Skipper salutes brilliant Hogg for setting up Maitland’s crucial try
SCOTLAND captain Greig Laidlaw praised Stuart Hogg for his brilliance in setting up Sean Maitland’s vital try against Argentina.
With 15 minutes left, full-back Hogg caught the Pumas defence on the hop by switching play down the short side and finding the pass that allowed the winger to slide in for a pivotal touchdown.
‘I thought Hoggy was strong today, especially with the way he set up the try,’ said Laidlaw.
‘He picked himself off the ground, saw what was on and set up the touchdown.
‘We were probably going left but he just screamed for it, changed the way the ball was going and played in Sean. Hoggy was excellent. He took a few high balls under pressure after maybe missing the first one.
‘He defused a few of those bombs and got us out of some sticky situations.
‘He is still just 26 but vastly experienced. That is the kind of experience we need right through that spine of the team.’
Laidlaw said he was delighted with the narrow victory, which showed his team knew how to grind out wins.
‘The conditions were not great and they dictated the way we played a bit,’ added the captain.
‘Maybe we shouldn’t have kicked a few times in the first half and Gregor Townsend picked up on that in the dressing room afterwards.
‘If we were going to kick, use the right kick. We tried to keep it in hand a bit more and got our rewards.
‘At this level, it is about scoring more points than the opposition and winning the games. We are delighted to do that.
‘Could we have played a little bit better? Yes, but we scored a nice try around the edge at the
end to take the game away from them. At times, it was very frustrating but sometimes you must be patient, not try to force things too much.’
Laidlaw was pleased with the way Scotland stopped Argentina scoring a try and put that down to the plan laid out before the game by their defence coach, Matt Taylor.
‘A shut-out was tremendous,’ said the Clermont Auvergne No9. ‘We won’t do that too often in international rugby.
‘Matt will be happy, although there are still things to work on.
‘As a whole, I think we are in a really good place. The boys put in a big performance in Wales at a venue where it hasn’t been easy for Scotland to win.
‘We were right in the game, should have scored another try then it would have been a different game.
‘There was a strong performance against Fiji and we were within touching distance of South Africa, the third/ fourth best team in the world, last week then a good win today.
‘We’ll learn from this and come back ready for the Six Nations.’