Second half dominance steers Argentina to 33-24 win over Scotland

Scotland 24-33 Argentina. Murrayfield

Argentina ran in five second-half tries as they came from behind to defeat Scotland 33-24 in the Autumn Nations Series at Murrayfield on Sunday.

Scotland had surged into a 21-0 lead by 43 minutes thanks to a brace from Ewan Ashman and a try from Jack Dempsey, but Argentina roared back with scores from Julián Montoya, Rodrigo Isgró, Pedro Rubiolo, Pablo Matera and Justo Piccardo to seal a dramatic victory.

Argentina suffered an early setback when Juan Mallía was sin-binned in the fourth minute, and moments later, Scotland’s Gregor Brown departed for a Head Injury Assessment, replaced by Matt Fagerson.

The hosts opened the scoring in the 12th minute when Finn Russell fired a flat pass for Dempsey, who powered over the line. Russell added the extras for a 7-0 lead. With Brown failing his HIA, Scotland struck again around the half-hour mark as Ashman collected a pass from Dobie and crashed over. Russell converted to give Scotland a 14-0 advantage at the break.

Scotland made a perfect start to the second half when Ashman shrugged off defenders to claim his second try, with Russell once more on target to extend the lead to 21-0.

Argentina spurned a chance in the 48th minute when Matías Moroni knocked on close to the line after taking a pass from Mateo Carreras but the momentum shifted five minutes later when Blair Kinghorn was sin-binned for an illegal challenge, and Montoya was awarded Argentina’s first try following consultation with the TMO.

The Pumas struck again at the end of the third quarter, Isgró diving over from close range to narrow the gap to 21-12, before a Russell penalty briefly steadied Scotland.

As the match entered the final 10 minutes, Argentina surged back. Rubiolo crashed under the posts, with Carreras converting to make it a five-point game, and Matera then handed the visitors their first lead in the 74th minute.

With everything still in the balance, Argentina showed the greater composure in the closing stages. Piccardo broke a tackle to score their fifth try of the half, completing a remarkable comeback and securing a nine-point win.

Team line-up:

Scotland XV: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Rory Hutchinson, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 Kyle Steyn, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Jamie Dobie, 1 Pierre Schoeman, 2 Ewan Ashman, 3 D’arcy Rae, 4 Scott Cummings, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 6 Gregor Brown, 7 Rory Darge, 8 Jack Dempsey.

Reserves: 16 George Turner, 17 Nathan McBeth, 18 Elliot Millar Mills, 19 Josh Bayliss, 20 Matt Fagerson, 21 George Horne, 22 Tom Jordan, 23 Duhan van der Merwe.

Argentina XV: 15 Juan Cruz Mallia, 14 Rodrigo Isgro, 13 Matias Moroni, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Geronimo Prisciantelli, 9 Simon Benitez Cruz, 1 Mayco Vivas, 2 Julian Montoya, 3 Pedro Delgado, 4 Guido Petti, 5 Pedro Rubiolo, 6 Santiago Grondona, 7 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 8 Joaquin Oviedo.

Reserves: 16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Thomas Gallo, 18 Francisco Coria Marchetti, 19 Efrain Elias, 20 Pablo Matera, 21 Agustin Moyano, 22 Santiago Carreras, 23 Justo Piccardo.