Skipper Laidlaw shoots down the Pumas with very last kick of the match
SCOTLAND 19 ARGENTINA 16
SCOTLAND left it late to snatch a win and improve theirWorld Cup seeding.
We were in the 82nd minute when, with a damaging draw looking likely, Leguizamon was pinged for a dangerous tackle and Greig Laidlaw slotted the winning penalty.
With the Pumas eighth in theWorld Rankings and Scotland one place below them before kick-off, a win was vital to avoid being left in the third pot which would make qualification for the knock-out stages that much more difficult.
Scotland applied early pressure and when Creevy failed to release Russell after the fly-half collected his own towering garryowen, Laidlaw confidently slotted the penalty to give his men a second-minute lead.
On a freezing evening, the crowd had had to sit through seemingly interminable “entertainment” which delayed the kick-off, and even then it took a good 20 minutes before they saw any semblance of rugby.
What action there was was pretty poor, with the Dark Blues’ passing not up to their usual standard, but at least they were playing the game in the right half of the field.
The scrum was a shambles – no thanks to
the ref who took an age to sort out each and every one before usually ending them prematurely with a random penalty – and when Argentina collapsed one in the middle of the pitch Laidlaw doubled the advantage.
It was a rare bright spot in a frankly funereal first 40 minutes, though the Pumas finally sparked into life on the half-hour when Cordero was hauled down close to the line which was only preserved by some desperate defending.
As the miserable first half ran out, Scotland were guilty of not releasing in the tackle and Sanchez halved the lead with a long-range penalty.
The luckiest player was hooker Fraser Brown who missed 10 minutes having his head bandaged, which was probably more fun than watching this game.
Sanchez levelled the scores when the Scots strayed offside in defence soon after the restart, and with Argentina now looking dangerous they took the lead when Orlando gathered Hernandez’s cute kick, stepped Maitland and flattened Hogg on his way over the line.
Sanchez converted but Scotland struck back immediately, Jones doing the hard work, Maitland finishing in the corner and Laidlaw levelling matters with a difficult conversion from the touchline.
On the hour, another scrum penalty let Sanchez nudge the visitors back in front and that seemed to galvanise Scotland, and a point-blank Laidlaw three-pointer quickly restored parity.
Russell was wide with a drop-goal attempt with seven minutes left to run as Scotland tried to snatch the win, but then they were given a gilt-edged chance thanks to an illegal Puma tackle.
For the second game in a row, Laidlaw’s kick cannoned back off the post and another Russell drop attempt was charged down.
But deep in injury time another dangerous tackle on Ross Ford gave Laidlaw one last chance and this time the skipper made no mistake.