In their first game Wales suffered a frustrating 5-7 loss to Argentina in the quarter final of the Cup, and, suggested assistant coach ,Richard Hodges, the players may have dwelt too long on the defeat.
“We had quite a few regrets about that game and that probably carried them through into the South Africa match” he said.
Both Wales and Argentina were determined to improve on their showing last weekend in the Gold Coast Sevens and inevitably a tight and tense match ensued with defences dominating.
Wales’ dynamic start produced an unconverted try by Owen B Williams after only a minute of play but thereafter Welsh flair was snuffed out by a Puma seven that was solid in defence and which competed unrelentingly at the contact area, their reward coming just second from the end when Antonio De Chazal finished off a clever move with a try.
But it was the conversion success by Joaquin Diaz Bonilla that provided the Pumas with their victory.
“We woke up this morning and knew we had a fantastic opportunity, but so did Argentina. We just blew it in the first half against Argentina. Try scoring opportunities were just one pass away from becoming points. They scored with the last play of the game” observed Hodges.
Against South Africa Wales came up against a side, which had beaten New Zealand in the pool stage but which was still smarting from its shock defeat by France in the Cup quarter finals.
South Africa dominated possession and led 12-0 at the break. Two more South African tries followed in the second half for a 22-0 but in the final minute Wales achieved a consolation score a try by Owen B Williams and the conversion by Rhys Patchel to make the final score 22-7.
“We didn’t really react to the picture they were painting and it is bviously very difficult with seven newcomers in the squad” reflected Hodge, adding: “The first day was outstanding. In two weeks we’ve not lost a single pool game. And the way they played last night with seven new boys in the squad was a real positive.
“Over the two weekends we’ve got to be massively proud of what we’ve achieved. To put seven youngsters into the squad and take 23 Series points from the first two legs is probably a lot more than we would have expected”.
Wales now travel to South Africa for the third leg of the HSBC World Series in Port Elizabeth.
