A week after their defeat against the Pumas in the first test match of the series, Scotland took their revenge on the lawn of Salta (6-29).
Scotland followed the example of Ireland, England and Wales. While nations in the Northern Hemisphere had a perfect day against those in the Southern Hemisphere, the XV du Chardon concluded it by taking the best of Argentina in Salta. Taking advantage of the wanderings of the South American defense, Blair Kinghorn opened the scoring after four minutes but in the process, Grant Gilchrist was guilty of a “neck roll” and Emiliano Boffelli did not hesitate to put back both teams tied.
Just under ten minutes from the break, the Pumas striker did it again after a high tackle from Ben White. However, it was the Scots who took the lead after a first period that saw defenses take precedence over attacks. For his 50th cap with Scotland, Hamish Watson forced his way through the Argentinian defense to flatten the first try of the game. With Blair Kinghorn missing the conversion, Scotland reached the break two points clear.
A brilliant victory in Salta.
2⃣1⃣ unanswered second half points from Gregor Townsend’s men. #AsOne pic.twitter.com/maqhpPPeeI
— Scottish Rugby (@Scotlandteam) July 9, 2022
Scotland took advantage of Argentina’s failures
An advantage that the XV du Chardon reinforced from the first minute of the second act. At the conclusion of a collective action initiated by Rory Darge, Mark Bennett played the defense of the Pumas to add to the bill. Argentina’s reaction was expected and it came on the dismissal. Guido Petti went to flatten in a corner but, for a forward pass, the try was logically refused by the referee of the meeting, the French Mathieu Raynal. To add to the Argentinian disarray, Emiliano Boffelli left the lawn for ten minutes, having received a yellow card for a foul of antiplay five meters from his line.
A numerical superiority which Scotland immediately took advantage of. Matt Fagerson took advantage of the spaces in the opposing defense to flatten at the foot of the posts. Shortly after the hour, Sam Johnson cemented Scotland’s dominance with a try on an assist from Ali Price. Back to the wall, the Pumas pushed to the end but were too imprecise in the transmissions and clumsy with the ball. With this victory (6-29), Scotland equalizes with a victory everywhere in the series.
