Blame lies with Wales, says Jenkins, after loss

Wales’ 26-12 defeat was their heaviest home loss for three years and biggest reversal anywhere since subsiding to France in Paris 22 Test matches ago.

It also left their hopes of securing a top-four seeding at the 2015 World Cup in tatters.

With next month’s tiered draw being based on global rankings, Wales might even find themselves outside the top eight by early December given that their next three opponents are Samoa, New Zealand and Australia.

Life is not about to get any easier for last year’s World Cup semi-finalists in terms of their autumn fixture list, while key players Jamie Roberts and Alun-Wyn Jones have now joined a pre-Pumas injury list that included Adam Jones, Dan Lydiate, Jonathan Davies and Ryan Jones.

While centre Davies and back-row forward Ryan Jones could be back in the mix for Friday’s Millennium Stadium appointment with Samoa, it looks likely that Roberts (concussion) and Jones (shoulder) will struggle to play Test rugby again this year.

The combined effect of those first half departures contributed considerably towards Wales seeing a 9-6 interval advantage disintegrate as Argentina recorded only a second victory over Wales in Cardiff – 11 years to the day after their first.

“We just didn’t play in the right areas,” said 91 times-capped prop Jenkins, after tries during six second half minutes by Argentina wings Juan Imhoff and Gonzalo Camacho stunned Wales.

“We didn’t really look like scoring at some points of the game. It’s back to the drawing board. Argentina came with a game-plan to kick a lot and be very physical, but we played into their hands, really. We tried to play too much rugby inside our own territory, and I don’t know whether it tired us out in the last 25 or 30 minutes.”