Scotland looks to end trilogy on a high note
WITH Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend making eight changes to his starting XV for this match and opposite number Michael Cheika making 11, tonight’s series decider will feel like a standalone match rather than the final instalment of a summer trilogy.
The aim for Scotland is to combine the attacking vigour of the third quarter of last week’s match with the defensive defiance of the fourth quarter, and to play at that level across the full 80 minutes.
The tourists must, at all costs, avoid the inaccuracies of the first half because Los Pumas have a point to prove after last week’s reversal and will be roared on by an enthusiastic support at Estadio Unico Madre de Ciudades, the 30,000-capacity state-of-theart venue for this match.
Regardless of the wholesale changes in personnel, a number of key match ups are set to have a central bearing on how this match pans out.
Ewan Ashman v Agustin Creevy
Canadian-born and Englishraised Ashman qualifies for Scotland through his father from Edinburgh. He first represented the country at under-16 level and really caught the public eye at under20s when he scored 11 tries in 15 appearances over two seasons.
Ashman’s try-scoring exploits carried on when he stepped into the senior set-up with a spectacular swallow dive into the corner being crucial to Scotland’s narrow win over Australia last November.
This will be the 22-yearold’s fourth cap and first start. Townsend will be looking for a big contribution in the loose, but the tight stuff is a hooker’s bread and butter, and Ashman is up against an Argentinean pack which will be determined to squeeze the life out of Scotland’s set-piece. The line-out last week was one area which did not improve for Scotland as the game went on, so the Sale Sharks man’s darts will have to be on the money this week to help ensure a more reliable flow of possession for his team
At 37 and with 89 caps to his name, Creevy is at the other end of the experience spectrum. His recall to the squad for this series ended three years in the wilderness, and injury to Los Pumas skipper Julian Montoya has handed him this starting opportunity.
The crafty old fox is bound to be viewing the babyfaced Ashman as vulnerable prey.
Ali Price v Lautaro Bazan Valez
For the first time since inheriting the No.9 jersey from Greig Laidlaw after the 2019 World Cup, Price’s place in the starting side is under real pressure, with Ben White seizing his opportunity when Townsend rotated the squad last weekend with both hands.
In turning himself into a dependable game manager, Price has lost some of the zip from the base which characterised his early days in the national side and the challenge he now faces is to strike the same sort of balance as White managed last week.
He’s up against a novice at this level tonight, but Valez’s hinterland as a sevens expert up until three months ago means that he is likely to play fast and loose.
Rory Darge v Pablo Matera
The return from injury of Matera, one of the genuinely world class players in the Argentinean squad, is a huge boost because Scotland getting the upper-hand in the back-row tussle last weekend was key to the match swinging their way. The theory that the Darge-Watson-Fagerson triumvirate make up for what they lack in bulk with dynamism and work-rate is going to be vigorously and relentlessly tested tonight, with this pair set to be at the heart of the battle. It won’t be an exhibition for the feint hearted.