New scrum coach Paul James has challenged his pack to “back up” the good work from their victory over Fiji as they take on Argentina this Saturday.

Wales were dominant at scrum time last Saturday, with Rhys Carre and Dillon Lewis impressing from the start, while Nicky Smith and debutant Ben Warren continued to applied pressure after the break.

James is still relishing his elevation to full-time role within the Welsh set-up, having initially come in during the Six Nations.

“It’s been great, to be honest,” he said.

“I obviously had a little bit of a taste of it doing Six Nations, but to get the job on a full-time basis has been class.

“It’s been really good to be back in with the boys… I’m very proud. It’s nice to have that buzz of representing, just in a slightly different way.”

The Fiji game, the former Wales international believes, showed what Wales can do when the platform functions.

“The boys have worked hard over the last couple of weeks,” James added.

“The Fijians are big, powerful men, so to scrum the way we did, yeah, very happy. We stuck to the game plan, we had a good day set piece-wise, and that got us over the line in the end.”

There is also quiet satisfaction in the way new faces are taking their chance, particularly tighthead Ben Warren after his debut against Fiji.

“I’ve been fortunate to see Ben come through down at the Ospreys,” James reflected.

“He’s young, he brings lots of energy, and he’s scrummed really well in training. That’s why he had his opportunity last weekend, and I thought once he came on against Fiji he was class.

“He got go-forward on the tighthead side. So hopefully, if he gets an opportunity again, it’ll be good to see him back it up.”

Now comes Argentina, a country that has long treated the scrum as a statement of identity.

“They still pride themselves on set piece, so we know it’s going to be a big challenge coming,” James said. “Argentina are a proud team, so they’re going to be right up for this one on their home turf.”

Despite Wales facing something of a crisis at tighthead, with Archie Griffin and Keiron Assiratti both injured, and Tomas Francis rested, James is confident that the experience gained by the younger group in this campaign will galvanise the front row group.

“The boys are loving scrums at the moment,” he said.

“We’re in a good place. All the boys can’t wait for the challenge. We’re just looking forward now to the challenge come Saturday.”

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