The ground in the provincial city in northern Argentina has won a dubious reputation for having some of the most intimidating fans in world rugby.

And while publicly playing down the intense atmosphere, privately Wales' young side have been left under no illusions as to what awaits them.

Cardiff Blues star Rhys Williams epitomised the sense of public denial put up by the Wales camp, refusing to believe Tucuman will be more challenging than Lansdowne Road.

Williams said: "As we have heard, by reputation Tucuman is a pretty tough place to play. Colin Charvis and Gareth Llewellyn have spoken about it - there are cages around the pitch, fireworks and flares going off.

"But that is the good thing about touring really, that we go to places such as this and it all adds to our experience. I'm sure that as a full-back it can't be any worse than Lansdowne Road, which is a renowned graveyard for full-backs.

"We are just looking forward to it and hopefully in a few years we'll be able to look back with fond memories."

Llewellyn, who figured in a provincial match at Tucuman on Wales' historic 2-0 Test victory tour of 1999, has also been diplomatic in his assessment of what to expect from local fans who will be kept from the players by the sort of fencing that has been long banned in the United Kingdom.

Llewellyn, making a record 88th appearance at the age of 35, said: "Tucuman is very different. It won't be the biggest crowd for the guys to have played in front of, but they really get behind their team and every single person in the ground will want to make themselves heard.

"They are like what I would call a soccer crowd back home. Soccer crowds tend to be more vocal as play is going on whereas rugby crowds tend to be more noisy after a referee has stopped for any reason.

"They are very noisy and it's continuous. There'll be flares going off and the rest of it. The last time I played there the fans had laser-dot pens that were being directed at the players during the game.