Shane Williams rediscovered his scoring touch © Getty Images

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Warren Gatland appears to be missing a few pieces from his Welsh jigsaw.

He's got a brawny second-row, mercurial openside, intelligent fly-half and for the first time this season a prolific winger. He's missing the pieces that link all this together, with Wales' victory over Argentina reinforcing the fear that they are a side retreating away from the precise, guileful gameplan that brought a Six Nations Grand Slam in 2008.

The playing personnel is largely the same but where they were patient and creative a year ago, they're flighty and error-riddled now. Every time they threatened to break the Pumas a timely error was on hand to save the visitors, who were resolute in defence and possessed the best player on the pitch in the fiercely committed and prodigiously talented No.8 Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe.

Nevertheless, there are several big positives for Wales ahead of their meeting with Australia next weekend, three of them coming in the form of fly-half Stephen Jones, openside Martyn Williams and wing Shane Williams. A welcome sight for all Wales fans will have been reigning IRB World Player of the Year Williams ripping through Argentina from the half-way line to score his second try, his first two scores at home this season.

Williams has been brought down by the recent regression into a protracted game of ping-pong and as one of the sport's remaining free spirits it was refreshing to see him looking to exploit mistakes with ball in hand.

Martyn Williams, in his 90th Wales Test, brought subtlety and invention to the back-row where Andy Powell also put in a bruising shift. Jones scored a superb opportunist try and was unfortunately always a step ahead of his centres in the thinking stakes, his aggressive stance at first receiver going to waste with some pedestrian work in midfield.

These players will need to hit their straps against the Wallabies and will hopefully benefit from better service. Cardiff scrum-half Gareth Cooper endured one of his worst outings in recent memory, with looping passes mixed in with a reluctance to get his hands dirty when rucks went bad. The Welsh effort in the closing stages was improved hugely by Dwayne Peel's willingness to assess his options and his first sniping break was welcomed by a roar from the home fans. He must start in harness with his old Scarlets team-mate next weekend.

In recent years Wales have had a lineout that more resembled the board game Buckaroo than a well-oiled machine but at the Millennium Stadium there was a clarity between Matthew Rees and the second-row of Luke Charteris and Alun-Wyn Jones. Any off the top ball was wasted by more muddled thinking tough and their dominance of the set-piece never translated in to attacking opportunities.

Wales' error-filled efforts going forward were not helped by the negativity of the Pumas, who kicked a massive amount of possession away. Safety-first became the attitude after a bright opening from the home side and the crowd was understandably nonplussed. Their style did highlight a lack of Welsh prowess under the high-ball, with Argentina's very effective chase causing problems at a number of junctures.

Fernandez Lobbe was a titan for the Pumas and can reflect on an immature but worthwhile performance from his side. Shorn of the experience of Felipe Contepomi and the mercurial swagger of Juan Martin Hernandez they were lost in the backs and an ill-disciplined performance from a few old-stagers, including Rodrigo Roncero and Mario Ledesma, let Wales get a foothold at the set-piece.

His side face another team in transition, Andy Robinson's Scotland, next weekend and will keenly want to finish this tour with a victory, as well as several new players blooded in to their continuing battle to ascend to the upper echelons of the sport again.