Argentina won a tight 13-10 victory over Wales on day three of the IRB Under 21 World Championship to give themselves every chance of making the semi finals.

Wales defended heroically throughout but were unable to break through against the aggressive Pumas rearguard.

In the oppressive heat and humidity the match got off to the fieriest of starts and, within minutes, Wales' Rhys Gill and Argentina's Pedro Lesdesma and Matias Fernandez Gill were yellow carded. For the Pumas the sanction was crueler still in that Aled Thomas' penalty put the Welsh 3-0 ahead.

Despite being outnumbered, though, the South Americans fought back and levelled through the boot of Santiago Fernandez and then, with both sides back to their full compliment, the Argentineans scored the first try through Agustín Creevy for an 8-3 half time lead.

The second half brought more pressure from the brutish Puma scrum and, with Wales' Craig Mitchell sin-binned, they were awarded a penalty try to put them further ahead and spark a period of concerted pressure in which the game rarely moved outside the Welsh 22.

Argentina spurned many try-scoring opportunities and when Gonzalo Alvarez crossed with four minutes remaining, the victory was assured but the all important bonus point remained elusive. It was Wales, in fact, who scored last, Rhys Shellard's try reducing the deficit to just three points.

Quotes

James Connors, Wales: It was a big match. The Argentineans are very strong in the pack and they played to that. We made some stupid mistakes and were on the wrong end of a few decisions but we missed the final touches to bring the try.

Dai Rees, Wales assistant coach: Unfortunately we've lost a very intense match and in this tournament we've lost two tight matches (France and Argentina). The players have fronted up against the best in the world and that's great for them. 14 of them had never played at this level so over the next few years it'll be better.

Federico Amelong, Argentina player: We came here to win and the forwards showed their superiority. We owe the win to them, but we came for five points.

Marcelo Ambroggio, manager: I'm disappointed as we did all we thought we could. But two wins is positive and the players can take great credit. Argentina's goal is to match the big teams.

From: http://www.irbu21.com/EN/News/match_14.htm