Argentina 16 - 24 Scotland: Superb win over Pumas but job is only half done

The men in blue were the only team from the northern half of the globe to register a victory at the weekend and, even if they were up against the Pumas rather than the All Blacks, Scottish rugby isn't in such rude health that it can start being picky about which teams it beats. This was still a decent scalp to claim, especially on the road, since Argentina are ranked three places above Scotland, sitting sixth in the IRB table.

The Scots started the game looking like a pub XV with a host of early errors which seems to happen all too often as Allan Jacobsen admitted.

"To be honest it's something that we've been guilty of forever as a Scottish team. That's something we are looking to improve. I don't know if it was nerves, we just like to give other teams a bit of a helping hand."

The grateful Pumas took advantage of this disarray to score two tries in the opening half hour.

The first went to centre Gonzalo Tiesi who finished off a counter-attack from deep sparked by skipper Felipe Contepomi.

The other try came after several waves of attacks had been repulsed by the Scottish defence only for Contepomi again to show the breadth of his vision with a chip kick that found Horacio Agulla in space and the winger fed inside to Juan Manual Leguizamon for a try.

Contepomi added a first-half penalty but the Pumas' only other points in the entire afternoon came from the fly-half's second penalty four minutes from time; far too late to influence the result.

In the meantime, Scotland claimed 15 unanswered points, all from the boot of Dan Parks who scored every one of Scotland's points and his habitual man of the match award.

The fly-half kicked three penalties in each half and added some icing on the cake with two sweetly struck drop goals.

Andy Robinson has not changed the character of this Scotland side and that may be impossible given the personnel. Scotland again failed to score a try and they never really looked like doing so, with perhaps the one exception of Sean Lamont who was tackled into touch as he dived for the corner.

However, Robinson has instilled in these players a self-belief and a determination to hang tough when the play is going against them.

The Pumas could have been out of sight in the first half hour but the visitors clung on to their coat tails with a steely determination and refused to allow clear blue water between them and their hosts.

At the half-hour mark the Scots were trailing by 13-6 but by winning the penalty count hands down – it finished 16-6 in their favour – they were always in this match.

They snatched the lead on 52 minutes courtesy of Parks' fourth penalty and they grew in confidence from that moment on, something that was reflected in the set-scrum, which was a barometer of the psychological health of the two teams.

Contepomi's first penalty had come from a scrum where the Scots were roasted by the Pumas pack and when Argentina opted for a five metre scrum rather than a kick at goal early in the second half it proved a decisive moment. With the giant Martin Scelzo substituted as early as the 45th minute, Jacobsen found himself propping against Marcos Ayerza, who is usually to be found in Leicester's loosehead berth. The Scots shunted the Pumas' much-vaunted pack backwards and never looked back.

"When the going got tough in the second half we won the key scrum battle near our line," said Robinson afterwards.

"I thought all our players were tremendous. It was a key moment, in a close game, If Argentina had scored there then they are staying in the game."

The hero of the moment was Jacobsen who, like the rest of the team, recovered from a rocky start to finish the game strongly.

"It was tough, it was tough," said the pocket-sized prop afterwards. "They are a very good scrum. Early doors it was hard, we just dug in and kept together, I think we got better as the game went on, we just fought harder and harder. We got tighter and scrummed better as the game went on.

"There is no doubt that that scrum was a massive point in the game.

"When a team goes for a scrum on your five-metre line they're going for it and to get out of there without losing any points was great, for me and for the front row it gave us a lift for the remainder of the game.

"We kicked on from there and closed the game out."

It was noticeable that while the players enjoyed the victory, and who can begrudge them that, the celebrations at full time were muted.

Robinson has set this squad the challenge of coming away to Argentina and returning with two Test wins and everyone inside the squad agrees that the job is only half done.

There is going to be a fearful backlash from the Pumas – remember what they say about tweaking a tiger by the tail – but there is a substantial prize on offer if Robinson's men can repeat Saturday's heroics in Mar Del Plata. They would return home as the only Scotland team in history to have won a Test series south of the equator.

Scorers:

Argentina: Tries: Tiesi, Leguizamon. Pens: Contepomi 2. Scotland: Pens: Parks 6. Drop goals: Parks 2.

Argentina:

Rodriguez; Borges, Tiesi, Fernandez, Agulla; Contepomi, Lalanne; Roncero, Ledesma, Scelzo, Carizza, Albacete, Fessia, Leguizamon, Fernandez Lobbe. Substitutes: Amorosino for Borges (47), Figuerola for Lalanne (78), Creevy for Ledesma (68), Ayerza for Scelzo (44). Not used: Galarza, Campos, Mieres. Sin Bin: Leguizamon (40).

Scotland:

Southwell; Evans, De Luca, Morrison, Lamont; Parks, R Lawson; Jacobsen, Ford, Low, Hamilton, Kellock, Brown, Barclay, Beattie. Replacements: Blair for R Lawson (60), S Lawson for Ford (76), Strokosch for Beattie (60). Not used: Cross, MacLeod, Godman, Thompson.