Internationals - Pumas end Scots clean sweep

Eurosport - Sat, 28 Nov 16:15:00 2009

Argentina returned to haunt coach Andy Robinson as the South Americans came from behind to beat Scotland 9-6 at Murrayfield.

Scotland's Lamont runs with the ball as Argentina players give chase, REUTERS - 0

When it comes to Test rugby, rarely does a result mean more for a coach than it does his team; but that may just have been the case as Martin Rodriguez's boot led the Pumas to yet another historic victory over a Six Nations team led by Robinson.

The last time he coached a side against Argentina, Robinson saw England suffer their first ever Twickenham defeat at the hands of the Pumas - making his position untenable.

This was his chance to right that wrong, but Scotland failed as an initially sparkling performance turned into a stuttering one that showed the best and worst of Scottish rugby.

The first half was full of verve and tempo, with Scotland doing everything but adding points to the scoreboard. That was part of the problem, the lack of a killer edge, and in the second half Nathan Hines's indiscipline was symbolic of a side struggling to shackle Argentina's tricky wide men.

Scotland went into the match still buzzing from their historic triumph over Australia, but that did not stop Robinson making three changes, most notably introducing debutant Alan MacDonald to the back row.

By contrast, Argentina were recovering from something of a spanking at the hands of Wales, prompting Santiago Phelan to make six changes, including the notable faces of Marcos Ayerza, Alfredo Lalanne and Federico Martin Aramburu.

Victory would have brought Scotland a first autumn hat-trick since 2002, a situation in stark contrast to the seven straight defeats Robinson racked up when losing to Argentina with England.

They started superbly too, barely giving their visitors a touch in the first half as they clocked up 71 per cent of the possession and 74 per cent territory.

Clearly implementing a more open gameplan than they employed against the Wallabies, Robinson's men ran the ball from everywhere and should have been much further ahead than the 6-0 half-time scoreline.

Phil Godman, picked again ahead of the metronomic Chris Paterson, kicked his first penalty of the day but then missed his next two as the home side's dominance went largely unrewarded.

The fly-half barely covered himself in glory during open play either, wasting a glorious try-scoring opportunity following Sean Lamont's razor-sharp break, opting to chip the ball out to the flank when Scotland needed to keep the ball in hand.

In the end the Edinburgh half-back did find his accuracy for 6-0, but the interval brought about a much more fiery Argentine beast in the second half.

Suddenly it was the Pumas enjoying 79 per cent possession in the first 10 minutes of the second half, and Hines headed for the sin bin after a cynical spear tackle.

Worse news surrounded Lamont, stretchered off with a suspected broken leg, and Rodriguez ensured the entire feeling around the ground turned to nerves as he kicked Argentina back to 6-3.

That anxiety increased as Rodriguez restored parity with 20 minutes remaining, although Chris Cusiter so nearly cut through the tension eight minutes later, combining superbly with Lamont for a length-of-the-field break only for the half-back to run out of legs 10 yards short of the line.

Scotland had nothing left to give; the Pumas were getting stronger as the final whistle drew closer, and with two minutes remaining Rodriguez dropped back into the pocket to hit a pressure drop-goal, giving Robinson yet more sleepless nights at the hands of the South Americans.

Ben Blackmore / Eurosport

Comment 1 - 17 of 17

Sort comments by: Most recent | Most rated

  1. Godman not good enough at stand off and Hines again a­ liability. Lawson should start at scrum half and forget­ this captaincy free ticket for Cusiter and Blair. Apart­ from that we're not doing too badly. The squad is­ gaining depth and these are the games to blood the­ better A side players. The side is in far better shape­ than we were 12 months ago and I think we shall be able­ to compete against more teams than just Italy in the­ 6N.

    P.S Sorry Murray but Penicillin was discovered by­ an Australian. Fleming hijacked it because he had the­ money to develop it.

    From John L, on Mon 30 Nov 7:16AM

  2. Murray

    Loving that riposte.. Maybe if you had told the­ Argentinians that you invented Golf, they would have­ let you win.

    From Donald D, on Sun 29 Nov 5:27PM

  3. Moggie your probably right there. I think when Wales,­ England, Ireland and France are at full strength it­ really is anybodys for the taking.

