Scotland face a tough challenge in their twin Tests against Argentina

One of them, a middle-aged man with his wife, admitted that he found it difficult to relax in the country despite the good food and friendly faces. It turned out that he had been a combatant in the Falklands War. He hadn't visited the country since then and now, having made the trip, he found himself fighting a brand new battle against a rising panic that someone was about to tap him on the shoulder and confront him about the past.

That was a full 26 years after the conflict in the South Atlantic so imagine the tension, nerves and emotions that Andy Robinson and the rest of the England touring party underwent in 1990 when they became the first major British team to tour Argentina after the war – just eight years after.

"We were probably still at war," says Scotland's coach, unsure as to the exact nature of any cease-fire agreement. "I played against Hugo Porta in the first match when England lost to Buenos Aires – three drop goals and I didn't get anywhere near him he was standing so far back – beautifully struck they were too. A young Federico Mendez played for Mendoza against us.

"It was a brilliant tour but the rugby was hard and very physical. I was on the bench in Tucaman as a hooker! Brian Moore had been injured, John Olver played and I sat on the bench as reserve hooker after getting just two scrums' practice. Luckily I didn't have to go on."

Scotland play the first Test on 12 June in Tucaman which, now as then, has an unequalled reputation as the fanatic's venue of choice, a peculiar lunatic asylum where the inmates are still prevented from adding to the numbers on the field by large wire fences. It has always been the most resoundingly patriotic of venues and no one was very surprised when it became the focal point for anger directed at the English touring party back in 1990.

"During the Tucaman game, the crowd was throwing oranges at us on the field," recalls Robinson, "and they burnt a Union Jack before the match had even kicked off. Our fullback, Simon Hodgkinson, got laid out cold at one point and the crowd counted him out like a boxing referee… '1, 2, 3…You're out!'

"It (the anger] was probably something that had to be worked through in order for everyone to move on. Obviously they were very bitter because some of them had lost relatives in the war and you can understand why that would be the case. But off the field, the place was very friendly, there were absolutely no problems and the players mixed perfectly well in the post-match receptions."

On the field it was a different matter. In an era before citing and video evidence the Tests were about as peaceful as a civil war, with one newspaper report commenting that in the second international, all three of England's front row wore blood-splattered shirts and further noting that the touch judges would not have intervened for anything short of mass murder and even then only reluctantly.

Robinson revelled in it. He loved the tour and the atmosphere that went with it and has remained an ardent supporter of Argentine rugby ever since, despite the key role it played in him losing his post as England coach in 2006. England were heading for victory and Robinson was heading for the Rugby World Cup 2007 when the Pumas' Federico Todeschini latched on to a Toby Flood pass and ran 70 metres for what proved to be the winning score. If the Pumas proved decisive in defenestrating him from Twickenham, Robinson appears to have forgotten and forgiven.

"I am a big fan of Argentine rugby because it is based on the amateur ethos and teamship. They have a really good understanding of the game. Technically they are very good in the contact area which is why you love playing against them."

Robinson goes on to talk about the world-class skills of the Pumas' big men, although he does not extend the compliment to their backs and, in that respect, Scotland and Argentina are well matched. Both have efficient and muscular forward packs – although Scotland's would be better on both these counts if Nathan Hines and Euan Murray were available – allied to backs who don't always fulfil their potential.

That is where Tuesday's match against a Japan Select XV comes into play. Robinson knows that Japan are the diametric opposites of Argentina in terms of rugby style, but his team needs a hit-out in preparation for the twin Tests in South America and this match was agreed on the basis that any practice is better than none at all or, as he had otherwise contemplated, better than a probables/possibles match.

"It's a training game," says Robinson of Tuesday evening's encounter with the Japanese at Murrayfield which is free to all comers. "It's for us to go out and get the guys together and to look at a couple of moves that we will look to use to attack Argentina. That's why we're using this game. We will look at plenty of players that didn't take the field against Ireland in the last match and maybe include one or two players from the Nations Cup squad.

"We need to get something out of this game, it's not just about winning. We have to get something in terms of our style and how we want to play against Argentina. This is a form of fast-tracking, getting everyone back together and getting quickly back to where we were against Ireland."

What the coach needs to see is some penetration from a miss-firing backline that managed just one try throughout the Six Nations and even that went to Max Evans courtesy of Dan Parks' grubber kick in Cardiff. Robinson is desperate for the backs to exhibit some cutting edge and if they can't manage that against what is effectively Japan's third-choice XV then they have little hope of running in tries against the Pumas.

The selection of Dan Parks at flyhalf does not help matters, although Robinson seems bound to stick with the player who picked up three man-of-the-match awards during the Six Nations. It's a little ironic since two years ago, Scotland only came good in the second Test when Frank Hadden was prevailed upon to drop Parks in favour of Phil Godman, who sparked some free-wheeling, ball-in-hand, attacking rugby which earned Scotland that well-deserved victory in Buenos Aires.

Still, you can't keep the Aussie out of the picture because it was Parks who popped up out of nowhere to snatch the interception for Graeme Morrison to make the game safe just as the Pumas went in search of the winning try.

"Dan has developed his game," argues Robinson. "I thought we got the right mix of game in the Ireland match and also against Wales. It's about balance, choosing the right time to kick and the right time to run and I thought that Dan got it spot-on in those two games.

"Dan was a threat in the Ireland game and when playing for Glasgow against the Dragons. That's a key aspect of our game, that Dan is a threat. I want all of our 10s to be running threats. The 10 needs to be a threat."

While not everyone will concur with the national coach's description of Parks as a "threat", such was the Australian's influence on the team in the Six Nations that it would take a brave man to drop him for the upcoming Tests, notwithstanding the lessons from Scotland's last visit to Argentina.