Scotland 26-14 Argentina: Scotland pull off a minor miracle

Forward line excels as powerful Pumas can't break down Scotland's commanding lead

SCOTLAND were defending a 19-0 advantage going into the final quarter and looked comfortable when the entire match was turned on its head. The Argentine lock Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe scored a try in his final appearance in a Pumas shirt. Federico Todeschini found his range for the first time, the home side sensed that they might yet pull this one out of the fire and the crowd came to life, roaring their support and rocking the old stadium to its very roots.

Forced into increasingly desperate defence, the Scots were saved when last week's villain turned hero for the day. Dan Parks had only recently been thrown into the fray when the Aussie fly-half intercepted a pass on his own 22 and ran most of the length of the field before feeding Graeme Morrison for a try under the sticks that made certain a victory that was as deserved as it was unlikely.

With Chris Paterson's conversion, the Scots now had a 19-point lead and just seven minutes in which to defend it. The men in dark blue could not prevent a Horacio Agulla consolation try but Todeschini's conversion proved the last kick of the match and the tourists had a famous victory to savour on the long flight home. It was Scotland's first ever Test win on Argentine soil and meant the series is tied 1-1, following last week's 21-15 defeat in Rosario.

All the tourists played their part but the forwards were exceptional, standing toe to toe with the Puma big men and winning the battle. They were light years better than last week, all piss and vinegar, and if anyone one player deserves special praise then John Barclay is that man. The flanker was immense throughout and he had a good supporting cast. Ross Ford probably had his best game in a Scotland shirt and Matt Mustchin also proved his worth, getting through a stack of dogged hard graft.

Given an opportunity to make a victory speech, Frank Hadden was not going to underplay his hand and the Scotland coach even took a metaphorical swing at one Argentine journalist whose tone he labelled "disrespectful". Some things never change.

"Obviously we're delighted to have turned the frustration of last week into winning this match," said Hadden. "It is testimony to the confidence and self-belief of both the management and the very young players, and this is a very young side who pulled off a special win today.

"It is important not to underestimate the size of the achievement. We were the only Northern Hemisphere team to beat a Southern Hemisphere team today and that was against the third best team in the world."

The game was dominated by the wind with the Scots getting the first use of it to race into a 19-0 lead with 16 of those points coming with the wind at their backs. Chris Paterson grabbed 16 points with four penalties and two conversions, stretching his points record to 687 on the day he broke Scott Murray's caps record, yesterday marking his 88th appearance.

The Scots were helped when Argentina's backline was disrupted after they lost last week's try-scoring hero Gonzalo Tiesi to injury after just 12 minutes. His replacement had hardly got his gum shield in properly when he was pole-axed by Simon Webster, who came off his right wing to make a try-saving tackle. It looked perfectly legitimate from the back of the press box but linesman Alan Lewis thought differently. Justice was done with Todeschini missing a simple penalty.

The efforts of Scotland's big men won a penalty for Paterson to double their score after Mr Reliable has opened the scoring, and a little later Ford burrowed his way over the Argentine line after Lucas Borges made the mistake of attempting to run the ball out of his own dead ball area.

The Pumas' winger was tackled 15 yards out and the ball squirted from the side of the ruck. Mike Blair exchanged passes with Ben Cairns and when that pair were halted short, the Scotland hooker was on hand to finish off the move. Paterson made good the conversion and Scotland led 13-0.

The Argentine response was as predictable as it was brutal. Playing into the wind, the Pumas went back to doing what they do best – bullying the opposition into submission. It didn't work and the Scots even manufactured a golden chance for a second try when they attacked from their own 22 with turnover ball. Mustchin was involved more than once, Cairns, Paterson and Phil Godman all combined beautifully up the left flank but the move broke down when the last pass went forward.

Still the Scots were awarded another penalty for what looked like foul play and they took a 16-0 lead into the half time break.

