IT’S JUST THE START OF THE JOURNEY – ROBINSON
Sunday, 13 June 2010
Scotland head coach Andy Robinson had every right to express satisfaction for a second successive away victory as his charges became the first international side to down the Pumas in Tucuman tonight.
Seven teams had tried and failed before, most recently Wales, but the locals who had so passionately supported their favourites ended the game giving a rousing reception to Scotland.
The 24-16 success – Dan Parks supplying all the visitors’ points – however, still leaves Scotland with work to do and that ethos was expressed by both players and management post-match.


International rugby hinges on tiny moments – the battle for inches as Robinson puts it – and had Nick De Luca not been rewarded for his persistence with a vital tap-tackle on Argentina’s captain Felipe Contepomi within the game’s first quarter today, as the stand-off intercepted a pass by Scotland’s captain Alastair Kellock, then Scotland could have been looking down the barrel.
As it was, Scotland atoned for conceding two tame scores – the second awarded by a Television Match Official who couldn’t really have been watching the same pictures as were transmitted home? – to close-out the game with Parks again displaying what is now his customary sang-froid to nail the win.
Robinson’s first reaction was etched with pride at the considerable achievement of winning the first away Test in a series for the first time since the win in Wellington against Samoa in June 2004.
“I’m pleased for the players and the way they have gone about this. To be the first away team to win in Tucuman is a great honour for us.
“To be the only team from the northern hemisphere today to win (both Ireland and England lost) is really pleasing, but there is a lot more for us to work on.”
Scotland did show ambition today but the tries the team crave just wouldn’t come. The players are keen to put that right next week in the second Test in Mar del Plata.
One area where Scotland scored heavily against the Pumas today was their discipline with the hosts on the wrong end of English referee Dave Pearson’s penalty count by a considerable margin, mostly for offences at the breakdown in the aftermath of the tackle.
First medical bulletins from the Scotland camp noted that captain Alastair Kellock had required stitches to a lip cut and that his Glasgow Warriors team-mates Moray Low and Johnnie Beattie, alongside wing Sean Lamont, would all require further assessment for leg injuries.

This article was posted on 13-Jun-2010, 06:34 by Hugh Barrow.