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in Rosario
ARGENTINA duly claimed their seventh consecutive victory over Scotland in Rosario yesterday evening although they needed an injury-time try from centre Gonzalo Tiesi to make sure of it.
The Scots were always in this game and actually led their hosts for the vast majority of the second half. They will feel that this was one that got away from them and it may be a long time before a Scotland XV gets a better chance to claim that first Test victory in Argentina.

Admittedly the men in blue never really threatened the Pumas' try line, but they displayed great spirit and determination in defence. The forwards competed manfully against their bigger opponents but the quality of the ball they provided to a lively Scottish back line was poor in comparison to the Pumas' possession and Mike Blair was scragged more than once at the base of the breakdown.

The match was a little light on quality but utterly enthralling for all that. The lead changed hands several times as the pendulum swung first one way then the other and the contest was finely balanced right up until that late touchdown by Tiesi, who took advantage of a turnover to sprint to the line with Chris Paterson trailing in his wake.

Not for the first time, the Scotland fullback kicked all his team's points with five penalties from six attempts, but even his heroics could not give the Scots a morale-boosting win. For all his success, the full-back will rue the one he missed; after 36 consecutive successes for Scotland in front of the posts, the world's most reliable goal-kicker finally fluffed one in the first half.

Understandably enough there were a few nerves displayed by both sides in the opening exchanges with Federico Todeschini and Felipe Contepomi both putting a little too much heat on their kicks to touch while for his part Dan Parks twice picked out an opposition player with pinpoint accuracy.

The Scots were happy enough with their start. An early penalty allowed Parks to stick the ball into the corner, Scott MacLeod stole the first opposition throw at the sidelines and Matt Mustchin ran straight and hard on his debut.

It was the Scots who opened the scoring. A clever move at the back of the lineout saw Blair and Mustchin send Ally Hogg into the heart of the Pumas' defence and when the home bodies killed the ball at the breakdown the Scotland fullback kicked his team into a 3-0 lead.

The Argentines took this as a personal affront and mounted a strong series of attacks that only ended when Mustchin was penalised for slapping down a pass. Todeschini made no mistake and the scores were level after 15 minutes.

Worryingly for the Scots, they were turned over at the very next scrum and the home side had obviously done their homework in open play by targeting the slighter bodies manning the Scots defensive line.

The Argentine pressure eventually paid off when hooker Alvaro Tejeda was driven over after the Pumas worked the blindside beautifully. Todeschini, left winger Tomas De Vedia, lock Esteban Lozada and Contepomi were all involved and the move was finished superbly when the debutant number two drove low over the Scots line with a little help from his friends.

Todeschini converted but Paterson kicked his second and third penalties shortly after to keep the Scots in the match as the home side appeared to be tightening their grip on proceedings. The match was see-sawing one way and then the other with the visitors enjoying the best of the play before half time and the Scots dominating the third quarter.

Thom Evans made one good kick to the corner and then the winger combined beautifully with Paterson up the left flank only for Bernard Stortoni to charge down the full-back's attempted chip.

With eight minutes of the first half still to play the unthinkable happened. Paterson lined up his fourth penalty of the day from wide on the left after the Pumas had been penalised at a set scrum and… missed!

After 36 consecutive successful strikes at goal for Scotland, the Gala man finally showed his mortality by pushing one just wide. At least he took some solace when Todeschini promptly followed suit at the other end of the field and Parks pushed a snap drop goal just wide of the posts with the last kick of the half and the home side took a narrow one point lead into the break.

The second half started much as the first had with Paterson kicking Scotland back into the lead with his fourth penalty after Ally Hogg did wonderfully well to catch Todeschini in possession. Regaining the lead put a spring back in their steps and the Scots forward seven managed to nudge a rolling maul forward for the first time in the match, giving the Pumas a taste of their own medicine.

Blair made a neat break from another scrappy lineout and the restless Argentine crowd expressed their frustration with a slow handclap; music to the Scots' ears especially when Paterson kicked his fifth penalty of the afternoon when Alan Lewis again found fault with the Pumas' set scrum.

There was some consolation for Chris Paterson, who scored his 668th point for Scotland and broke Gavin Hastings' previous record

The Irish referee then courted the wrath of the crowd even more by penalising the home side in the shadow of the Scottish posts and then wiping off a try by Bernard Stortoni after the TMO judged that the Glasgow full-back had hit the corner flag.

Todeschini slotted one penalty on 56 minutes to narrow the gap to just three points and the same man struck again, giving his side a one point advantage with five minutes left on the clock. The Scots threw everything at the opposition but they were having to attack from far too deep inside their own half and Tiesi's late touchdown extinguished what hopes they harboured of pulling this one out of the fire.

Argentina: B Stortoni, J Piossek, G Tiesi, F Contepomi, T De Vedia; F Todeschini, N Vergallo; M Ayerza, A Tejeda, S Bonorino, Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe, Esteban Lobada, M Durand, Juan Fernandez Lobbe, Juan Martin Leguiaman.

Scotland: C Paterson, S Danielli, B Cairns, G Morrison, T Evans (S Webster 68 min); D Parks, M Blair (R Lawson 73 min); A Jacobsen (A Dickinson 68 min), R Ford, E Murray, M Mustchin, Scott MacLeod (A Kellock 68 min), A Strokosch, A Hogg, J Beattie (Brown 55 min).

Scorers: Argentina – Try: Tejeda. Tiesi Conv: Todeschini Pen: Todeschini (3). Scotland – Try: Conv: Pen: Paterson (5).

Referee: Alan Lewis (Ireland).

SCOTSMAN