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Scotland and Argentina battled to the death in Edinburgh this afternoon. Their match was vital for Rugby World Cup 2019 due to World Rankings positions. In winning Scotland return to the Top 8 in rankings, Argentina fall to 9th. As such a tough draw for Japan 2019 can only be avoided by winning next weekend against England.
Scottish captain Greig Laidlaw opened the scoring. His early penalty would be the only score of the opening quarter Wayward early kicking from Argentina saw them unable to leave their half. So much so that it was not until the 19th minute that Argentina had possession in the Scottish half.
Confident in their game plan, Los Pumas reluctance to kick. Two breaks from Martín Landajo gained ground but they failed to amount to points. Further handling errors, meanwhile, ensured Argentina would find itself well within its own half. It was a knock-on from Matías Orlando which saw Scotland go up 6-0. Laidlaw landed a 28th minute kick from in front 25 meters out from the resulting scrum.
Loose ball from the restart gave Argentina possession. A well-worked move put Orlando through and he got into the Scottish 22. He off-loaded to Santiago Cordero who went without 2 meters of scoring. Phases from the forwards followed but Scotland was able tho hold the South Americans off.
Center Juan Martín Hernández kicked from a 37th minute scrum. It found touch and Argentina was able to steal the lineout. Nicolás Sánchez made no mistake with his first opportunity. With it Argentina went into half time, trailing 6-3.
An perfectly aimed high kick-off from Hernández saw Argentina winning back ball to open the second half. The ball found its way to Orlando who gained ground before being high tackled. Argentina turned down a kickable three points to set-up a lineout. The forwards gained ground before Scotland gave away an additional penalty. Agustín Creevy then went for the equalizer with Sánchez making it a 6-6 game after 43 minutes.
Six minutes later Hernández and Orlando combined for the game’s first try. Impressive phases directed by Landajo had Scotland’s defensive backtracking rapidly. Sánchez and Hernández also switched roles. Hernández’s passing opened opportunities while his kicking was differential. A cross-kick to the corner was gathered by Orlando who bumped off two defenders to score.
Having not looked like scoring in the first half Scotland immediately hit back. Having won a penalty the lineout gave Scotland attacking ball. Huw Jones sucked in defenders to pass to an unmarked Sean Maitland. The former New Zealand u20 and Maori All Black scored in the corner. Laid law’s conversion made it 13-13 in the 55th minute.
A Sánchez penalty saw Argentina reclaim the lead. The manner in which it came would have pleased the purists. Los Pumas’ scrum had sent back the Scots meters. A clever restart from Scotland saw Hernández forced to carry the ball over just 5 meters from his try line. Scotland attacked with Laidlaw landing a penalty.
Finn Russell missed an attempted drop-goal in the 73rd minute. Laidlaw, though, had a chance to add a fourth penalty. His attempt hit the posts and Scotland regathered. Russell again went for a drop-goal but Julián Montoya advanced quickly to brilliantly charge it down.
A final twist meant it did not matter. Argentina looked to attack from a scrum only to lose control. Scotland then had several minutes of possession in extra time and took the win with a penalty.
The result sees Argentina dropping from 80.71 to 79.92 rankings points. Scotland rises from 79.78 to 80.57 points. With it Argentina are now 9th in the world and outside of Band 2. Next weekend’s match against England is Argentina’s last before the draw is made for Japan 2019. As it stands Argentina face playing in a Pool of Death.
SCORING
SCOTLAND 19
Tries – S. Maitland (54’)
Cons – G. Laidlaw (55’)
Pens – G. Laidlaw 4 (3’, 28’, 67’, 80’)
ARGENTINA 16
Tries – M. Orlando (49’)
Cons – N. Sánchez (50’)
Pens – N. Sánchez 3 (39’, 44’, 63’)
TEAMS
SCOTLAND
1 Allan Dell (Alex Allan 74’), 2 Fraser Brown (16 Ross Ford 21’-33’, 68’), 3 Zander Fagerson (18 Moray Low 51’), 4 Grant Gilchrist (19 Tim Swinson 71’), 5 Jonny Gray, 6 Magnus Bradbury (20 Ryan Wilson 51’), 7 Hamish Watson, 8 John Barclay, 9 Greig Laidlaw (capt.), 10 Finn Russell, 11 Tommy Seymour, 12 Alex Dunbar, 13 Huw Jones (22 Peter Horne 58’ {23 Tim Visser 79’}), 14 Sean Maitland, 15 Stuart Hogg
Not used: 21 Ali Price
ARGENTINA
1 Lucas Noguera Paz (17 Santiago García Botta 71’), 2 Agustín Creevy (capt.) (16 Julián Montoya 71’), 3 Ramiro Herrera (18 Enrique Pieretto 71’), 4 Guido Petti, 5 Matías Alemanno (20 Juan Manuel Leguizamón 71’), 6 Pablo Matera, 7 Javier Ortega Desio, 8 Facundo Isa (19 Leonardo Senatore 55’), 9 Martín Landajo (21 Tomás Cubelli 58’), 10 Nicolás Sánchez, 11 Santiago Cordero, 12 Juan Martín Hernández, 13 Matías Orlando (23 Juan Pablo Estelles 71’), 14 Matías Moroni (22 Jerónimo de la Fuente 74’), 15 Joaquín Tuculet
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Ben O’Keeffe (NZRU)
Assistants: Jérôme Garcès (FFR) & Thomas Charabas (FFR)
TMO: Shaun Davey (RFU)
