Wayne Pivac has named his team to face Argentina as he looks to bounce back from a heavy defeat to the All Blacks.
The Wales coach has made three personnel changes and three positional changes as he looks to right the wrongs of the autumn opener.
Here's everything he had to say:
Can you talk us through the reshuffled back-line?
Wayne Pivac: “Last week we had the late withdrawal of Leigh Halfpenny. We trained with Gareth and Rhys covering that through the training session so that was the obvious way to go because of the training time they’d had there.
“This week Louis Rees-Zammit has been training at 15. It’s something we’ve been interested in looking at over time with a future in mind as well and a Rugby World Cup around the corner. With two established full-backs out we think it’s an opportunity in this series to have a look at him.”
It's a familiar back-row of Dan Lydiate, Justin Tipuric and Taulupe Faletau?
WP: “Yes, they mentioned that as well a couple of times. They are excited.
“There are a lot of Test matches which have been played between those combinations, and a lot of experience there. It’s unfortunate for Tommy Reffell that he picked up a rib injury but certainly they are looking forward to getting out there and in a way righting some of the wrongs of last week because they weren’t entirely happy with the performance.”
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Why has the change been made at tight-head prop?
WP: “Again in a few positions we are looking at four games, four Test matches, where we’ve learnt a little bit from the third Test in South Africa. We are making sure we’ve got fit and firing players across all positions over the four Test matches. We want to mix and match as well as taking into account little niggles that occur in training and matches.”
What's the reason behind Alun Wyn Jones' absence?
WP: “It’s an opportunity for us before the Six Nations and then it’s into the World Cup. It’s really the last opportunity to give guys like Ben Carter and guys who have been on the fringes for a while more opportunity. If they are called upon in the Six Nations and Rugby World Cup they need to be exposed to this sort of Test match and we think now is the time to give Ben another opportunity.”
Have you spoken to Alun Wyn Jones after the comments on his future?
WP: “We speak to all of the players on a regular basis. We set goals for all competitions and for the season. Al is no different and we have regular conversations. Each player will be reviewed at the end of this competition and we’ll talk about work-ons going forward. We’ve got a great relationship and it’s around just being upfront with each other and we’ll continue to have those conversations.”
Has he said he wants to make it to the World Cup?
WP: “It’s a goal for everybody in Wales I think to try to make the World Cup and Al is no different. Each player, as I say, will have little steps they want to take between competitions with their clubs. That information will be shared at the end of this competition.”
Is this a selection with one eye on the World Cup?
WP: “Yeah, very much an opportunity to sort of tinker with things but we don’t want to stray too much. You’ll see the spine of the team is similar to last week. There have been a few changes but not too many and there will be the occasional change throughout the remaining two matches.”
There's a lot of old heads in this squad - can they all make it to the World Cup next year?
WP: “That’s why we want these questions answered. Everybody in the squad is working very very hard. They know that most of them probably won’t play all four games so it’s a matter of making sure that opportunities that do arise that the boys are in good condition and they put their best foot forward.”
How much pressure is there on you to get a good result after that New Zealand defeat?
WP: “Clearly as a group we want to get a result every Test match. At 22-16 and 29-23 after giving them a 17-point head start I thought we’d done well to work our way back into that game. It’s about being clinical and that you stay in the arm wrestle a bit longer than we did. Obviously, we had a couple of exits we didn’t execute which put us back under pressure.
“In doing so we released pressure on New Zealand. It’s more around our defensive work in our 22. We’ve spoken about that because it really wasn’t up to Test match standard. The boys know that and hopefully with another week in camp we’ll be a lot better for that performance.”
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How concerned are you with Argentina's win over England?
WP: “Look we talked about Argentina when we played them a couple of summers ago. They’ve come off Rugby Championship wins over New Zealand and Australia and if you look at the last 18 months they’ve knocked off a lot of good teams and England have just been added to that list.
“We’ve got total respect for the Argentinians. They are a very big side, very physical and you know what they are doing now behind that forward pack is starting to pay dividends. They are scoring some good tries. They are going to be a handful, we know that, and we need to improve immensely from last week. It’s amazing what you can do in a week.”
What have you been doing to sort out your defence?
WP: “We’ve been a lot more physical this week. Very physical up-front. That was Tuesday and again today [Thursday] so we’ve got to make sure that we are ready for what’s coming.”
Is Christ Tshiunza injured?
WP: “Yes he is.”
Was Tomas Francis fit for selection?
WP: “He’s fit. He did take a knock in the game. He’s had reduced training this week so that was a factor.”
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