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'I wasn't angry': Felipe Contepomi eyes next opponents and UK three-peat
By Bryn Palmer at Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh
Argentina head coach Felipe Contepomi relished the prospect of trying to make history with a first ‘clean sweep’ on UK soil after a stunning comeback victory over Scotland at Murrayfield.
The Pumas looked dead and buried at 21-0 down when hooker Ewan Ashman scored his second, and Scotland’s third, try in the 43rd minute, with all three converted by fly-half Finn Russell.
But with the hosts camped in the Argentina 22 and looking poised to score a fourth try which may have settled matters, Russell’s floated pass in the direction of Kyle Steyn was picked off as the visitors launched a counter-attack which transformed the momentum of the match.
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Scotland were reduced to 14 men with Blair Kinghorn’s yellow card for repeated infringements and Pumas captain Julian Montoya was adjudged to have grounded the ball, after a TMO check, to get his side on the board.
Wing Rodrigo Isgró swiftly added a second try and despite a Russell penalty making it 24-12, the hosts could do little to stem a tidal wave of Argentina attacks.
Lock Pedro Rubiolo reduced the gap further with 10 minutes left before two more scores in the final five minutes from Pablo Matera and Justo Piccardo, all converted by fellow replacement Santi Carreras, put the seal on a remarkable turnaround.
Having already enjoyed a record 52-28 win over Wales in Cardiff, Argentina will now tackle England, who have won 10 Tests in a row, in Twickenham next Sunday looking for a historic ‘hat-trick’.
“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.
“Scotland are one of the teams with the highest-octane intensity of rugby when they have the ball, so we knew it would be a massive challenge.
“It will be a different challenge next week against England. The challenge will be huge because they are probably the most on-form team in the world at the moment, bar maybe South Africa. They are world champions and know how to win games, but on form, it is probably England.”
Despite a series of missed opportunities in the first half against Scotland, both at the set-piece and in open play, Contepomi said he remained calm in addressing his team at the interval, with Scotland 14-0 ahead.
“I wasn’t angry at half time,” he said. “We spoke before the game that this was going to go for 80 minutes, it was about holding tough on the real pressure moments, and I think we did that for part of the game.
“We were a bit imprecise in the first half, when we entered the Scottish 22, but we felt when we had the ball with long sequences, we could hurt them. So it was about finding our step in the game and then just going for it.
“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.”
Contepomi sent on five replacements, including Matera and Carreras, five minutes into the second half, and their impact proved huge in turning round the 21-0 deficit.
“We are not only 15 players that represent us. We have 23 and another nine guys – 32 on tour – and those nine guys make a huge effort throughout the week,” the head coach added.
“We compete very hard among ourselves. Everyone knows that they play their part. In this case it was when Santi came on, the team got that shifting momentum, and he took it really well. As a 10, he’s the one who has to pull the strings.
“But I think it was all the bench, and also the starters, because it’s like pounding the rock. It’s not just that you have one extraordinary movement and things happen. From minute one, we went hard, hard, hard. We couldn’t break it in the first half, but it broke maybe in the last minute.”
