Argentina bounced back from their opening defeat to Scotland with a commanding 35-21 victory over Wales in the Nations Championship in San Juan. The Pumas scored five tries, with number eight Joaquin Oviedo crossing the line twice.
Centre Justo Piccardo, flanker Marcos Kremer, and full-back Santiago Carreras also touched down for the home side, while fly-half Tomas Albornoz added 10 points with the boot.
Wales started brightly, with captain Dewi Lake opening the scoring from a rolling maul. However, Argentina responded quickly with a flowing move that set the tone for the rest of the match. Rhys Carre and Ben Warren scored tries for Wales in the final quarter as the tourists rallied, but it was too little too late.
Flanker Jac Morgan impressed for Wales, but the result was a reality check after back-to-back Test victories over Italy and Fiji. Head coach Steve Tandy's side now face a daunting trip to South Africa to take on the world champions next Saturday, while Argentina host England.
The match was played in front of a sparse crowd at the 25,000-capacity stadium, with only around 16,000 in attendance. Wales made three changes to their starting lineup, with Louis Rees-Zammit on the bench and Ellis Mee starting on the wing.
Argentina struggled with discipline, conceding several penalties, but their attacking flair proved too much for Wales to handle. The Pumas will take confidence from this performance as they look to build on their Nations Championship campaign.