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The 25-year-old has started just once under Steve Tandy, wearing the 10 jersey against Scotland in this year’s Six Nations
Former Wales internationals Richie Rees and Alex Cuthbert have called upon Steve Tandy to start Sam Costelow against Argentina this weekend.
The Scarlets fly-half came off the bench during Wales’ 39-24 win over Fiji on Saturday, helping guide Tandy’s side to their first back-to-back Test victory since the 2023 World Cup. Dan Edwards, who started at the Cardiff City Stadium on the weekend, has been in possession of the 10 jersey for 10 of the last 11 Test matches.
However, while Tandy has favoured Edwards as his starting fly-half since taking over as Wales coach, ex-Wales scrum-half Rees believes the talents of Costelow could be crucial from the start against Argentina in San Juan this Saturday.
Speaking on the Scrum V podcast, Rees explained how the 25-year-old helped get Wales over the line on the weekend.
“It’s really important when you play a team like Fiji, you make them play a game that you want to play,” said Rees. “Their DNA is something different to ours, so you have to take that away.
“It’s very much about getting that set-piece into the game. There’s things to work on from that first-half. They didn’t really go multi-phase, so we didn’t see Louis Rees-Zammit in the game.
“We probably kicked a little bit too long at times. We got excited and didn’t manage our emotions enough. But the really pleasing thing for me is the discussions that clearly went on at half-time from the coaching group to the players, that if we are to win this game, we have to make changes quickly.
“You cannot afford to give these guys unstructured defences to run against because they’ll always pick you off. After half-time, the kicking game was on-point. They were probably more pragmatic in how they played and held onto the ball.
“I thought the Sam Costelow substitution, the timing of that was spot-on. Sam gives you something different to Dan.
“Dan plays what he sees a little but more, whereas Sam is a little bit more controlled and experienced in the game. His kicking game when he came on the field.
“Dan missed the posts a couple of times and then when he went to the corner, he maybe put it 15 metres out. If that’s five metres from the line, it’s a completely different lineout call. When Sam came on the field, he managed the game well and those kicks to the corner, we scored two tries from them.”
Former Wales wing Cuthbert remarked that he “wouldn’t be surprised if he starts”, with Rees adding that he believes he should.
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Later on in the podcast, Rees explained further why Costelow should start – highlighting how Scotland had exposed Argentina’s defence in Cordoba by spreading the ball to the wide channels fast and often.
Costelow did similar in his only start under Tandy, coincidentally against Scotland in this year’s Six Nations, as the fly-half drove Wales’ attack to great effect.
“They’ll definitely be a stronger side,” added Rees. “Having taken that hit of 47 points at home, they’re an emotional bunch.
“Scotland were good, the speed of ball. Nearly all their tries were scored outside the 15-metre lines, all from a linebreak on the previous phase outside the 15-metre lines.
“So they played. As soon as you start stressing a narrow defence line, you start picking things off your mismatches.
“Wales need to play. That’s why Sam Costelow might be a little better for this game. Staying in structure for longer, with a more effective kicking game. Scotland got tempo into the game.”
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