Argentina captain Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe believes playing in the inaugural Rugby Championship will help his side against Wales in Cardiff on Saturday.
The Pumas may have finished bottom of the table in that tournament but they were competitive throughout, with their best results being a draw with South Africa in Mendoza and a narrow loss to Australia on the Gold Coast.
"I think it's been a great experience," said Fernandez Lobbe.
"To play these games against such high quality opposition has been very good for us.
"There's a few key players missing but we are a big squad. Everyone has been working hard and I'm fully confident the 22 boys will give everything tomorrow.
"Wales are a really good team. They are trying to play a quick style of rugby, more intense and physical so it's going to be very, very intense."
Fernandez Lobbe will win his 50th cap this weekend and he believes if his side want to gain anything from the match, they must enjoy the experience of playing at the Millennium Stadium.
"It's never easy to play at the Millennium Stadium, it's going to be very tough but the only thing we can control is ourselves," said the number eight.
"The opportunity to play here is not to be underestimated. It's a lovely stadium in which to play.
"Hopefully we can play our rugby and take the initiative and control the game. The conditions will be perfect so we'll see how we go."
Although Wales have lost experienced loose forwards Dan Lydiate and Ryan Jones to injury Fernandez Lobbe is preparing for a tough forward battle.
"The Wales back-row is always the same, always very physical," he added.
"In the games we have watched of (Ross) Turnbull (Lydiate's replacement) we have seen he's very physical so it's going to be a very tough challenge.
"Wales are trying to play as quick a game as possible, similar to Australia and New Zealand so it's going to be very, very hard."
Comments
side_stepper says...
23, not 22..
Posted 00:42 11th November 2012