CLOSE AGAIN BUT ONCE MORE HEARTBREAK
Posted: 08/Jun/08
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Argentina 21 Scotland 15

It would be hard to fault the effort that Scotland put in at the Gigante de Arroyito Stadium in Rosario tonight but in what has become a predictable pattern over these last 18 years against Argentina, it was the Pumas who closed out a game that could have gone either way.

Chris Paterson's five penalty strikes from six attempts enabled him to set a new Scottish points record, surpassing Gavin Hastings, yet such a statistical milestone was of little consolation to the visitors.

As Paterson - on the night he drew level with Scott Murray as Scotland's most capped player with 87 appearances - himself acknowledged: "It was a goal of mine to break a record for Scotland and Im really proud to do it but it does not make the defeat any easier to take."

There was at least one piece of good news from farther north in the American continent, as Scotland A opened their Barclays Churchill Cup campaign with a 26-10 win against Canada in Ontario.

Other Scottish skippers, notably Andy Reed in 1994 and Jason White in 2005 and again at last years World Cup, could write volumes about how frustrating their tussles with Argentina have been and for Mike Blair, tonight in Rosario was no exception.

It wouldnt have mattered had the Pumas new coach, Santiago Phelan, jetted down on a space shuttle and found his way to Argentina: when it comes to the breakdown his charges were always going to scrap tigerishly for possession, like any top-class team, on the fringe of legality.

Scotlands work in this area was not as accurate as they would have liked and Blair, who is at his best when there is a pace to the game, was caught on occasions at the base of a ruck.

At times, even in the first-half, some members of Argentinas pack looked short of gas yet Scotland were not able to play at a tempo to drive home any potential advantage there.

There was no disguising the disappointment of the Scotland management and players post-match. Head coach Frank Hadden thought a chance had gone missing in the 54th minute when Dan Parks miscued with a penalty from four metres inside his own half. A success then would have stretched Scotlands lead to eight points and perhaps forced Argentina to adopt a different approach.

With a very narrow pitch (some 62 metres) it was always going to be difficult for both sides to play expansive rugby, Hadden said. I thought the Argentineans did extremely well at the breakdown and made it very difficult for us because they slowed the ball down so successfully.

But on the basis of todays game we know we can turn things around and were determined to do so for next week.

Blair remarked on a very frustrated dressing room and a quite messy breakdown. It was just one of those games, he lamented. The Argentineans work very hard at the breakdown and when you play against them its a real struggle.




To the match then and Scotland made an encouraging start, debutant Matt Mustchin and his Edinburgh colleague Allister Hogg, leading a surge into the home 22, where Argentina infringed at the ruck and Paterson goaled the penalty (0-3, 10 mins).

A concerted period of home pressure saw Federico Todeschini equalise when Mustchin was adjudged to have knocked on the ball deliberately (3-3, 15 mins) and when Argentina found space on the left and then exploited a bouncing ball for their forwards to bulldoze in unison over the line, hooker Alvaro Tejeda touched down. Todeschini converted (10-3, 23 mins).

At once Johnnie Beattie thundered forward and Argentina were caught offside for Paterson to pull back three points (10-6, 24 mins) and then the moment that Paterson made his way into the history books. Scotland had attacked purposefully off a close-range lineout with Parks having a pop from a ruck. Argentina were penalised in the aftermath of the tackle and Paterson stepped forward to goal. It lifted his 100% success rate to 36 strikes and his overall points tally to 668, one point better than Hastings (I0-9, 30 mins).

Before the half ended both Paterson and Todeschini saw penalty attempts drift wide, Patersons first miss in a Scotland shirt since August 2007.

Half-time: Argentina 10 Scotland 9

Scotland took the lead within one minute of the restart. Todeschini was caught in possession by Hogg and penalised for not releasing. Paterson resumed dead-eye dick mode and regained the lead for Scotland (10-12, 41 mins).

More of the same as Argentina were penalised at a scrum and Paterson landed his fifth penalty (10-15) before having to look lively to nail Bernardo Stortoni near Scotlands right corner-flag, a decision confirmed by the TMO (10-15, 48mins).

As the half progressed Parks long-range penalty effort didnt miss by much but when Paterson caught a high ball Scotland were penalised in the aftermath and Todeschini duly narrowed the gap (13-15, 56 mins).

Scotland could not sustain a foothold in home territory and when they were caught offside in centre field, Todeschini booted his team back in front (16-15, 75 mins).

This sparked some frantic Scottish attacks (though the stadium clock showed run of play time rather than what time was left) but they could make little headway from deep in their own territory. Sadly when Paterson was turned over Argentina conjured an opening on the left for Gonzalo Tiesi to out-sprint the Scotland full-back to the try line. (21-15, 85 mins).

Full-time: Argentina 21 Scotland 15

Argentina: Bernardo Stortoni (Glasgow Warriors); Jose Maria Nunez Piossek (Huirapuca), Gonzalo Tiesi (Harlequins), Felipe Contepomi (Leinster) CAPTAIN, Thomas De Vedia (London Irish); Federico Todeschini (Montpelier), Nicolas Vergalo (Jockey Club Rosario); Marcos Ayerza (Leicester Tigers), Alvaro Tejeda (Overmach Parma), Santiago Gonzalez Bonorino (Capitolina), Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe (Sale Sharks), Esteban Lozada (Toulouse), Martin Durand (Champagnat), Juan Manuel Leguizamon (London Irish), Juan Fernandez Lobbe (Northampton Saints). Substitutes: Pablo Gambarini (CASI), Juan Gomez (Leinster) James Stuart (CASI), Alejandro Campos (Pueyrredon) Alfredo Lalanne (SIC), Santiago Fernandez , Hernan Senillosa (both Hindu).

Scotland: Chris Paterson (Edinburgh); Simon Danielli (Ulster), Ben Cairns (Edinburgh), Graeme Morrison, Thom Evans; Dan Parks (all Glasgow Warriors), Mike Blair CAPTAIN; Allan Jacobsen, Ross Ford (all Edinburgh), Euan Murray (Northampton Saints), Matt Mustchin (Edinburgh), Scott MacLeod (Llanelli Scarlets), Alasdair Strokosch (Gloucester), Johnnie Beattie (Glasgow Warriors), Allister Hogg (Edinburgh).

Subs: Kelly Brown (Glasgow Warriors) for Beattie (57mins), Alasdair Dickinson (Gloucester) for Jacobsen and Alastair Kellock (Glasgow Warriors) for MacLeod (blood) (both 67 mins), Simon Webster (Edinburgh) for Evans and MacLeod for Mustchin (both 71 mins), Rory Lawson (Gloucester) for Blair (76 mins).

Referee: Alan Lewis (Ireland).

This article was originally posted on 8-Jun-2008, 08:20 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 8-Jun-2008, 08:20.