Argentina will aim to gang up on Wales’s Louis Rees-Zammit in their World Cup quarter-final in Marseille, his opposite number Mateo Carreras said on Friday.
Rees-Zammit scored a hat-trick of tries in his last match against Georgia, taking his tournament tally to five.
The lightning-quick 22-year-old phenomenon has now scored 14 tries in 31 internationals.
Argentina have marked him out as the main dangerman and facing him will be 23-year-old wing Carreras, himself a hat-trick scorer in Argentina’s last match against Japan.
“He’s a good player, very quick, very strong, but more than a one-on-one battle it’s a battle of their attack against our defence,” said Carreras, who like Gloucester’s Rees-Zammit plys his club trade in England.
“Our defence is going really well, I’m confident with the No.13 (Lucio Cinti) inside me that we will be able to defend against him,” added the Newcastle Falcons flyer.
With veteran Dan Biggar returning to the starting line-up at fly-half, Argentina are expecting to be put under a lot of pressure with Wales’s kicking game on Saturday.
But assistant coach Felipe Contepomi insisted Wales have a lot more than just that to their game.
“Wales’s kicking game is only a part of the danger they pose,” said the former international fly-half.
“They also have a very good defence, they are very physical.
“Our plan is not so much about how to stop them but how to prevent them from stopping us. We’re more focused on ourselves.”
