Scotland player ratings vs Argentina | Autumn Nations Series
Scotland player ratings: Scotland ended their autumn campaign with a comprehensive win over 14-man Argentina at Murrayfield.
The visitors had Marcos Kremer sent off in the first half, and three players sent to the sin-bin,
but made a good fist of the contest until the hour mark.
The outstanding Darcy Graham scored a hat-trick while Sione Tuipulotu crossed twice for
Scotland in a 52-29 win.
Here’s how the Scotland players rated.
15. Stuart Hogg – 8
Regularly found room on the edge of the Argentina defence. Beaten in the air under first high
ball. Good hands to put Graham and Tuipulotu away for their second tries. Deserved his late
score.
14. Darcy Graham – 8.5
Outstanding, again. Showed his power to finish his first try from close range, then his pace for
his second. His hat-trick try was a sublime finish in the corner to cap another excellent showing.
13. Chris Harris – 7.5
Always reliable in defence, and more of an attacking threat today. Two good half breaks in
traffic, the latter leading to Scotland’s second try. Offloaded well for Graham to score.
12. Sione Tuipulotu – 8
His best game for Scotland by some distance, capped with two well-taken tries. Hit an excellent
line off Russell to score his first before Hogg put the Glasgow centre over for his second. A late
yellow card the only negative.
11. Duhan van der Merwe – 7.5
A couple of big carries got the Edinburgh wing into the game, before he showed good hands to
hang on to a gorgeous offload from Russell to score his 14th try for Scotland. Always a threat in
attack.
10. Finn Russell – 8.5
The mercurial fly-half looked right at his very best. Two superb offloads for Scotland’s first two
tries, and a lovely break that set up the third, before his break put Graham away in the second
half.
Scotland's third choice 10 playing well here. Gregor should keep an eye on him. Think he's French or something… #SCOvARG | #AutumnNationsSeries pic.twitter.com/21ap7HdJvt
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 19, 2022
9. Ali Price – 7
Mixed up the attack well and looked to attack the Pumas around the ruck, while the accuracy of
his box kicking gave his wingers something to chase. The scrum-half’s calls for more numbers
were ignored as Alemanno powered over.
1. Pierre Schoeman – 7.5
Had his difficulties at the set-piece but the big loosehead was regularly found charging into – and
through – Argentina defenders. Some lovely hands too as he linked with Russell.
2. Fraser Brown – 6
The 33-year-old was excellent last week but didn’t have the same impact here. Will be
disappointed with a couple of underthrown lineouts early in the second half. Off with a quarter
of the game to go.
3. Zander Fagerson – 6.5
Got on top at the scrum once the Pumas had Kremer sent off. Doesn’t have the same carrying
impact as his prop colleague Schoeman, but does get through a mountain of work. Joint-top
tackler with 11.
4. Jonny Gray – 6.5
Handed a recall in place of his suspended big brother, but gave two breakdown penalties and
was driven backwards with one carry. As you’d expect, got through plenty of work, including 11
a joint-best tackles and eight carries.
5. Grant Gilchrist – 6.5
A go-to man for Gregor Townsend this campaign, and he ensured the lineout – barring two loose
throws – operated well. Seven carries earned Scotland good ground in close quarters.
6. Matt Fagerson – 7
Shifted to the blindside to accommodate Dempsey, the younger of the Fagerson brothers
worked hard. Matched Ritchie for carries (three) and tackles (seven) in the first half.
7. Jamie Ritchie – 7
An industrious showing from the skipper, who put himself about in defence – and was on the
receiving end of the clear-out that saw Kremer sent off. Sent to the sin-bin for his part in a mass
scuffle.
8. Jack Dempsey – 6.5
His loose carry allowed Argentina to break and score with 12 players. Otherwise plenty of
industry on his first Scotland start.
REPLACEMENTS:
16. George Turner – 6
Strong carrying as you’d expect from the Glasgow man, who replaced Brown on 58 minutes.
17. Jamie Bhatti – 5
Replaced Schoeman for the final quarter of an hour but no real opportunity to show his power
at the set-piece or his pace out wide.
18. Murphy Walker – 5
Another who didn’t have much time to impact the game.
