Wales cruised to a convincing 33-16 victory against Argentina at the Millennium Stadium here on Saturday.

The Dragons touched down in either half through Stephen Jones and two tries from IRB World Player of the Year Shane Williams.

While Jones capitalised on naive defending in the first half from the Pumas to dive over in the right corner on the way to his 17-point tally.

Fly-half Jones added a further three conversions and two penalties in a polished display as Warren Gatland's men clinched their second autumn victory in three Tests.

Then Williams sealed the win, scoring his 47th try for Wales inside 19 seconds of the second period and increased his tally to 48 scores with 15 minutes remaining.

Argentina, who finished third at the last World Cup, had won four out of last six meetings and saw Martin Rodriguez score all their points including a 60th minute try.

Wales handed Jonathan Davies his first home start and had the chance to open the scoring after two minutes but wing Leigh Halfpenny dragged his long-range penalty attempt to the left of the posts.

Dragons coach Warren Gatland had dismissed the threat of the Pumas scrum in the build-up to the Test in Cardiff.

But the Kiwi saw his pack lose the opening contest when the visitors were awarded a free-kick by Ireland referee George Clancy. Jones handed Wales the lead on nine minutes with a close-range penalty but Argentina showed they were not to back down easily as Stade Francais tight-head prop Rodrigo Roncero squared up to veteran flanker Martyn Williams, who was winning his 90th cap.

From the resulting penalty, Jones was alert and the Scarlets number ten quick tap caught the South Americans napping, allowing the influential Lions fly-half to dive over in the right corner.

It was only Wales' third home try of 2009 but Jones converted with an excellent kick from the touchline to spark celebrations among the 53,082 crowd.

The hosts, who included centre Jonathan Davies for his first home start, dominated possession for large parts of a tight opening period but failed to break free on the scoreboard.

Argentina had the chance to gain a foothold in the match when Martin Rodriguez saw his first penalty crash against the left-hand upright but the Stade Francais centre made no mistake three minutes before the break.

Wales finished the half on the front foot after Jones notched his second penalty with the final kick of the half for a healthy 13-3 interval lead.

Then Williams lit up the contest after neat work by giant lock Luke Charteris. The Newport Gwent Dragons giant charged down Augustin Figuerola's kick and the pint-sized wing did the rest.

Jones converted before Rodriguez cut the deficit for Argentina with a penalty two minutes later.

Wales increased their margin when Halfpenny hammered home a long-range three-pointer but the visitors were back in the game when Rodriguez charged down Davies' kick to saunter home on the hour mark. But Williams had the final say with a trademark finish from his own half to seal victory for Wales.

AFP

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