Townsend hails fledgling duo as Scotland make Pumas suffer
Gregor Townsend, the Scotland head coach, was a satisfied man after watching his side demolish Argentina in Resistencia.
From the first minute, all his selection gambles paid off and he could sit back and look at a job well done from his key players.
He was full of praise for young half-backs George Horne, who scored two tries, and Adam Hastings, who helped make both of them.
“There was about a 140cap difference between the two sets of half-backs and there are quality players in the Argentinian team – [Martin] Landajo and [Nicolas] Sanchez – I love watching them play,” Townsend said.
“That was a huge challenge for our guys on their second starts, but they played with so much positivity, they thrived in that environment. It was really encouraging for the future.”
In fact just about everything Scotland tried in an all-action first half came off.
“This does not happen very much in Test rugby, it happens even more rarely in club rugby when you go away from home and you execute almost everything in the first half,” Townsend said.
Apart from the half-backs, the other gamble that paid off was hooker Fraser Brown being switched to flanker.
“Every selection, you use the term ‘gamble’, we look at what is best for the team,” said Townsend. “Sometimes it does not work because the game goes differently from how you thought or not as well as you hope.
“We just wanted our best players on the field and Fraser is an excellent hooker, he showed that.
“His back went into spasm yesterday after training, he had a fever overnight, but still produced that outstanding performance.”