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Martin Rodrigues slots the winning drop goal - Source: Reuters -
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A late drop goal by Martin Rodriguez gave injury-depleted Argentina a 9-6 win over Scotland on Sunday for their first win in three November internationals.
The Pumas, beaten by England and Wales on the last two weekends, trailed 6-0 to two Phil Godman penalties at halftime but deservedly drew level before centre Rodriguez struck three minutes from time.
Scotland were going for their second successive win over Argentina following seven defeats in a row against them, and brought them down to earth after victories over Fiji and, for the first time in 27 years, Australia.
As a spectacle the match fell far short of what was hoped for. Both sides played a tight game and when Scotland tried to move the ball wide they did without any penetration.
They did go ahead with a Godman penalty and the first five, who also missed two, added another to earn a deserved 6-0 halftime lead.
Having rarely threatened in the first half Argentina began to reveal their attacking strength after the break.
Scotland were reduced to 14 when Nathan Hines was shown a yellow card for a dangerous tackle on Gonzalo Tiesi and from the ensuing penalty, Rodriguez struck to halve Scotland's lead.
Rodriguez kicked his second penalty to level the scores after Scotland were put under intense pressure at a scrum.
Scotland, however, replied with a thrilling move involving Johnny Beattie, replacement Nick De Luca and Sean Lamont but the Puma defence was able to stop a potential try by Cusiter.
A long range penalty miss by Rodriguez and then an off-target drop goal attempt from Santiago Fernandez was the prelude to the killer blow, a sweetly-struck drop from Rodriguez following a succession of short-range drives by the forwards.
Argentina coach Santiago Phelan attributed his side's win to a massive defensive effort in the first half and an ability to step up the pace after the break.
"In the first half we didn't have good ball to attack and we had to defend. But you can't always defend. After half time we were looking to get better ball to improve our attack system," he told a news conference.
"This was a very important win for us after losing to England and Wales. It was also very pleasing because we came here with a number of younger players and it was good to give them the experience of international rugby."
Scotland captain Chris Cusiter admitted that his side had not coped adequately with Argentina's second-half surge.
"When we were under pressure we didn't execute out skills," he said. "We knew we'd only get a couple of opportunities, but we didn't finish them.
"In the first half there was a break up the middle of the field by Sean Lamont that we should have finished in the corner and in the second half I was at the end of a good move but they had the legs on me.
"We created a lot of stuff and played a lot of rugby in the first half. We struggled a bit when Nathan Hines went off. We were under the cosh for 10 minutes.
"We have to learn the lessons from this game and move on to the Six Nations."
