‘Dangerous’ Wales hope to ride momentum past Argentina into World Cup semis

MARSEILLE – Wales take to the field on Saturday with a place in the World Cup semi-finals at stake, a position few thought Warren Gatland’s side would be in after a year of turmoil.

Welsh rugby was in disarray when Gatland was hired for a second time late in 2022, as uncertainty over a deal between the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) and its regional clubs left players worrying about their futures.

A sexism and racism scandal saw WRU chairman Steve Phillips resign, while the players threatened to go on strike ahead of their Six Nations match against England.

Stalwarts such as Alun Wyn Jones, Justin Tipuric, Ken Owens and Rhys Webb also all retired just months before the World Cup.

Gatland, who led Wales to three Six Nations Grand Slams and two World Cup semi-finals (2011, 2019) in his first tenure, said he revelled in handling tournament teams that felt like clubs.

“I have always spoken about how much I have enjoyed the World Cups because of preparation,” he said ahead of the quarter-final clash against Argentina.

“It’s the only time you get to feel you are a club side in terms of getting our details done and having an off season and feeling like you can make a huge amount of progress.

“That has helped us in the past and we have done pretty well at World Cups and we have tended to do well in Six Nations following World Cups as well.”

Gatland said some coaches would joke, “What is going to happen today? What is going to be the next thing that is thrown at us?”, during the challenges over the last 12 months.

“I think there has definitely been a line in the sand that has been drawn under that and if we can make the semi-finals, it would be a huge achievement for this group of players and the coaches who have done a great job,” he said of the Stade de Marseille match.

“I know there are some people in some teams out there who won’t want to face a Wales team when we start playing with confidence and start having momentum.

“That is when we are at our most dangerous and we are starting to look that way at the moment.”

The Pumas are seeking a third appearance in the semi-finals, having made the last four at the 2007 and 2015 tournaments.

Coach Michael Cheika, who guided Australia to the 2015 final, said: “Wales are favourites and that’s pretty clearly obvious, everyone’s made that point to us bar our Argentinian supporters.

“We know that we’re going to have to do something different, something special around the game so that we can be competitive with them, but I’m a huge believer in the team.

“I think they’ll really enjoy Saturday and from the work we’ve done I feel like they’ll feel like they’re ready.” AFP