By Paul Jones
Wayne Pivac has insisted the party is not over for Alun Wyn Jones after denying him the chance to win a 167th Test cap.
The Wales had coach has played down the absence of world record cap-holder Jones from Saturday’s Autumn Nations Series clash with Argentina.
The 37-year-old lock and former Wales skipper has not been included by Pivac in the matchday 23.
Given that Jones is fully fit, it is a rare event for him to miss out during a stellar 16-year career that has delivered 154 Wales caps and 12 British and Irish Lions Test match appearances.
Ben Carter will provide bench cover for starting locks Will Rowlands and Adam Beard as Pivac continues assessing his options ahead of next year’s World Cup.
Asked how Jones had reacted, Pivac said: “He has been exceptional, he has trained the house down, which is what you want.
“He is a leader, and the leadership group has been running the opposition (in training) and running it very, very well.
“We had a lot of live stuff in training today and on Tuesday, and he was at the forefront of it putting pressure on the boys, which is exactly what we need.
“We are preparing for a very good Argentina side who are going to be very physical, so we needed that, and Al has delivered it very, very well.
“He still very much understands the importance of every role. Al was very good in the contact (against New Zealand last weekend).
“From our point of view, we know everything we need to know about Al, and it is an opportunity to get some more experience for a guy like Ben Carter.
“It is all-round form and what the guys are doing in training and what they can deliver.
“When we get to the World Cup, we have got to make sure we have got the best four second-rows and the ability to start if we have an injury.”
Wales take on Argentina just seven days after losing 55-23 to New Zealand, which saw them fail to build on an impressive Test series in South Africa this summer.
Pivac added: “For South Africa, we had a month with the players and they were operating at the levels we operate at international level and they were ready to go.
“When you get them for two weeks, after what they’ve come off, it is very hard.
“You will probably see in another couple of weeks’ time, which is a month together, that we will probably be playing better rugby I would expect at the back end of this competition, rather than the start.
EICH TÎM CHI 🏴
Tîm Wayne Pivac i wynebu’r Ariannin dydd Sadwrn 🏉
Lydiate returns with Rees-Zammit moving to full back. 👊
🏴 v 🇦🇷
📺 Uchafbwyntiau ar @S4C pic.twitter.com/KZbUsWB1f9— S4C Rygbi (@S4CRygbi) November 10, 2022
“That is just the reality of what it is, and we have to make sure, leading into the Ireland game in the Six Nations that somehow we’ve got to get these players in better condition.”
Wales slipped to a 55-23 defeat to New Zealand in the opening test of the Autumn Nations Series and face just as difficult a challenge against the Pumas this weekend. Pivac has identified Wales’ work off the ball as a key area to improve if they want to come out on top at the Principality Stadium this Saturday.
“We’ve been a lot more physical this week,” said the Wales head coach. “We want to be very physical up-front.
“That was Tuesday and again today, so we’ve got to make sure that we are ready for what’s coming. 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.”
Wales are full of respect for Argentina who beat England at Twickenham last Sunday, while the Pumas also emerged victorious against the All Blacks and Australia in the recent Rugby Championship. And Pivac admits they will have to take their game to another level if they are to get the better of Michael Cheika’s side.
#LosPumas 🏉🐆 LOS PUMAS REPITEN EQUIPO PARA VISITAR A GALES
Michael Cheika 🧠 eligió a los mismos 2⃣3⃣ jugadores que vencieron a Inglaterra 🏴 el domingo pasado.
📷 @lospumas pic.twitter.com/aDfsjj1SSY
— Rugby Champagne (@rugbych) November 10, 2022
“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,” said Pivac.
“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.”
Pivac has reshuffled his back-line after the defeat to New Zealand with Gloucester speedster Louis Rees-Zammit moving from the wing to full-back while the experienced Alex Cuthbert will make his first start of the season after recovering from injury.
Gareth Anscombe replaces Rhys Priestland in the number 10 shirt while up-front Dillon Lewis has got the nod to start at tight-head prop.
Dan Lydiate has been handed the number six shirt with captain Justin Tipuric shifting back to his usual position of openside flanker.
“Last week we had the late withdrawal of Leigh Halfpenny,” said Pivac. “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.”