Argentina 26-18 Scotland: Pumas impress in opening Test victory in Jujuy
Mark Bennett and Rory Hutchinson got the Scottish tries but it was a disappointing night for Gregor Townsend's team at the beginning of the Argentina Test series
Last Updated: 03/07/22 7:15am
Scotland's second-half rally was in vain as Argentina sealed a hard-fought victory in the opening match of the Test series in Jujuy.
Tries from Jeronimo De La Fuente, Santiago Carreras and Gonzalo Bertranou were enough to give the hosts victory against Gregor Townsend's team in the first match in charge for their new head coach Michael Cheika.
Townsend elected to leave British and Irish Lions Stuart Hogg, Finn Russell and Chris Harris at home as the coach looks to build depth in his squad ahead of next year's Rugby World Cup.
They certainly missed the trio, as the visitors failed to muster a single entry into Argentina's 22 in the first half, and although they put that right somewhat with a spirited fightback at the start of the second, it was Los Pumas who prevailed.
Argentina 26-18 Scotland scoring summary
Argentina - Tries: De La Fuente (30), Carreras (34), Bertranou (56). Conversions: Boffelli (35). Penalties: Sanchez (4, 19), Boffelli (70).
Scotland - Tries: Bennett (49), Hutchinson (54). Conversions: Kinghorn (55). Penalties: Kinghorn (16, 26)
Mark Bennett and Rory Hutchinson got the Scottish tries but it was a disappointing night for the tourists.
Story of the Match
The first half was an attritional affair and Scotland lost that contest by a convincing margin. Both teams gave away cheap penalties in a game littered with errors and the stop-start nature of it didn't make for the greatest spectacle.
Argentina's Nicolas Sanchez kicked the first points in the game after the first such incident on four minutes, slotting home a penalty from a difficult angle. The veteran then added a second three points after Blair Kinghorn had done likewise at the other end of the pitch for Scotland.
Sanchez's afternoon came to an early end when he pulled up with an injury from a seemingly innocuous passage of play. Santiago Carreras of Gloucester replaced him and immediately got involved with an energetic line break to showcase his abilities.
Emiliano Boffelli of Edinburgh, playing against a host of his team-mates, took over the kicking duties and didn't have a great day with the boot, going 2-for-5 overall.
Kinghorn scored another penalty for Scotland on 26 minutes to lock the scores at 6-6 but the warning signs were already there for the tourists.
Argentina were playing with more energy than their opponents and the Scots' lack of ability to penetrate towards the hosts' goalline was coupled with the fact they were leaving gaps defensively.
Eventually, Los Pumas took advantage. On the half-hour mark, the stadium roared its approval for a try they had been waiting a long time to see. It was 1,058 days since Argentina last played on home soil and De la Fuente appeared to carry over the line from close range. A closer look saw that the try should not have been awarded as he was grounded before crossing the line, but nobody could begrudge it to Argentina on the run of play.
For Argentina's second try Juan Cruz Mallia showed great energy and pace to break free as Kinghorn made the most notable mistake in what was a fairly chronic lapse defensively for Scotland. Mallia handed it off to Carreras who dotted down.
It gave Argentina a commanding lead at half-time but the Scots regrouped and came out energised in the second half.
Immediately they found themselves on Argentina's five-yard line and some concerted pressure yielded the scores they needed to get back in the game.
A video replay denied Duhan van der Merwe what he thought was a legitimate try before Bennett, on his first start for Scotland in six years, scored off a good find from Kinghorn 10 minutes after the restart.
Four minutes later, Hutchinson followed suit and after a gorgeous pass from the hip from Kinghorn. The fly-half made the conversion at the second time of asking and the game was all square.
Then followed the passage of play which ultimately decided the game. With momentum firmly having swung in Scotland's favour, Argentina kicked off and then Boffelli rose highest to take the ball. Matias Orlando made a quick dart down the line before Gonzalo Bertranou, who only started because Tomas Cubelli got injured in the warm-up, opportunistically carried over.
After the try was checked, Argentina lurched back into the lead and from there, Scotland couldn't muster a response.
A pivotal kick by Boffelli made it a two-score game and Argentina were able to run down the clock from there for an impressive victory in the first Test.
Townsend: We didn't get going until the second half
Head coach Gregor Townsend lamented a poor first-half performance from his side.
"I'm disappointed because we didn't get going until the second half," head coach Townsend told Sky Sports. "That was frustrating. We then got into a position where we believe we could have and should have kicked on, and we didn't.
"Credit to Argentina, they won a restart and got a try from that and the game then slowed down in the last 20 minutes. We needed more to change the momentum in that last 20 minutes."
The Scots face another two Tests against Argentina over the next two Saturdays, and Townsend knows they must start with more intensity if they are to turn the series around.
"We didn't have much ball in the first half and we had to defend for a number of phases," he said. "It was a stop-start game the whole way through with a lot of reset scrums, penalties or errors from both teams.
"Sometimes you've got to create your own momentum and you do that with accuracy. In the first half that wasn't the case. The second half was a lot better but we just didn't kick on in the final quarter.
"We've got to take our learnings from what we can do better and also from what Argentina brought today and how we can counter that next week."
Gilchrist: We can bounce back next week
Despite the meek first-half showing, captain Grant Gilchrist feels Scotland showed enough to suggest they can get the better of the Pumas over the next two Tests.
"We were below our best in that first half," said the skipper. "We had a few good defensive sets and hung in there but we didn't control territory and possession and we were under the cosh for most of the first half.
"We showed what we can do at the start of the second half. At 18-18 I felt the momentum was with us. It's a game we should have won from that point. We didn't but I saw enough in that game (to believe) that we can bounce back next week."
What's next?
Scotland are next in action for their second Test of the three-Test series vs Argentina in a week's time on Saturday, July 9 - live on Sky Sports Action from 7:30pm (kick-off at 8:10pm).