    From Jamie, on Sun 29 Nov 4:23PM

  4. i think its got to stage now , where you will not be­ able to say 'wait till we get all our players back,­ then we'll see'
    I think wales would be six­ nations favourites if they had all their players­ available, but the same could be said for ireland,­ france and england. its getting to the point where­ you'll have to hit a pocket of good luck at the­ right time, where only 1 or 2 players are injured. or­ teams are going to have to double their strength in­ depth, which isnt gonna happen overnight.
    look at­ ireland, they were very fortunate and skilled, at­ injury management this year, and were rewarded by a­ fantastic year of achievement.

    From moggie2727, on Sun 29 Nov 3:33PM

  5. Now now Murray. less of the napoleon syndrome. The­ southern hemisphere teams are still way ahead of us at­ the moment. Ireland and France are the only teams that­ look capable at the moment, although when England get­ all their players back it will be interesting.

    From Jamie, on Sun 29 Nov 3:27PM

  6. Telephone, TV, penicillin, golf and whisky.

    England­ invented the hovercraft (don't see too many of­ those about these days).

    And Morris dancing. Surprised­ they don't do that in response to the­ 'Haka', really.

    From Murray, on Sun 29 Nov 12:06PM

  7. Argentina are going to be a much better team after a­ couple of tri nation seasons and hopefully they get­ their own super 14 teams or some more of their players­ make their way in.

    I would love to see a mixed souther­ hemisphere vs mixed northern hemisphere team fight it­ out for a trophie every 2 years or something. Everyone­ enjoys the BaBa games and i think this could be a good­ way to add to it.

    From Anthony, on Sun 29 Nov 2:24AM

  8. That's Scotland's run over with

    From Donald D, on Sat 28 Nov 7:03PM

  9. I am not sure who can take anything from this autumn­ with the obvious exception of Ireland, the only truly­ world-class side in the 6 Nations now.
    Yes, Scotland­ beat the Oz, England scraped past the Argies and Wales­ and France both flatter to deceive.At least Italy got a­ win too...
    Hardly having us all waiting with baited­ breath for the 6 Nations though is it? It should be­ Ireland by a mile again. Roll on the WC 2011, hopefully­ Ireland can stay the course and grab themselves a Webb­ Ellis.

    From Koppite 1973, on Sat 28 Nov 6:52PM

  10. The ref and linesmen had a very bad game today whitch­ didnt help Scotland at all

    From alan, on Sat 28 Nov 5:46PM
  11. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Scotland were @#$% against Australia, Aussies deserved­ to win by 30 clear points. The only reason people were­ talking about the match was because it was total fluke.­ Australia dominated left right and centre. And again­ today against a team that Wales murdered without­ getting of second gear Scotland had nothing. Laughing­ stock of British rugby they are.

    From Dean W, on Sat 28 Nov 4:52PM

  12. proud to be english vainakollo pieterson catt erikson­ cappello trott can we go on .robinson may be english­ ..but thank god he is not johnson..

    From charlespenn, on Sat 28 Nov 11:09AM

  13. Tough game today,not too worried about result just want­ to see more progress and form carried over into 6 nats.­
    Very fortunate last week, totally agree and mostly due­ to fantastic defense
    Today we need to score tries, but­ not sure where they are going to come from.

    From briant48, on Sat 28 Nov 10:35AM

  14. Comment 1. And you would be the tough lot wearing bells­ on your knees and elbows waving a garden cane about and­ singing about fertility rights! Oh, and how did England­ do last week. Must have missed the result because all­ the talk was about SCOTLAND!

    From Peter, on Sat 28 Nov 9:09AM

  15. would they be the same pansies that kept the aussies­ out?

    From COLIN A, on Fri 27 Nov 11:44PM

  16. and your nationality?

    From COLIN A, on Fri 27 Nov 11:42PM
  17. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Go PUMAS Go!!!! beat the hell out of these SKIRTED­ SCOTS!!! jiv nee eny idee ho tee plee this ruf un tuf­ sport ye wee PANSIES!

    From Can-U-Shut-up-please!, on Fri 27 Nov 11:28PM
Sort comments by: Most recent | Most rated

Not already a Yahoo! user ? to get a free Yahoo! Account