No way through: Max Evans
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A superb late try from replacement Lucas Amorosino saw Argentina beat Scotland 13-12 on Sunday, putting one foot into the World Cup quarter-finals.
It was a gripping game at Wellington Regional Stadium as the Pumas came from behind to claim a priceless victory in the Pool B shake-up.
Argentina, who lost their opener to England but went on to beat Romania 43-8, now play Georgia in their final match while the Scots must conquer the unbeaten English to ensure a knockout spot.
Felipe Contepomi kicked two penalties and converted Amorosino's try for Argentina. Scotland's points came from a Chris Paterson penalty, a Ruaridh Jackson penalty and drop-goal and a second drop-kick from Dan Parks.
Scotland can have only themselves to blame for the narrow loss, with some poor decision-making and gifting too many turnovers to an Argentina side whose midfield defence was marshalled impeccably by outside centre Marcelo Bosch.
The match, played in pouring rain, also featured a litany of handling mistakes and the set-piece was a complete lottery.
For the first hour, there were predictable phases of play that featured strings of badly chased box kicks, non-productive pick-and-go's and inaccurate aerial ping-pong.
Paterson and Contepomi both missed early penalties before the latter finally got Los Pumas on the board after nineteen turgid minutes of rugby union.
Scotland's best attacking moment of the first period was squandered when Al Strokosch passed too early in a clear three-on-two down the left wing.
A similar chance was wasted shortly after when John Barclay opted to drive back infield with numbers outside.
With Argentina offering up little in attack, it was Scotland that went into half-time in the lead through two penalties in three minutes from Paterson and Jackson, the latter a beauty from 47 metres.
Bosch horribly skewed a drop-goal early in the second-half as Argentina tried to turn on the pressure, but the Scots went closest to a try.
Winger Max Evans, a livewire for Scotland, did well to collect his chip into the Argentinian 22-metre area but was well tackled by Rodriguez before offloading to Barclay.
From the ensuing ruck, captain Rory Lawson eschewed an overlap on the openside to play the blind and found a wall of beefy Argentinian forwards who promptly stripped him of the ball.
Paterson had a clear chance to extend Scotland's lead with a drop-goal, but the country's most capped player snatched at his effort and it went wide.
An infringement at a ruck and it was Contepomi's turn, the Pumas captain's penalty effort also drifting wide.
Contepomi made no mistake in the 63rd minute, however, nailing his second penalty after the Scottish front-row collapsed to draw the scores level at 6-6.
That lasted for only a minute as Jackson slotted over a well-taken drop-goal, as Contepomi's fifth penalty attempt went wide off the upright.
In a nail-biting finish to the error-riddled match, replacement fly-half Parks kicked a drop with practically his first touch to stretch Scotland out to 12-6.
But then woeful defence coupled by a fine finish saw replacement Amorosino skip through four tackles, turning a fairly innocuous play into a try. Contepomi showed nerves of steel to bag the conversion and take a 13-12 lead.
Parks' snatched left-footed drop-goal with a minute to play went wide, leaving Argentina in the driving seat for qualification.
Man of the match: Sean Lamont and Max Evans were both busy for Scotland, but for playing through the pain barrier Felipe Contepomi gets the nod. He also kicked the winning points.
Moment of the match: It had to be Lucas Amorosino's dash of magic down the right-hand touchline. He weaved in and out to beat a handful of desperate Scotland defenders
Villain of the match: Whether it was the Pumas doctor or Juan Matrin Fernandez Lobbe himself who made he decision, but the number eight should not have continued with such a knee problem. More sense is needed in such situations as he could well have done more damage.
The scorers:
For Argentina:
Try: Amorosino
Con: Contepomi
Pen: Contepomi 2
For Scotland:
Pen: Paterson, Jackson
Drop: Jackson, Parks
Argentina: 15 Martín Rodríguez, 14 Gonzalo Camacho, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Felipe Contepomi (c), 11 Horacio Agulla, 10 Santiago Fernández, 9 Nicolás Vergallo, 8 Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe, 7 Juan Manuel Leguizamón, 6 Julio Farias Cabello, 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Manuel Carizza, 3 Juan Figallo, 2 Mario Ledesma Arocena, 1 Rodrigo Roncero.
Replacements: 16 Agustín Creevy, 17 Martín Scelzo, 18 Mariano Galarza, 19 Genaro Fessia, 20 Alfredo Lalanne, 21 Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino, 22 Juan Jose Imhoff.
Scotland: 15 Chris Paterson, 14 Max Evans, 13 Nick De Luca, 12 Graeme Morrison, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Ruaridh Jackson, 9 Rory Lawson (c), 8 Kelly Brown, 7 John Barclay, 6 Al Strokosch, 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Geoff Cross, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Allan Jacobsen.
