Warren Gatland has told Wales to be at sixes and sevens over their back-row approach for Saturday’s Rugby World Cup quarter-final against Argentina.
Head coach Gatland has paired captain Jac Morgan and Tommy Reffell in his back-row unit, pitching two natural openside flankers in from the off.
But the Kiwi boss has insisted Morgan and Reffell will not operate as dual No 7s, instead demanding that the two split up the back-row jobs in the traditional fashion.
Wales must cope without Taulupe Faletau in the last-eight clash in Marseille, after the 32-year-old suffered a broken arm.
Gatland wants to see as few changes as possible in his side’s back-row set-up, despite the personnel switches.
“They are definitely going to be playing six and seven, so Jac is taking more of a role where Taulupe would have been from a lineout perspective,” said Gatland.
“I see them as a crossover from a defensive point of view from the scrum. Hopefully there are not too many changes.
“We want to get the ball in Jac’s hands, we know how good he is from a carrying perspective. He has been outstanding, his kicking game has been excellent as well.
“So, we are aware that we are probably down a bit in size, but with Christ Tshiunza being on the bench we have an extra lineout option there as well.”
Wales have been able to start the fit-again Dan Biggar at fly-half, a clear boost that offsets the continued injury absence of fellow playmaker Gareth Anscombe.
Argentina have lost their outstanding flanker Pablo Matera to injury, so Facundo Isa starts in the back-row.
The Pumas are yet to fire at this World Cup, but they came through in second place from England’s Pool D and, now that they are in the quarter-finals, boss Michael Cheika believes they will deliver.
Asked what gives him confidence that the Pumas can now produce their best match of the competition, Cheika replied: “It’s not as much the confidence from what we’re seeing in camp here, it’s about understanding the body of work that’s been going on for the 18 months to two years that I’ve been with the team.
“All those things that we’ve been working on in that time give us the feeling that we are ready for this game.
“We know Wales are favourites, and that’s pretty clearly obvious. So we know we’re going to have to do something different, something special, around the game to be competitive with them. But I’m a huge believer in our team.”
