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Everything the Wales head coach had to say after naming his team to face Argentina in San Juan
Wales head coach Steve Tandy has defended his decision to drop Louis Rees-Zammit to the bench for this Saturday’s Nations Championship clash with Argentina in Santa Fe.
Tandy has decided to start Ellis Mee in place of the Bristol Bears flyer while outside-half Sam Costelow and backrower James Botham also come into the starting XV.
“We trust our group and we trust the boys who are going to take the field,” said Tandy.
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“I think the way Ellis has gone about his business and Josh Adams has been fantastic.
“I think Zam coming off the bench when the game has started to break up is an exciting opportunity to see him in that role as well.”
Here is everything Tandy said as he held court with the media…
Can you talk us through your three changes?
“I think there’s a little bit of freshening up and you’ve also got to be balancing that up with cohesion.
“We only had one training session so if you are bringing in three boys it is beneficial.
“It is a good opportunity for those boys as well.”
Why have you selected Sam Costelow to start?
“It has been brilliant competition between them both.
“I thought Costy was outstanding when he had his opportunity against Scotland.
“I’m really enjoying how Dan and him are being competitive in training but they are working tightly together.
“Dan has been great for us as well. I think part of this is about giving an opportunity to Costy and he thoroughly deserves it.”
Why have you decided to drop Louis Rees-Zammit to the bench?
“I think Ellis (Mee) has played really well.
“I thought he was fantastic against Italy and it is an opportunity to move things around.
“In fairness Zam didn’t train much last week as well and it has been a long travel journey as well so there is a bit of thinking around that.
“But first and foremost Ellis has been playing outstandingly well.”
Why start James Botham over Alex Mann in the backrow?
“We’ve got real depth in certain positions and that’s exciting for us.
“Jim has done an excellent job.
“Manny was terrific as well and in fairness to Manny coming back from his injury to put a shift in like he did against Fiji.
“We’ve got an opportunity to change a few things around while keeping lots of cohesion as well.
“I think he (Mann) will get back into the selection mix next week.
“We are trying to manage them especially in certain positions where we can.
“Look at Jim’s performance while we’ve got other backrowers as well.
“That’s been good for us.”
What have you seen in Kane James?
“I’ve met Kane a few times. I think his personality and there’s a human being element.
“He’s really driven and the way he goes about his game is outstanding.
“The energy and the detail he brings. He’s fearless as well whenever he takes the field for Exeter.
“I just think he’s a fearless young man who thoroughly deserves an opportunity.
“He’s been brilliant since he came in from day one.
“Sometimes when you get new people come in they can be tentative but he has just ripped straight in and fitted in to the group environment while also fitting in with the players.
“I’m excited to see how he goes on the weekend.”
On the other end of the scale it is a 50th cap for Ryan Elias. Can you say a few words about him?
“It’s a remarkable achievement. I think getting a cap is some achievement but getting 50 of them is unbelievable.
“He’s been through a lot and he’s resilient. It is tough playing international rugby but I think he’s someone who thoroughly deserves winning those 50 caps.
“He may be at the other end of his career but the way he trains he doesn’t miss a minute.
“He chases everything and he’s a brilliant leader as well but he talks when he needs to talk.
“He’s also good with the younger boys as well while he drives the set-piece but what I also love about Ryan is he’s always looking to grow and be better.
“He thoroughly deserves his opportunity and we can’t wait to see him deliver on that.”
Argentina have made five changes so will you be expecting a different challenge from the one that played Scotland last weekend?
“Yes, they are a terrific team and they’ve got big squad depth.
“You see some of the boys coming back in like Kremer who is a major player for them and brings a lot of passion. He’s a 100 capper which is a remarkable achievement.
“There’ll be a lot of passion and they are at home but it is just an exciting opportunity for us to embrace that.
“It’ll be hostile. All the travel the boys have gone through and the recovery with just one session.
“It’ll be an exciting Test match for us.”
What’s different about playing Argentina?
“I think there’s lots of passion. There’s lots of travel and bedding in.
“They are a physical outfit and it is great coming into a different culture as well. It’s really different but I think it is just an exciting opportunity as well for our players to experience this in a different environment just adds to their experience and their learnings going forward.”
Is it a bold call to leave Louis Rees-Zammit out given he’s a player who can score tries out of nothing?
“We trust our group and we trust the boys who are going to take the field.
“I think the way Ellis has gone about his business and Josh Adams has been fantastic.
“I think Zam coming off the bench when the game has started to break up is an exciting opportunity to see him in that role as well.”
Spoken to any of your old mates from Scotland to get any tips on how to beat Argentina?
“I’ve had a few text messages back and forth but it was more congratulations on what they’ve done and the same the other way.
“For us we’ve got to really focus on ourselves with essentially only 40 minutes of training (this week).
“If we start worrying too much about everything else then we are not focusing on ourselves. That’s something that’s going to be massive for us on the weekend.
“We know it is going to be a huge challenge for us.
“We’ve obviously watched the game and we have watched all the games since we played them last.
“We are making sure we are focused on ourselves for the weekend.”
What’s the plan at fly-half if Sam Costelow has to leave the field?
“We’ve got Joe (Hawkins) who has played a lot there for the Scarlets and done a really good job.
“It is about having that different coverage on the bench.
“Max has trained really well while he gives us coverage at 12, 13 and wing.
“We’ve got different opportunities to look at and we feel we can cover that with Joe and Costy.”
Having won the previous two Test matches is there a noticeable change in the squad’s mood going into this weekend’s game?
“I think everyone is always happy when they win.
“The sun comes out a little bit brighter. It’s the same for us and it hasn’t changed.
“It is about us getting better and really focusing on ourselves.
“It aids confidence and with the experience of winning you learn different things and it becomes more habitual.
“But the reality for us is we have to be at our best. We have to keep focusing on those small moments in the game and we can’t take our eye off the ball.
“We’ve got to keep growing and getting better at what we do because we’ve still got a long way to chase back but it is obviously much nicer doing it after a win which is great for the players.
“In fairness to them all the hard work they have put in it is great to get wins but we want to do it on a consistent level.”
You started your tenure as Wales boss against Argentina last autumn what have you been able to take out of that game?
“I think it is always relevant but we’ve moved on.
“It was our first game and Argentina gave us a lot of lessons in that game. We scored some good tries but we could have scored even more.
“Defensively we’ve had a lot of growth as well so there’s lots of learnings from that.
“It is also a great opportunity to see how far our development has come to play a world class team in their own backyard.”
Do you feel as a group you are ready to take that next step and beat a Southern Hemisphere team in their own backyard?
“For me it is about never getting too far ahead of ourselves.
“We have to just concentrate on how we grow our game and concentrate on what we’ve done well.
“I thought the set-piece was excellent last weekend but it is going to be a completely different test this weekend against Argentina.
“We’ve got to make sure we look after those small wins and not getting too far ahead.
“We know this is a major challenge for us. We haven’t won back-to-back games since 2023.
“We are enjoying that moment but there is a reality piece in we are away from home over the last two weekends against two world class outfits.
“For us it is about making sure we don’t think too far ahead and it is about making sure.”
Scotland played a lot of open rugby to beat Argentina. Will you have to play a different style to what you did against Fiji?
“There was a lot of transition.
“Hopefully we’ll have some more opportunities to string some more phase attack together but we won’t go away from how we play.
“We’ve got our game model as we saw during the Six Nations. The Fiji game definitely broke out but we got it back to certain parts of structure.
“But there will probably need to be more of an all-round game to really test Argentina on the weekend.”
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