Facing the breeze meant that the second half was always going to be a backs-to-the-wall affair and so it proved, with the visitors only rarely making brief sorties into the Argentine half of the field. At least the Scots got a double boost when Todeschini pulled a penalty on 45 minutes and Paterson showed him how it was done a little later, kicking his fourth penalty to give his side a 19-point advantage. The Scots looked out of sight when Fernandez Lobbe threw the Pumas a lifeline.

With seven points on the board, the Pumas piled on the pressure and thought they had grabbed a second score in exactly the same place before the TMO ruled against it. Just minutes later the Argentine forwards muscled their way over the Scots try line again, only for referee Alain Rolland to signal that the ball had been held up. It was nerve-wrecking stuff.

The siege was lifted only when Parks popped up with his trademark interception and Morrison, with blood trickling out his nose, was on hand to finish set the seal on a famous victory.

Argentina: B Stortoni, L Borges, G Tiesi (F Aramburu 12 min), F Contepomi, H Agulla; F Todeschini, N Veragallo; M Ayerza, A Tejeda, S Bonorino (J Gomez 45 min), I Fernandez Lobbe, E Lozada (J Stuart 60 min), M Durand (A Galindo 60 min), J Fernandez Lobbe, J M Leguizamon.

Scotland: H Southwell, S Webster, B Cairns, G Morrison, C Paterson; P Godman (D Parks 65 min), M Blair; A Jacobsen, R Ford (D Hall 75 min), E Murray, M Mustchin, S MacLeod (A Kellock 60 min)A Strokosch, J Barclay, A Hogg (K Brown 69 min).

Scorers: Argentina – Try: I Fernandez Lobbe, Agulla Conv: Todeschini (2). Scotland – Try: Ford, Morrison Conv: Paterson (2) Pen: Paterson (4)

Referee: A Rolland.

Hadden buys himself some time but even he probably doesn't know how

IT WAS Winston Churchill who said of the Americans that they always do the right thing, but only after exhausting all other avenues. Something similar could be said of Frank Hadden after his team won a famous victory in Buenos Aires last night.

The coach has come under increasing pressure following a disappointing Six Nations which netted just one win. However, this unexpected victory over the team ranked third in the world should be enough to buy Hadden some time and the right to take his side into the autumn Tests at the very least – presuming, of course, that he wants to. A perverse character, he may prefer to exit after one of his greatest triumphs.

Argentina may have been missing the sublime skills of Juan Martin Hernandez and Ignacio Corletto but the Scots were far from full strength themselves. Moreover, any win in Argentina is a good win, just ask Wales and Ireland who returned home empty-handed from recent trips.

SRU chief executive Gordon McKie arrived here on Thursday morning and perhaps the presence of the boss galvanised both players and coaching staff to produce a performance over 80 minutes rather than the 60-minute game of the previous week which ended in a 21-15 win for Argentina.

But this win still begs more questions that it answers – the biggest of which was why John Barclay was not included in the first Test when the Pumas were always going to be brutally combative at the breakdown. The flanker was the standout player yesterday, winning any number of turnovers and slowing whatever ball he could not steal.

Phil Godman is far from the perfect playmaker but at least with him pulling the strings at stand-off Scotland played with spirit and speed. Mike Blair kept the tempo high and Ben Cairns broke the line more than once. This is Scotland's natural game, a furious helter-skelter style of rugby and it was wonderful to witness its rebirth. Who knows how much of the transformation is thanks to Hadden. His teams have played precious little rugby of late, so perhaps all other options were exhausted.

>He has been a lost soul in the rugby world ever since the Italians blew his wide/wide game out of the water on that fateful day at Murrayfield back in 2007. This is a coach who got lucky yesterday but may not know why. Six changes from last weekend do not suggest a man who is on top of his brief.

The win ensured the Scots earned some valuable ranking points, two to be exact, to leap frog Fiji into ninth spot, at least for now. Unfortunately the late try from Horacio Agulla cut the margin of victory to fewer than 15 points, which meant the Scots do not jump Ireland into eighth place.