Replacements: 16 Dougie Hall, 17 Alasdair Dickinson, 18 Nathan Hines, 19 Richie Vernon, 20 Mike Blair, 21 Dan Parks, 22 Simon Danielli.
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant referees: Nigel Owens (Wales), Chris Pollock (New Zealand)
Television match official: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)
Comments
7ton says...
keste03 and Piru
For what it matters
Watching ITV4 highlights programme monday night with overhead view and imaginary yellow line drawn it appears it appears the Argentine player was offside.
Posted 21:21 26th September 2011
chinstan says...
Personally as an Englishman I'm very nerous about next weekend! The Scots are famous for spoiling our parties and any one who thinks that the game is going to be easy, think again.
Posted 11:13 26th September 2011
keste03 says...
@piru - no, youre allowed to dig out with hands, but when the scrumhalf stands at the back of the ruck with the ball in his hands, the ball is out - as was the case with mike blair
Posted 07:39 26th September 2011
keste03 says...
to those slagging of Barnes - take a look at this http://forum.planet-rugby.com/index.php?t=getfile&id=41299& ... hands on....ball is out.
Posted 19:39 25th September 2011
Carpelone says...
@ jp07
Lot's of common sense and good thinking.
Keep you head up, mate. It is not over yet
Posted 19:31 25th September 2011
jp07 says...
@GCP, I agree wit developing the amateur level but I think they should put more into London Scottish. Having a 3rd pro team but in the AVIVA would be of great benefit. I cant think of anywhere in Scotland which could support more pro teams, look at the borders. The old school becoming a pro league (Watsonians, Boroughmuir etc would be great but thats a fantasy.
@TomBomb Argentina were poor today but they are a much better side than Scotland. They are missing loads of stars. We are not. I agree that Robinson isnt the problem I think Townsend is. Tactics have been fine, forwards good but backs pathetic. Townsend got an internaitonal backs coach job with no experience
Posted 18:12 25th September 2011
tombomb says...
Scotland and Argentina are just poor teams whitout a good fly half and any one of them would get hammered against the all blacks in the quarters I don't think andy robinson is a bad coach but the Scottish players could'nt win a knock out game even if it was handed too them on a plate like it was today
Posted 17:11 25th September 2011
Carpelone says...
Scotland blew this, against an Argentinian side far from the best form.
Wrong tactics. They played just into Pumas' hands, ruck by ruck, not converting possession into meters (and points).
Paterson had a stinker. I deeply respect him, but he made two or three mistakes which costed the game.
Why the hell did Robinson change Jackson (the hero of this match)?
This Scottish side have obviously many limits, however their forwards are not bad at all and Richie Gray will be a Lion both in Australia and New Zealand.
And I would not rule Scotaland completely off from the game with England. They will throw everything in and we see the scoreboard at the end.
Posted 17:01 25th September 2011
GCP_JONES says...
@ jp07 and scots _rsa
I think Scotland (unless they can find a rich benefactor) should actually reduce the professional teams down to one National squad with the amateur game feeding it.
Over the last few years you are unable to compete with other clubs in hanging onto your best players, its gettting worse for you,did'nt Clermont buy some young up-and-coming centre from Glasgow before they were able to get even a season of play out of him.
Look at whats happening at Glasgow for example a couple of seasons ago they went down to the south of France and beat Toulouse and finished in the top 3 in the Magners (pro 12), suddenly they lost 5 maybe 6 players to other clubs and last year they finished second from bottom in the league.
Add to that the fact that as a spectacle of watching or going to Firhill or a near empty Murrayfield ,it does not create the impression of a goods night entertainment. If you had one team playing in the Pro 12 ,the Heineken and Internationals,you might get bigger crowds both attending and watching on TV, which in turn would mean an ability to hang onto your best players and I reckon make Scottish rugby really competiive.
Above all its up to the IRB to do something its all well and good helping the likes of Canada and Romania, but they also should be mindful that they should also stop countries with a great rugby tradition going into decline
Posted 16:43 25th September 2011
hougiebear says...
Permutations and Combinations galore but only one combination can gaurantee that Scotland will go through
Scotland need to beat England by more than 7 points and get 4 tries thus denying the English a losing bonus point. Argentina will get 5 points from Georgia, so Scotland need to secure a win basically and a win they haven't pulled off in god knows how many years.
Scotland are a team I like, but it is seriously too much to ask. Similar to Ireland 4 years ago going into the Argentina game, just too much to ask on the final day. England will win the group with Argentina second.
One glaring stat today - Argentina missed 19 tackles, and still scotland failed to score a try. Against NZ, this will lead to a tanking. To be honest, Scotland are lucky to be going home early instead of having to deal with the brutal All Blacks in the QF
Posted 16:19 25th September 2011
rayilvem says...
dear readers , those of you dissing Englands chances v Scots next w/e. It would appear that at odds of 1/14, and 13/2 for Scots oddschecker does not agree. If your condidence holds get on the 13/2 !! if you dare.
