Wales boss Tandy expects Rees-Zammit to make bench impact against the Pumas / Photo: CHRISTOPHE SIMON - AFP/File
Wales boss Tandy expects Rees-Zammit to make bench impact against the Pumas
Steve Tandy heads into his first game as Wales coach confident he has done the right thing by recalling Louis Rees-Zammit to a replacement role rather than throwing the wing straight into the starting side for Sunday's clash with Argentina in Cardiff.
Rees-Zammit has been nursing a toe injury since being injured in his third game for English Prem side Bristol following an 18-month spell in American football at the Kansas City Chiefs and the Jacksonville Jaguars that ended without him featuring in a senior NFL game.
The 24-year-old last played for Wales at the 2023 Rugby World Cup but could now come off the bench in an Autumn Nations Series opener against the Pumas at the Principality Stadium.
"There's always a temptation to start someone like Zammo, but we've got to do what's right by him and the group," said Tandy.
"Zammo's probably played two games in total since he's come back and then he's had an injury. It's his first full training week, which has been awesome.
"He's been doing some running and he's been ticking the boxes in lots of the physical aspects, but then you've got (wings) Tommy (Rogers) and Jadzi (Josh Adams) who've trained really well. We've got two boys who are match fit and will give us something.
"Bringing Zammo off the bench does add a massive opportunity to add impact to the game."
Tandy has made seven changes from the side which ended Wales' record run of 18 consecutive Test defeats in Japan in July.
Wales have slipped to 12th in the world rankings ahead of a November programme that also includes fixtures against Japan, New Zealand and world champions South Africa.
- 'Big boys' -
Argentina, sixth in the global standings, are renowned for their forward strength but also boast an increasingly dynamic back division.
The Pumas recorded wins over Australia and New Zealand during the recent Rugby Championship, and lost to eventual southern hemisphere champions South Africa by only two points in the final game at Twickenham last month.
"There's some big boys out there," Tandy said of Argentina's pack. "We can't change our physical attributes but we have got some big aggressive boys as well."
Sunday's match sees Tandy returning to the scene, nearly 40 years ago, of his stint as a ball boy for club side Tonmawr.
Tandy's father Peter was Tonmawr coach at the old National Stadium in 1986 when the village team -- some four miles east of Neath -- beat Cardiff side CIACS to win the Welsh Brewers Cup, a competition featuring the smaller district clubs in Wales.
It was a key staging post in a rugby journey that saw Tandy play as a flanker for Neath and the Ospreys before coaching stints in Australia, Scotland and Wales.
"I was the ball boy (in the Cardiff final), my dad was the coach, and it was Tonmawr's invincible season," Tandy recalled.
And while Tandy never won a Wales cap, his early experiences of being coached to be "energised and enjoy my rugby" have informed his career.
"When the boys go out there on Sunday, I want them to play with a little bit of freedom and not worry about every mistake," he said. "I'd rather them worry about what they can do."
E.Bauer--SbgTB
