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When Steve Tandy faced the media in the build-up to the game, he was asked whether last November’s 52-28 defeat by Argentina would have any bearing on events in Santa Fe.
That was the opening Test of the Tandy era, a chastening afternoon in which Wales conceded seven tries. Eight months on, another meeting with Los Pumas, this time on their own patch, provided the ideal opportunity to measure just how much progress had been made.
Wales have improved in the sense they are far more competitive, have a stronger set-piece and have a handful of players who are developing into quality internationals.
Prior to this game it looked like Wales were heading in the right direction but there was a fine line between Argentina and Tandy’s side in Santa Fe.
Wales are still a significant distance from challenging the world’s leading nations.
Watching the quality, intensity and precision of South Africa’s victory over Scotland in Pretoria just hours before Wales took the field in Santa Fe served as a timely reminder of the gulf that still exists.
Wales made the perfect start when Dewi Lake touched down off the back of a well-worked driving lineout but they had no answer to Argentina’s explosive power.
Defence coach Peter Murchie still has his work cut out. Wales’ scramble defence was commendable in the first half, but they missed too many first-up tackles and conceded far too many soft metres when Argentina carried into contact.
They cough up points far too easily when put under pressure. They finished the game with an 87% tackle success rate and 31 missed tackles in comparison to Argentina’s eight.
That standard of defence is nowhere near good enough. Against the world champions in Durban next weekend, Wales will be on the end of a cricket score if they repeat that.
Lead S4C commentator Gareth Charles summed up Wales’ defensive struggles perfectly after they came close to conceding another try, saying it “looked like a training session against a youth team.”
When Wales do get on the front foot the attack does not ask enough questions.
By half-time Wales only had 60 post-contact metres with zero line breaks and there remain question marks over whether Joe Hawkins and Eddie James is the optimum centre partnership.
Both are good players but Wales’ attack is lacking in creativity and are not asking enough questions of opposition defences.
James could be such an asset to this Wales side with his explosive carrying but would he not be better employed at inside centre where he can get his side over the gainline?
Attack coach Matt Sherratt has always preferred a second playmaker at 12 but there is an argument that Wales should scrap this and go for a basher at 12 with James or even Harlequins’ Bryn Bradley as potential options.
The debate over who should be Wales’ first-choice outside-half remains unresolved, with Sam Costelow failing to fully grasp his opportunity in Santa Fe.
It took Wales 56 minutes to register their first line break, and that proved to be their only one of the game. Argentina, by contrast, managed 10.
That statistic tells its own story. For all the improvement in structure and resilience, Wales remain some way short of possessing the attacking threat required to trouble the world’s best sides.
Argentina made 257 post-contact metres whereas Wales only made 144.
At his best, Costelow is a highly capable player, but this was not one of his better performances.
He looked short of the control and authority he had shown against Scotland in the Six Nations, and the question now is whether Dan Edwards returns to the starting XV next Saturday or whether Wales continue with the Scarlets playmaker.
But Wales deserve credit for the way they responded when the game threatened to get away from them.
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It would have been easy for heads to drop, yet they showed resilience, rolled up their sleeves and battled to the final whistle to keep the scoreline respectable.
Another positive was the set-piece with Wales’ scrum dominant for large periods of the game while the lineout was also very good.
So, there has been progress since last November’s record defeat by Argentina. But this Wales side is still a long way from where it needs to be, and the hard lessons from Santa Fe showed there remains a significant gap to bridge.
