal adjustments anytime the Ospreys playmaker got near the ball.
To his credit, Edwards kept taking the ball to the line. But, it’s hard to deny he wasn’t physically rattled – with the 23-year-old missing some kicks at goal as a result.
Moving him to the bench could risk denting his confidence a little, but there’s an argument that the Argentina game is calling for Costelow to start anyway.
The Scarlets fly-half helped Wales start fast against Scotland in the Six Nations, with their multi-phase attack causing problems for Gregor Townsend’s defence.
Given Scotland’s win over Argentina on the weekend resembled a basketball match at times in terms of the scoring, there’s a sense that Wales could try to get after their hosts sooner rather than later.
The other change we could see to the starting side is James Botham starting in the back-row. Alex Mann has been a constant in Tandy’s side, but Botham is a fine player.
Off the bench, he showed his quality once again.
Wales could switch up their bench a little too.
If they’re feeling bold, a 6-2 split would allow them to get some more of their back-row talent in there.
You’ve got Mann, Taine Plumtree and Tommy Reffell all vying for a spot.
Plumtree could cover second-row, but – with Carter and Beard having played 80 minutes each on the weekend, Teddy Williams is the safer bet there.
Going 6-2 – while it could give Llewellyn or Grady a chance off the bench – might also see Rees-Zammit miss out altogether, which would be a huge call.
One other thing to consider is Wales handing Kane James a debut off the bench.
There’s a sense that Fiji was the match Wales would have been targeting – with the other two a bit of a bonus.
Perhaps that offers them the chance to give the Exeter back-row minutes this weekend.
Possible Wales team to face Argentina: Blair Murray; Ellis Mee, Eddie James, Joe Hawkins, Josh Adams; Sam Costelow, Tomos Williams; Rhys Carre, Dewi Lake, Dillon Lewis, Ben Carter, Adam Beard, James Botham, Jac Morgan, Aaron Wainwright.
Replacements: Ryan Elias, Nicky Smith, Ben Warren, Teddy Williams, Kane James, Kieran Hardy, Dan Edwards, Louis Rees-Zammit.
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