Gregor Townsend warned Argentina that Scotland were just “scratching the surface” after levelling their three-match Test series with a comprehensive 29-6 success in Salta.
Scotland ran in four tries through Hamish Watson, Mark Bennett, Matt Fagerson and Sam Johnson and scored 21 unanswered second-half points as Los Pumas were blown away on Independence Day in Argentina.
The series will now be decided in Santiago del Estero next Saturday, with head coach Townsend insisting the best is yet to come from Scotland.
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
“There’s a lot of togetherness in the squad, it’s a group that cares about each other and playing for their country,” Townsend told Sky Sports.
“We knew we’d get a response this week. The way the players have trained, how committed they were to improving.
“We are scratching the surface with that performance, we’ll be working to bring our best performance next week.”
Scotland’s first ever three-Test summer series had started with an opening 26-18 defeat.
Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend pictured before the second Test victory over Argentina (Natacha Pisarenko/AP)
On a very hot and blustery afternoon in north-west Argentina, there appeared to be more trouble ahead as Scotland were careless in possession and the hosts led 6-3 just before the break.
But man-of-the-match Watson marked his 50th cap with a seventh Test try, and the visitors’ forward power told from that point.
Fagerson powered over for a first Test try and centres Bennett and Johnson delivered great running angles to put Scotland in command.
Townsend added: “We started the game well. It was a mixed performance after that, but at the start of the second half we really took the ball to them.
“I thought some of the running lines and the effort in contact was outstanding.
“(There are a) lot of areas to improve, but to win a Test match in Argentina takes a lot of hard work. So real credit to our team for that.
“We knew it would be a tough challenge but our pack was outstanding, the back row in particular, against a quality side away from home in tiring conditions.
“Good foundations to build on for next week and for next season. That third quarter we had a lot of ball, a real credit to our maul and scrum performances.”
Starting the second half in style 🏴
Watch all the action on Sky Sports Action. pic.twitter.com/f6qp7SD4pl
— Scottish Rugby (@Scotlandteam) July 9, 2022
The only downside were injuries to backs Rory Hutchinson and Kyle Rowe.
Townsend declared Hutchinson doubtful for the series decider, while expressing fears that London Irish wing Rowe had suffered a “serious injury” after coming on to win his first cap.
Scotland skipper Grant Gilchrist said: “We bounced back from last week, but we came here to win a series and we won’t get ahead of ourselves.
“That was a lot more like it. But there’s more growth in this team and we’ll need it next week.
Scotland’s players celebrate their second Test victory over Argentina (Natacha Pisarenko/AP)
Argentina captain Julian Montoya said Los Pumas paid the price for a lack of accuracy and efficiency.
“The first half was pretty even,” said Leicester hooker Montoya. “The second half they scored simple tries and we need to be more determined on our goal line.
“When we were in their 22 we weren’t able to score. Some forward passes and knock ons.
“They scored too easy and we are going to work hard for the next game.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here