Argentina are aiming for a historic clean sweep of their UK tour after a breathtaking comeback win over Scotland at Murrayfield.
It was Los Pumas’ first victory in Edinburgh in 16 years.
Felipe Contepomi’s side looked buried at 21-0 down heading into the final quarter, with Scotland cruising after tries by Jack Dempsey and a double from Ewan Ashman. But a loose Finn Russell pass and a yellow card to Blair Kinghorn cracked the door open, and the Pumas charged through it.
What followed was one of the most dramatic turnarounds: Argentina ran in five tries in the final 23 minutes, with Julian Montoya, Rodrigo Isgro, Pedro Rubiolo, Pablo Matera and Justo Piccardo all crossing to give Los Pumas a memorable 33-24 victory. Replacement Santiago Carreras added four conversions and drove the tempo as the visitors flipped the match on its head.
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Having already put Wales away 52-28 earlier on tour, Argentina now head to Twickenham with the chance to complete an unprecedented 3-0 sweep. But Contepomi knows the scale of the task against an England outfit riding a 10-match winning streak after their 33-19 victory over New Zealand.
“This was a huge challenge for us,” said Contepomi. “When we have come to the UK before, there were a few times when we won two games, but not very often. Every now and then we win one, but we have never won three in a row in the UK.”
He warned that England represent “a different challenge next week … probably the most on-form team in the world at the moment, bar maybe South Africa.”
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Contepomi said the match flipped the moment Argentina struck back while Scotland were short-handed.
“I think when we scored and Scotland had that yellow card, we started playing and suddenly the momentum shifted and the guys accelerated so it was very good for that.”
Carreras earned special praise for his impact.
“As a 10, he’s the one who has to pull the strings,” said Contepomi. “But I think it was all the bench, and also the starters, because it’s like pounding the rock … We couldn’t break it in the first half, but it broke maybe in the last minute.”
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For Scotland, the collapse triggered boos at full-time and fresh heat on coach Gregor Townsend.
“I definitely didn’t see that coming,” he admitted.
Captain Sione Tuipulotu also couldn’t hide his disappointment.
“As players we’re going to have to take a good hard look at ourselves because it’s not a good enough performance from us.”
Photo: Stu Forster/Getty Images
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