‘Pumas victory will make season worthwhile’ – Elliot Dee

David Skippers

Elliot Dee believes the grind of a gruelling season will all have been worthwhile if it ends with a Wales series victory this weekend.

The hooker’s arduous, pandemic-affected campaign reaches its conclusion on Saturday as Wales face Argentina in the second Test in Cardiff.

The two sides played out a hard-fought 20-20 draw in the first Test at the Principality Stadium last weekend.

Dee said: “There’s been a lot of hard work put in over the last five weeks and it’s been a long, tough season.

“We spoke about getting the win and capping it off. It has been tough but I’m sure a win would make it all worth it in the end. We want to get a result and get some reward for all the hard work over the last 12 months.

Looking for improvement

“There was definitely some frustration in the changing room last week. We knew we left a few points out there. It was a game we could have done a lot better in, a game we could have won.

“That’s something we’re focusing on this week, to not leave any points out there and put our best performance out on the field.”

Wales have been without a host of senior players due to British and Irish Lions call-ups.

Wayne Pivac’s inexperienced side showed great determination to battle back from behind to claim a draw in the first Test, although they did play most of the game against 14 men.

Dee, now back in the side after being dropped in the autumn, feels it has been a good test.

The 27-year-old said: “I am massively enjoying it, it’s nice to be out there starting. It’s nice to get out there and try to show what I can do.

“Argentina are a big old bunch and they run on a lot of emotion. We knew what we were going into and we’d have to match them physically, match their emotion or try to take their emotion away.

“It’s great to try to play against the best players in the world. That’s what you want to do, you want to test yourself. It’s just great being out there and I’m playing against world-class players.”

 

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Wales and Ireland in action and what's ahead

Mark Smith and Adam Kyriacou host the Planet Rugby Show.