There is a lot of rugby to be played between now and the end of the year when the World Cup seeding is decided but the Scots will be hard pressed to make it into the second group of countries. The proud record of never failing to make the quarter-finals of the World Cup looks likely to be tested as never before.

After a 13-month season the players now get a well-deserved rest although it will feel like the blink of an eye before they are back in the gym preparing for the three autumn Tests. Given the high profile opposition, the crowds should come out in force in November which will help the SRU coffers but may undermine the fragile confidence of this squad. Both New Zealand and South Africa, who are due to visit Murrayfield, were looking ominously powerful yesterday. Their matches against Wales and England were played at a higher pace and intensity than yesterday's encounter in Buenos Aires.

The players will enjoy this win while they can but there are greater challenges ahead and only time will tell whether the team's newfound style of running rugby was borrowed for the day or will be adopted long term.

• Scotland A will face England Saxons in the Churchill Cup final in Chicago on Saturday after the English second string side defeated Ireland A 34-12 in Toronto yesterday.

SCOTLAND MAN BY MAN
RICHARD BATH

15. Hugo Southwell

Edinburgh

Kicking from hand was poor and he struggled to work his way into the game. He failed to inject any momentum when he joined the line but was defensively solid.

14. Chris Paterson

Edinburgh

Five kicks out of five in windy conditions was a crucial statistic as he won a record 88th cap. He even got into a writhing-on-the-floor stramash before the break – a genuine collectors item.

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13. Ben Cairns

Edinburgh

Full of running and broke the gainline with pleasing regularity. Showed his inexperience in some of his decision-making but looked a genuine threat with ball in hand.

8

12. Graeme Morrison

Glasgow Warriors

Bore the brunt of the Pumas' charges into midfield but he held his own in a physical confrontation of epic proportions. Did well to be up in support for the breakaway try.

7

11. Simon Webster

Edinburgh

His kamikaze hit on Federico Arambu was worth the admission money alone, even if it resulted in the Pumas' first penalty. His defensive performance was reassuringly hyperactive.

7

10. Phil Godman

Edinburgh

He wasn't perfect but it was no coincidence that those around him were transformed. His willingness to have a go was a breath of fresh air, if tackling was not always with conviction.

8

9. Mike Blair (captain)

Edinburgh

His hit on Leguizamon half way through the first half typified his nuggety performance. He struggled to impose himself on a harum-scarum confrontation but never stopped trying.

7

1. Allan Jacobsen

Edinburgh

His quick thinking secured the turnover which led to the first try and he really put himself around in defence. A performance he can look back on with some pride.

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2. Ross Ford

Edinburgh

The tryscorer was in feisty form, getting warned for walloping a Puma, but he could have done with a little more composure at the lineout. He did tackle like a trojan though.

6

3. Euan Murray

Northampton Saints

Outstanding performance in the loose and although he was under pressure in the tight he stood his ground impressively. This was one of his most mature displays in a Scotland shirt.

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4. Matt Mustchin

Edinburgh

Like Scott MacLeod, he stuck at his task all afternoon, concentrating on putting his body where it was likely to be trampled all over. This was the performance of a team player.

6

5. Scott MacLeod

Llanelli Scarlets

Performed satisfactorily at the lineout but it was at the coalface where he earned his pay, putting in tackle after tackle. This was a display of huge commitment and quality.

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6. Alasdair Strokosch

Gloucester

A key man, his phenomenal workrate and tackle count helped to break down the Pumas' forward drives at source. After John Barclay he was probably the most influential Scotland forward.

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8. Allister Hogg

Edinburgh

This was one of his less impressive performances and it was no surprise when he was substituted. Spending all afternoon knocking over rampaging Argentine forwards isn't his forte.

5

7. John Barclay

Glasgow Warriors

Immense contribution. His link play impressed and his work at the breakdown was exemplary and characterised by the turnover ball he secured as Argentina pressed in the last move before half-time.

8