19. Glen Young – 5
On for the closing stages in place of Edinburgh colleague Gilchrist.
20. Andy Christie – 6
The Saracens man got the final quarter for Dempsey, and showed great pace to chase a Hogg
kick and put the visitors under pressure. Couldn’t prevent the visitors’ late score.
21. Ben White – 6.5
Added plenty of pace to the game once he replaced Price on 52 mins.
22. Blair Kinghorn – 6
The Edinburgh man showed his versatility as he replaced van der Merwe on the wing, and
whipped a lovely ball to Graham for his try. Good defensive read with the Pumas numbers up
too.
23. Cameron Redpath – 6
On for Harris for the final quarter. Almost had his first Test try but was held up, but wasn’t to be
denied only minutes later.
Comments on RugbyPass
It was a pleasure to watch those guys playing with such confidence. That trio can all be infuriating for different reasons and I can see why Jones might have decided against them. No way to justify leaving Ikitau out though. Jorgensen and him were both scheduled to return at the same time. Only one of them plays for Randwick and has a dad who is great mates with the national coach though.
53 Go to commentsBrayden Iose and Peter Lakai are very exciting Super Rugby players but are too short and too light to ever be a Test 8 vs South Africa, France, Ireland, and England, Lakai could potentially be a Test player at 7 if he is allowed to focus on 7 for Hurricanes.
5 Go to commentsPencils “Thomas du Toit” into possible 2027 Bok squad.
1 Go to commentsDon’t see why Harrison makes the bench. Jones can play at 10 if needed, and there is a good case for starting her there to begin with if testing combinations. That would leave room for Sing on the bench
1 Go to commentsWhat a load of old bull!
1 Go to commentsOf the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.
29 Go to commentsIrish Rugby CEO be texting Andy Farrell “Andy, i found our next Kiwi Irishman”
5 Go to commentsI certainly don’t miss drinking beers at 8am in the morning watching rugby games being played in NZ.
1 Go to commentsThis looks like a damage limitation exercise for Wales, keeping back some of their more effective players for the last 20/25 minutes to try and counter England’s fresh legs so the Red Roses don’t rack up a big score.
1 Go to commentsVery unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
5 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to commentsArdie is a legend. Finished and klaar. Two things: “Yeah, yeah, I have had a few conversations with Razor just around feedback on my game and what I am doing well, what I need to improve on or work-ons. It’s kind of been minimal, mate, but it’s all that I need over here in terms of how to be better, how to get better and what I am doing well.” I hope he’s downplaying it - and that it’s not that “minimal”. The amount of communication and behind the scenes preparation the Bok coaches put into players - Rassie and co would be all over Ardie and being clear on what is expected of him. This stands out for me as something teams should really be looking at in terms of the boks success from a coaching point of view. And was surprised by the comment - “minimal”. In terms of the “debate” around Ireland and South Africa. Nice one Ardie. Indeed. There’s no debate.
2 Go to commentsThere’s a bit of depth there but realistically Australian players have a long way to go to now catch up. The game is moving on fast and Australia are falling behind. Australian sides still don’t priories the breakdown like they should, it’s a non-negotiable if you want to compete on the international stage. That goes for forwards and backs. The Australian team could have a back row that could make a difference but the problem is they don’t have a tight five that can do the business. Tupou is limited in defence, overweight and unfit and the locks are a long way from international standard. Frost is soft and Salakai-Loto is too small so that means they need a Valentini at 8 who has to do the hard graft so limits the effectiveness of the backrow. Schmidt really needs to get a hard working, tough tight 5 if he wants to get this team firing.
3 Go to commentsSorry Morgan you must have been the “go to for a quote” ex player this week. Its rnd 6 and there is plenty of time to cement a starting 15 and finishing 8 so I have no such concerns.
2 Go to commentsGreat read. I wish you had done this article on the ROAR.
2 Go to commentsThe current AB coaching team is basically the Crusaders so it smacks of wanting their familiar leaders around. This is not a good look for the future of the ABs or the younger players in Super working their way up the player ladder. Razor is touted as innovative, forward looking but his early moves look like insecurity and insular, provincial thinking. He is the AB's coach not the Golden Oldies.
10 Go to comments