Laidlaw plans for Scotland to ‘cut loose’
Captain wants to lay the platform for Russell and Hastings to shine against Argentina at Murrayfield
Gregor Townsend may be trying selections that he merrily admits he would not risk in a Six Nations match, but any sense the autumn Tests are a time for experimentation will disappear sharply at 2.30pm this afternoon.
After Scotland targeted three wins from four autumn internationals, their record stands at two losses in three games, with that record prompting captain Greig Laidlaw to admit that today’s Test against Argentina has taken on an added significance.
“There’s a lot at stake because we understand the difference between winning one out of four matches and two out of four is big,” he said.
In the summer, a young Scotland side featuring just seven of today’s starters – including Adam Hastings at No10 – humbled Argentina 44-15 in Resistencia. However, there have been huge changes since then on the Pumas side – just six who started in June are playing today.
That change has followed the resignation of coach Daniel Hourcade in June after a series of poor displays, to be replaced by former Pumas flanker Mario Ledesma.
Argentina have once again become formidably difficult to beat. Wins against South Africa and in Australia hint at the progress made. One of the many reasons for their rapid improvement is because they compete formidably at the breakdown, which was where Scotland faltered last week.
“You have to give credit to South Africa’s big men, who hunted hard with two guys at the breakdown,” said Matt Taylor, Scotland’s defence coach. “We were a little bit slow to win races to the ball, and once those big men were over it they were hard to shift. Historically, Argentina always went hard at our breakdown, so that’s something that could happen. We need to be better, because Argentina have some really good players in that area, such as [Agustin] Creevy.”
With Scotland hoping to play an expansive, high-tempo game, the pre-match talk has concentrated on Scotland’s attacking line-up, with Townsend experimenting with pairing Finn Russell and Hastings in midfield. However, as Laidlaw acknowledged, attacking threat is useless if you either lose the ball in contact, or the ball coming back from each ruck is too slow to launch effective attacks.
“We need to try to break the game up if we can and keep speeding it,” said Laidlaw. “That’s a big mindset for us this week. We need to win quick rucks and really make sure we have a solid set-piece.”
Scotland also need to make sure they begin the game well. Under Ledesma, Argentina have taken an early lead in six of eight Tests – including against the All Blacks.
But if Scotland can withstand the early storm, Laidlaw believes their firepower behind the scrum could be decisive. Although Scotland’s back three – which now features young Edinburgh full-back Blair Kinghorn on the wing – were the big threat against Fiji and South Africa, Laidlaw shares the sense of anticipation around the partnering of Russell and Hastings.
“It is my job to implement our game plan, but I also have to give Finn and Adam the confidence to cut loose,” he said. “It is such a fine line. They can cause mayhem as long as it is in the right area.”