Argentina vs Wales Prediction: Welsh must be wary of wounded Pumas

Argentina will be looking for a response from their Nations Championship opening defeat to Scotland when they host Wales at the Estadio San Juan del Bicentenario on Saturday night (4:10pm local, 8:10pm BST, ITV4 & BBC iPlayer).

Below are my Argentina vs Wales predictions, as well as all the essential team news and match odds.

*Click here for the latest Rugby Union Odds

Argentina vs Wales Odds

Argentina are the heavy favourites at 1/10 to claim the victory in San Juan, while Wales are 6/1 to leave empty-handed.

A draw is available at odds of 33/1, while Wales to hold a surprising lead at the break is 10/3.

Team News

Starting with the hosts, Argentina have Boris Wenger, Julian Montoya and Tomas Rapetti in the front row, with second-rowers Guido Petti and Matias Alemanno in from the start.

Santiago Grondona, Marcos Kremer and Joaquin Oviedo form the back row, with Gonzalo Garcia and Tomas Albornoz the starting half-back pairing.

Justo Piccardo and Lucio Cinti combine in the centres, while the Pumas have a back three of Mateo Carreras, Bautista Delguy and Santiago Carreras.

As for Wales, Rhys Carre, Dewi Lake and Dillon Lewis start at the coalface, with locks Ben Carter and Adam Beard in behind.

Wales go with a back row of James Botham, Jac Morgan and Aaron Wainwright, with Tomos Williams and Sam Costelow combining in the half-backs.

Joe Hawkins and Eddie James start in the centres, while the visitors go with a back three of Josh Adams, Ellis Mee and Blair Murray.

Argentina -17 handicap @ 20/21

Wales produced a strong second-half performance to beat Fiji 39-24 in their opening game at Cardiff City Stadium but a much sterner test awaits in San Juan.

Argentina were undone by some impressive Scottish attack in their 47-38 defeat in Cordoba last weekend and they will be determined to improve their level without the ball on Saturday.

The returning trio of Kremer, Elias and Piccardo will provide a significant boost for the hosts, who are looking for a third consecutive win over Wales this weekend.

Los Pumas look capable of bouncing back from their defeat to the Scots and securing that win, while also covering the -17 handicap in the process.

Julian Montoya anytime tryscorer @ 21/20

Argentina typically like to dominate in the front five and they were not quite able to do that against Scotland.

Looking to go back to what has made them so strong, expect the hosts to have an emphasis on the set-piece and this is where skipper Montoya comes into play.

The Argentina hooker will be a major threat from lineouts near the Welsh line and the experienced front-rower is well priced at 21/20 in the anytime tryscorer market.