​Wales have arrived in Argentina to continue nearly six decades of history, traveling to face the Pumas on their home turf. This tour marks eight years since Wales last visited South America, yet it will be a brief stopover with one Nations Championship match in San Juan before Steve Tandy’s squad heads on to Durban to take on South Africa.
The trip to Argentina represents a travel distance of about 7,000 miles, and Wales have never before journeyed so far for a single game on these shores, arriving on two separate flights. In the past, Wales visits to Buenos Aires and beyond have been punctuated by dramas and incidents, and BBC Sport Wales traces the rich, sometimes turbulent, history of the Pumas hosting the Welsh side.
It has been 58 years since Wales first toured South America, when the Pumas stunned the visitors by winning the series — with one victory and a draw — in a six-match tour led by Clive Rowlands. That trip included three wins, two draws and a single defeat. For Phil Bennett and JPR Williams, it marked the start of storied Wales careers; for others, 1968 would be the only opportunity to wear the Welsh jersey. At the time, those two matches were not official tests by the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU), though they were later granted Test status in 2013 when seven players were awarded president’s caps.
Wales were captained by Rob Howley on the successful 1999 Argentina tour. It would be 31 years before Wales returned to South America. Under Graham Henry, Wales achieved a remarkable milestone as the first northern hemisphere side to win a 2-0 Test series in Argentina. Both Tests were played in Buenos Aires, with Wales taking the series-clinching second win 23-16, after a 36-26 victory in the first Test. These two results formed part of a 10-match winning streak under Henry. Notably, Neil Jenkins kicked 18 points in the second Test, pushing his international points total beyond 800.
That tour is also remembered for one of Welsh rugby’s most infamous melees: the punch-up that began on the pitch and spilled into the dugout after Argentine prop Mauricio Reggiardo struck Wales wing Dafydd James. Players from both teams joined in the melee, with Reggiardo, Argentine captain Pedro Sporleder, and Wales prop Peter Rogers all shown yellow cards, and, remarkably, no one sent off.
The animosity between the two nations carried into the 1999 World Cup opening game in Cardiff, when Wales hooker Garin Jenkins was subjected to an eye gouge, and flanker Colin Charvis received a two-match ban following a retaliation. Shane Williams would later become a Welsh rugby icon, scoring 58 tries in 87 internationals.
There is a sense of déjà vu in the current period, as the 2004 tour bears similarities to Wales’ present circumstances: both trips feature fixtures against Argentina and South Africa within a single tour. In June, Mike Ruddock took charge of his first Wales tour, beginning a new chapter in Welsh rugby history.