Magnus helps Scotland defeat Pumas
Former Oban Lorne player Magnus Bradbury turned out for Scotland in the recent international against Argentina.
Scotland concluded their 2018 Summer Tour with an emphatic win over the Pumas at the Estadio Centenario taking the victory by 44 points to 15.
In wet conditions, and in front of a packed crowd in Resistencia, the visitors scored five first-half tries to put the game out of sight by the end of the first 40.
Such was the scoring rate, the Scots surpassed their previous highest score in the country of 26 points by the 22-minute mark, breaking their previous best from Buenos Aires in 2008.
Scrum-half George Horne scored his first Scotland try as part of a brace and was joined by Blair Kinghorn, captain Stuart McInally and Magnus Bradbury in crossing the Argentine line in the first half.
It was George Horne who set the tone in the second minute after his half-back partner Adam Hastings broke through the defensive line inside the Argentine half and put his Glasgow Warriors teammate in for the try on two minutes.
Brother Pete Horne converted to give the Scots an early lead (0-7).
Edinburgh’s Blair Kinghorn crossed the line shortly after centre Nick Grigg burst through the tackle and made ground inside the hosts’ half and then passed wide to put the rangy winger in for a clear run to score (0-14).
Scotland continued to pile on the pressure and it wasn’t long before another scoring opportunity was taken.
Fraser Brown, who started on the openside for the first time for Scotland, showed his strength over ball to win a penalty at the breakdown inside the Scotland half.
Full-back Stuart Hogg stepped up to drill a kick into the Argentinian 22.
McInally threw into the lineout, collected the ball on a great angle off the back of the resulting maul and tore through the defence, spinning out of contact to give a clear run to the line join the highest scoring Scotland hookers in history on four tries (0-21).
A penalty by fly-half Nicholas Sanchez got the home side on the board but the hosts didn’t threaten the Scots line much in the first half (3-21).
Even the weather turned on the hosts after 20mins as torrential rain broke the evening humidity.
A long range kick for territory by Hastings pinned the Argentinians in their own 22. The resulting lineout was overthrown and Fraser Brown seized on the loose ball and headed for the line.
This enabled the pack to recycle possession and batter the line. After multiple phases the dam broke and Magnus Bradbury emerged with the ball under a heap of bodies over the line, to score his second try of the tour.
Peter Horne again converted and added a subsequent penalty (3-31).
George Horne and Hastings combined again as the half came to a close.
With penalty advantage close to the Argentine line, Horne chipped the ball over the defensive line, Hastings rose and tapped the ball back for the in-coming Horne to collect and score. The conversion from out wide was missed (3-36).
Half-time: Argentina 3-36 Scotland.
The second half couldn’t, and didn’t, compete with the first 40 for drama and scoring rate.
Argentina enjoyed more possession and created several threatening breaks. Their improvements were rewarded with two tries from flanker Tomas Lezana and centre Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias.
Scotland, for their part, added a penalty and a try by winger Dougie Fife following a smart set-piece move from the back of an attacking scrum, with Hogg joining the line and throwing a 15m try-scoring pass off the left hand.
As the conditions forced errors from both sides and substitutions broke up the fluency of the game, Scotland headed for victory having killed the game off early, returning home with a win to bring a curtain down on the tour.
Tour results: Canada 10, Scotland 48; USA 30, Scotland 29; Argentina 15, Scotland 44.
The final countdown to next year’s Rugby World Cup in Japan starts in November with the Autumn Tests. The series opens in Cardiff with a new fixture against Wales for The Doddie Weir Cup before three home games at BT Murrayfield on consecutive Saturdays against Fiji, South Africa and Argentina.
The home series kicks off against the thrilling Fijians, famous the world over for their exuberant brand of running rugby and returning to BT Murrayfield for the first time since 2009.
This is followed the next weekend by the mighty Springboks, rejuvenated under new coach Rassie Erasmus and hitting form in time for the Rugby World Cup.
The series ends against Argentina, with Scotland aiming for a third consecutive win at BT Murrayfield after the 19-16 win in 2016 and the nine-try thriller 41-31 the previous year.