Laidlaw seals dramatic win for Scotland
With a Greig Laidlaw penalty two minutes into extra time, Scotland fashioned a dramatic late victory over Argentina that not only salved the memory of their failure to close out last week’s tight game against Australia but which also moved Scotland above Argentina in the world rankings and into a World Cup seeding position.
Scotland’s win over the World Cup quarter-finalists and habitual winners at Murrayfield produced a visceral relief from the crowd and players as Scotland’s frantic final 10 minutes yielded the winning score. The crowd had almost resigned themselves to a draw against a world-weary Pumas side after Laidlaw’s 78th-minute penalty came back off a post and Finn Russell’s second droppedgoal attempt of the last eight minutes had been charged down with seconds of normal time remaining.
But when replacement Pumas flanker Juan Manuel Leguizamon illegally chop-tackled Ross Ford in front of the referee, Laidlaw was given one last chance of redemption. This time the Scotland skipper did not miss.
“There were a lot of positives to come out of this game, and the result validates a lot of the things we’ve been doing,” said head coach Vern Cotter. “It wasn’t going to be an open game because they came to squeeze us. We weren’t perfect but the result was a reflection of our determination and character. It was an arm-wrestle but I’m proud of the way we came through it.”
It was, in truth, a dramatic end to a largely underwhelming game in which the only other genuine high points were a tidy debut from young blindside Magnus Bradbury and a remarkable carry from Huw Jones which took out four Pumas defenders and created a try for Sean Maitland.
Laidlaw’s boot and Jones’ virtuoso run swung a scrappy game which could have gone either way, despite an early Scotland score. The first points were on the board almost as soon as the Red Hot Chilli Pipers had packed away their gear from their pre-match set, Laidlaw kicking Scotland ahead from just inside the 10-metre line after Pumas skipper Agustin Creevy went over the top at a ruck.
Both sides struggled to develop any continuity or extended phase play against dominant defences with good line speed, and it was no surprise when the next score came from a Laidlaw penalty after Argentina’s front row collapsed a scrum.
That seemed to spark some life into a dreadfully lacklustre first half, Pumas centre Matias Orlando making a break and inside centre Juan Martin Hernandez taking it on before being hauled down just short. Argentina battered on the door but Scotland’s defence was resolute, even at the scrum, Nicholas Sanchez eventually dropping a pass and Scotland hacking downfield.
Yet the Pumas would not be denied. Two minutes before the break, the otherwise faultless Jonny Gray was penalised just inside Scotland’s half for failing to release the tackled player and Sanchez smacked over a huge penalty to get the Pumas off the mark.
By the barnstorming way Argentina started the second half, they must have heard a few home truths at the break, because as soon as the whistle went they began to drive with their forwards, gaining valuable ground. They drew a penalty within seconds of the restart when Stuart Hogg went high on Hernandez, the visitors kicking to the corner. From the resulting forward drive Scotland were tempted offside and Sanchez kicked the Pumas back onto level terms.
Scotland’s commitment to attack occasionally left them vulnerable, and 10 minutes into the second period the Pumas took advantage, Sanchez flighting a beautifully weighted kick into the left-hand corner, with the bounce tak- ing the ball into Orlando’s hands midstride, the Puma outpacing the covering Maitland and crashing through Hogg’s attempted tackle to put the visi- tors ahead for the first time.
Cotter said afterwards that one of the most pleasing aspects of this win was the way Scotland hit straight back after they had conceded a try, and four minutes after Argentina had taken the lead Jones, whose impressive home debut last week included two tries, made the same sort of break that yielded his second try against the Wallabies.
This time he again beat two tacklers but instead of going over himself he offloaded to Maitland, who claimed just his third try in Scotland colours, Laidlaw kicking a superb conversion from the right touchline. It was the Pumas who struck next through another Sanchez penalty. Yet Scotland camped in the Argentina half and were rewarded for a frantic assault on Argentina’s line when Creevy went offside at a ruck in front of his own posts.
The Pumas skipper was lucky not to get a yellow card for killing the ball in the red zone, but Laidlaw had no complaints as he kicked Scotland back on level terms. And then came the finalquarter mayhem. The fact that it looked like victory may never come made its late arrival all the more satisfying.