Posted 16:16 25th September 2011
rayilvem says...
Bothhands says, ''If he were English he would be uneasy'' Well sir I am English and I can assure you I am not uneasy at the prospect of taking on the Scots !
They were outplayed by the passion of the Pumas, and complimented by possibly one of the best tries of the tourno... thus far , how many did he beat en route to the line four or was it five ? Maybe Gregor should have come down out of the box ! ok I jest sir.
Posted 15:57 25th September 2011
Herbman says...
Fantastic match. Can't wait to see more of these guys in the expanded tri-nations!
Posted 15:13 25th September 2011
scot_rsa says...
As for the match, we just didn't show composure and back ourselves. I don't think some of the substitutions helped but it's history now. While not wanting to overreact, I do think the players and management are probably doing the best they can while we still see no effective strategy below national level for the future. Four pro sides didn't work but should do under a more tuned-in SRU. Our rugby heartland (the Borders) has been alienated and we need to mend that. Promotion of the game at schools level is woeful. Everyone here plays football and we're rubbish at that, so what chance does rugby have? There is an image problem that it is, more than ever, a public schoolboy game run by the old boys network. That's taking us to ruin as other nations go past us. Get young blood into the SRU, bring back the Borders, select better home venues for each pro team (Murrayfield is a wasteland for Edinburgh) and put the pro teams into the schools and communities. We've got good players and supporters, don't lose them.
Posted 14:45 25th September 2011
carpelone says...
@ jp07
Spot on! Just too difficult to compete with only two professional teams. They must increase them up to four, like the Irish and Welsh.
Heart will never desert the Scots
Posted 14:02 25th September 2011
ChrisInCrete says...
A gripping/compelling game with a nailbiting finish - just goes to show that you don't need a shedload of tries.
Shame about missing Argentina charging offside at the failed dropgoal attempt.
Is it all the the refs fault - he does have two assistants who are meant to assist?
But that's the way it goes, Scotland lost too much ball in the first half from isolated players and turnovers
I really can't see the Scots taking a win and a bonus point next week.
Posted 13:33 25th September 2011
jp07 says...
If Scotland lose to England without a losing bonus point they are out of the World Cup
If Scotland lose to England with a losing bonus point and Argentina lose against Georgia, Scotland go through
If Scotland draw with England, they need Argentina to lose against Georgia
If Scotland and Argentina both win without a bonus point, it will come down to points difference between the three teams, though England are way out in front
If Scotland and Argentina win with bonus points, and England do not earn a losing bonus point, England are out
England have scored 17 tries and conceded just the one.
Scotland have scored a grand total of 4 tries and conceded 3.
So Jonesy we are out
Posted 12:39 25th September 2011
Michtymauler says...
Scotland very limited in their options re development etc.. Agree with the earlier poster. Must be an all time low for them now. Maybe time for a rethink for SRU?
Posted 12:23 25th September 2011
redphi says...
Argentina needs to wake up and realize this is not football , stop trying to look for penalties,stop slowing the game down, stop faking injuries, next year you'll be playing with the big boys in the 4 nations ,then perhaps you'll become one of the Top teams, who all happen to be in the southern part of planetrugby ;)
Posted 12:15 25th September 2011
sandal says...
@Michtymauler
You say: """But WHY has the RWC been held at this time of the year when the weather has been so bad. I think every Scotland match has been played in torrential rain as have many others. This is not good for rugby! It's the worldwide platform to display rugby at it's best and instead the viewers see a bunch of guys who keep dropping the ball and sliding around everywhere!!!"""
Rugby is a winter game, Mitchymauler. Get used to it. I have lived in Scotland, and I know it rains there as much as anywhere else.
There is no excuse for the boring, unambitious rain that Scotland have played in this tournament. You don't see the All Blacks or Fiji playing with so little ambition just because it is raining. In the 1990s a Fijian team won a Scottish Sevens tournament playing running rugby in continual rain. They were much admired at the time, but it had little influence on the way British teams play the game.
British rugby fans say either:
a) British rugby is less entertaining than southern hemisphere rugby because the weather is worse in the north.
b) The weather in New Zealand is awful.
It depends on whether they are defending the rugby they play or are simply bagging NZ.
Well, which is it? It can't be both.
I have long been an admirer of Scottish rugby. But in this tournament they have played unambitious, unentertaining rugby. Yes, it is harder in the wet, but that is no excuse for the rugby Scotland have played. They have been a disappointment. This time, I shan't be sorry if they go out before the quarterfinals.
As for the question you ask: why has the tournament been played at this time of year? It is always played at this time of year, since an IRB vote in which the northern unions outvoted the southern unions who, just like their northern counterparts, wanted it played at the start of their domestic season.
Posted 11:35 25th September 2011