The 45-27 defeat leaves Gareth Jenkins having to wait until at least November before he can register a first win in charge after his young dragons were mauled in the Pumas den.

London Irish centre Gonzalo Tiesi and Sale-bound flanker Juan Lobbe grabbed three tries between them but it was the 30 points from the boot of Beziers fly-half Federico Todeschini which really made it hard for the tourists.

Second-half efforts from Gareth Delve, Lee Byrne and Shane Williams could not disguise the fact the visitors were well and truly second best, having matched the hosts in the previous weeks opening Test.

Twenty-year-old James Hook forced his way into the Wales side at inside centre following a try from the bench in the first Test defeat in Puerto Madryn.

Todeschini quickly got on the scoreboard, slotting the games first score with a penalty on five minutes, Hook unable to reply when given the chance soon after.

The Pumas took full advantage of their early momentum when Ian Evans was sin-binned for slowing the ball down after 18 minutes.

Firstly Todeschini scored from the resulting penalty, before a Hook clearance four minutes later was charged down by Felipe Contepomi and Tiesi touched down to give the hosts a 13-point lead after the conversion.

Hook went some way to making up for his error when he gave the tourists their first points of the evening with his 28th minute penalty.

But Wales suffered further before the break, Todeschini kicking a third goal from the two chances given to make it 16-6 at the interval following a late Hook long-range effort.

It did not get much better for the visitors after the restart as Lobbe shot over the line after 42 minutes, escaping the tackle of Gavin Thomas for a clear run.

Todeschini converted as well as adding two more penalties to put the Pumas out of sight, grabbing his sixth goal on the hour mark following Hooks sin-binning for an illegal tackle on Juan Hernandez to complete a miserable night for the newcomer.

Replacement Delve did offer some hope as he dived in the corner after 63 minutes, the tricky conversion made by Nicky Robinson, but normal service was quickly resumed as more penalties from Todeschini kept the Pumas very much on top.

And excellent vision from full-back Hernandez made the space for Tiesis second try of the night with 10 minutes remaining, a further conversion and penalties taking the score to 45 points.

But tired legs allowed Williams to dance over from close range in injury time before a Byrne breakaway score, both converted by Hook, at least gave Wales something to crow about in the dying stages.