Sam Warburton has admitted Wales are scrambling for a World Cup seeding spot – just as they were before the last tournament.
He also acknowledges the chances of Wales making the top four of rugby’s world rankings may have been trampled into the dust by the Wallabies.
The Wales flanker – back for Saturday’s Test against Argentina but not as captain – recognises his team are on the slide at just the wrong time.
Four years ago, Wales slipped out of the top eight in the official World Rugby ratings which meant they were denied a seeding spot at the 2015 World Cup.
They began this autumn series in fifth spot, but have slipped to seventh after last week’s 32-8 humbling by Australia and another defeat to the Pumas could see them drop further ahead of the allocation of seeding spots for the 2019 World Cup at the start of next year.
“World rankings is a big motivation,” said Warburton, who returns on Saturday at blindside flanker, but with Gethin Jenkins retaining the captaincy.
“We fell out of the top eight back in 2013, just before the pool draw for the World Cup, and we ended up in a really tough pool, so we want to make sure that doesn’t happen again.
“Ideally we would be chasing a place in the top four but I don’t know how realistic that is after last week. But we certainly want to finish as high as possible ahead of the draw (for Japan 2019).”
Argentina ended a run of four successive defeats with a comfortable 54-20 win over Japan in Tokyo last week.
In the process, the Pumas overtook Wales the global standings, moving up to sixth place from ninth position.
Wales continued their slide since finishing second in the Six Nations as their losing run worsened with a thumping defeat by Australia last week their fifth loss in a row.
British and Irish Lions centre Jamie Roberts was the highest profile casualty of six changes made by interim Wales coach Rob Howley.
Scott Williams, a try-scorer last week, is preferred as midfield partner to Jonathan Davies who is one of three Lions back in the side.
Veteran lock Alun Wyn Jones plays for the first time since the death of his father, while Warburton came through his return to match fitness with club side Cardiff Blues last week.
Justin Tipuric remains at openside while Jenkins retains the armband on a day when he will become the most-capped prop in world rugby, playing his 133rd Test for Wales and the Lions.
“It’s something I will acknowledge after Saturday but this week is not about me, it’s about the team delivering a performance we can be proud of because all the players are hurting after last week,” said the 35-year-old Jenkins.
Argentina have made three changes from their victory over Japan, with centre Juan Martin Hernandez, wing Ramiro Moyano and back-row Pablo Matera replacing Jeronimo de la Fuente, Santiago Cordero and Tomas Lezana respectively.
Pumas coach Daniel Hourcade fears a Welsh backlash having been in charge for the last meeting between the teams when Argentina were beaten 40-6 in Cardiff three years ago.
“We are really motivated to face a hard team that have a lot of pressure after a bad game last week,” he said.
“It’s not the best time to play them. We would prefer to face a Welsh team in a better moment, not after a thrashing.
“It was a tough day last time we played them. After that tour, we started as a new team and we’ve seen a huge development in the players since then.”
World Rugby rankings
| POSITION | TEAMS | POINTS | |||
| 1 | ·
· (1) |
·
· NEW ZEALAND |
94.57 | ||
| 2 | ·
· (2) |
·
· ENGLAND |
89.49 | ||
| 3 | ·
· (3) |
·
· AUSTRALIA |
86.86 | ||
| 4 | ·
· (4) |
·
· SOUTH AFRICA |
84.85 | ||
| 5 | ·
· (6) |
·
· IRELAND |
83.67 | ||
| 6 | ·
· (9) |
·
· ARGENTINA |
81.46 | ||
| 7 | ·
· (5) |
·
· WALES |
80.97 | ||
| 8 | ·
· (7) |
·
· FRANCE |
80.75 | ||
| 9 | ·
· (8) |
·
· SCOTLAND |
80.44 | ||
| 10 | ·
· (10) |
·
· FIJI |
75.49 |