Wales’ horror start to the Steve Tandy era has gone from bad to worse.
Captain Jac Morgan is expected to miss the rest of the November internationals after dislocating his shoulder in Sunday’s 52-28 defeat to Argentina in Cardiff.
The British & Irish Lions flanker suffered the injury while scoring Wales’ third try and watched the closing minutes from the bench with his arm in a sling – a painful image for a side already reeling from their record home loss to the Pumas.
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Coach Steve Tandy admitted post-match that the news was grim.
“It’s probably a dislocated shoulder, so it’s not looking good for Jac and the rest of the autumn,” Tandy said. “He’s a world-class player, he’s huge for us and we know how much he loves playing for Wales and how he leads the team. It is a massive blow, but ultimately it’s someone else’s opportunity.”
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With Morgan sidelined, former skipper Dewi Lake will take over the captaincy for the remainder of the November campaign, which includes Tests against Japan, New Zealand and the world champions Springboks.
Despite the heavy defeat – Wales’ 10th straight loss at home – Tandy insisted there were encouraging signs.
“The day ended in disappointment, but there’s lots to like around the group,” he said. “To score four tries is really positive, and we left a couple out there. There’s disappointment as well to concede 50 points and a couple of those tries are probably avoidable.”
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Wales were blown away early as Argentina raced to a 14-0 lead, and though the hosts hit back to level the scores, yellow cards to Ben Thomas and Tomos Williams either side of half time killed their momentum.
Thomas was fortunate to escape a red after lashing out at Pablo Matera, but the Pumas capitalised to seize control and never looked back.
“There’s not a real angle from what I’ve seen that is conclusive to what it is,” Tandy said. “There’s lots going on, but if it is lashing out, you can’t do that in a game.”
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Opposite number Felipe Contepomi hailed his side’s record-breaking win – Argentina’s biggest ever over Wales – as proof of their growing maturity.
“You could see Wales is a new team, but they had very good things,” Contepomi said. “We were a bit more mature, more cohesive because we’ve been playing together for longer.”
– AFP
Photo: David Rogers/Getty Images
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