Argentina maintained their eight-year, seven-match unbeaten run against Scotland, when the Pumas recorded a deserved 21-15 win over the visitors in the first of two Tests at Estadio Gigante de Arroyito, Rosario, on Saturday.

The second and final Test between the two countries is in Buenos Aires next Saturday, June 14.

The Pumas, despite missing a number of World Cup stars - being held 'hostage' by their French clubs - and playing a forward dominated game, outscored Scotland by two tries to none - with only Chris Paterson's almost unerring boot keeping them in the game.

This win was also a repeat of the Pumas's suffocating tactics which saw them outmuscle the Scottish team in the quarterfinal of the World Cup in France last year.

Chris Paterson kicked an early penalty to give the visitors the lead, before debutant Álvaro Tejeda's try helped Argentina into a 10-9 advantage at half-time.

Two Paterson penalties early in the second half gave the Scots a six-point lead.

But Federico Todeschini struck twice to regain the lead for Argentina, before Gonzalo Tiesi ran in the hosts' second try in the 80th minute.

Scotland started brightly and Ally Hogg's powerful run resulted in Argentina being penalised for a high tackle. Paterson, who equalled Scott Murray's Scottish cap record of 87, comfortably kicked his side into the lead after 11 minutes.

Argentina immediately went on the offensive and were themselves awarded a penalty after Matt Mustchin was penalised for a knock-on. Todeschini levelled the scores.

Hooker Álvaro Tejeda put Argentina into the lead after 21 minutes when he powered through the Scottish defence to touch down on his international debut. Todeschini converted.

Paterson soon reduced the arrears with two more penalties, which sandwiched an injury scare for Argentina when captain Felipe Contepomi required treatment to recover from a collision.

Scotland then missed an opportunity to go back in front when Paterson's penalty was off target. It was the Edinburgh man's first missed kick in 36 attempts at international level.

But Argentina failed to take advantage of that miss with Todeschini's penalty drifting wide as the home side had to settle for a 10-9 lead at half-time.

Paterson made up for his earlier miss by kicking Scotland into the lead right at the start of the second half and further extended their advantage with another three points in the 48th minute.

Argentina thought they had levelled when Bernardo Stortoni touched down in the corner, but the TMO ruled that Paterson's tackle had taken the fullback into touch before crossing the line.

Scotland were awarded a long range penalty in the 53rd minute, but flyhalf Dan Parks's effort from 55 metres out went narrowly wide of the posts.

Todeschini then reduced Scotland's lead with his third penalty of the match.

With seven minutes remaining Scotland were caught offside and Todeschini stepped up to fire Argentina back in front.

And as Scotland chased a winning score, Tiesi capitalised on a loose ball to run in Argentina's second try of the evening, which Todeschini failed to convert.

Man of the match: It wasn't a match of great heroics or masterful individual performances. The kicking of Chris Paterson was worth noting and Federico Todeschini was not too shabby either. But this was a game of trench-warfare, where the forwards play the decisive role. It is with this in mind that we give the award to Argentinian hooker Álvaro Tejeda for his numerous strong ball carries, one which saw him score the opening try, and great defensive effort.

Moment of the match: There were two fine tries from the Pumas and of course you will consider them. Our award goes to Puma centre Gonzalo Tiesi's 80th minute try. Not only was it the match-winner, it was a masterful piece of counter-attacking after Scotland had spilled the ball. He spotted a gap and ghosted through to beat the cover and sprint over in the corner from 40 metres out.

Villain of the match: Nothing really, nothing nasty and no award!

The scorers:

For Argentina:
Tries: Tejeda, Tiesi
Con: Todeschini
Pens: Todeschini 3

For Scotland:
Pens: Paterson 5

Teams:

Argentina: 15 Bernardo Stortoni, 14 José María Núñez Piossek, 13 Gonzalo Tiesi, 12 Felipe Contepomi (captain), 11 Tomás De Vedia, 10 Federico Todeschini, 9 Nicolás Vergallo, 8 Juan Manuel Leguizamón, 7 Juan Fernández Lobbe, 6 Martín Durand, 5 Esteban Lozada, 4 Ignacio Fernández Lobbe, 3 Santiago González Bonorino, 2 Álvaro Tejeda, 1 Marcos Ayerza.
Replacements: 16 Pablo Gambarini, 17 Juan Gómez, 18 James Stuart, 19 Alejandro Campos, 20 Alfredo Lalanne, 21 Santiago Fernández, 22 Hernán Senillosa.

Scotland: 15 Chris Paterson, 14 Simon Danielli, 13 Ben Cairns, 12 Graeme Morrison, 11 Thom Evans, 10 Dan Parks, 9 Mike Blair (captain), 8 Allan Jacobsen, 7 Ross Ford, 6 Euan Murray, 5 Matt Mustchin, 4 Scott MacLeod, 3 Alasdair Strokosch, 2 Johnnie Beattie, 1 Allister Hogg.
Replacements: 16 Dougie Hall, 17 Alasdair Dickinson, 18 Alastair Kellock, 19 Kelly Brown, 20 Rory Lawson, 21 Phil Godman, 22 Simon Webster.

Referee: Alan Lewis (Ireland)
Touch judges: Alain Rolland (Ireland), Cobus Wessels (South Africa)
TMO: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)

365

RSS
Digg
de.li.cious
facebook