Why Scotland Lost (I say this sadly)

Was a terrific, tight match. And, its a shame both teams won't progress (most likely).

But I thought Scotland made too many errors after Argentina scored. Each was big. So, forget the offsides on the Drop Kick. They made 4 key mistakes in the last 5 minutes of that match. Each, had they not happened, could have changed the result of the match.

So after Argentina scoired their try, here are the 4 big mistakes I saw:
1. Scotland is moving the ball pretty quite well, made quite a few yards, and have gone through a number of phases. Looking good. Then someone kicks possession away (I didn't see who it was). Dumb play.

2. Scotland have a lineout down near the Argentina line. They blow the lineout and lose possession and this ultra-valuable territory.

3. Argentina kicks the ball and the catch is dropped by Kelly Brown, goes right through his hands. Sadly he is hurt a few seconds later.

4. The drop kick, Mr. Parks:
4a. Parks positions himself directly in front of the Argentina defense. Forget whether they were offside, he positioned himself poorly. Should have been a little deeper and more behind the ruck to make it harder to for the defense to get to him.

4b. He should not have kicked the ball with his off foot and half of Argentina in his face. Should have run it up instead, retained possession, and put Scotland in place for a second shot at a driop kick.

To me, this is why Scotland lost. Too many mistakes in the last 5 minutes. Absolute, complete, shame.

4c. Credit to Argentina Doc, they absolutely wanted it more

Forget the last 5 mins, the reason we didn't win was because we were unable to convert pressure into points in the 75 minutes before the "last 5 minutes"

Heart-breaking

Morning doc. I thought in those conditions a drop goal under pressure was a very low percentage option. Looks easy enough but the footing, rain, slippery ball, time to execute, oncoming players etc just make it a lot tougher than it is.

Once Parks was committed he couldn't pull out. I thought they should have tried to muscle it over.

The Argentine try I thought would be scored once the player got some gas. Again the conditions make it much harder to tackle a guy in full flight, especially when he got good footing when he stepped infield. Players just slid off him and he knew that would happen as long as he kept changing directions. Someone had to be directly in front of him to stop him, and he avoided that nicely so a very well executed run.

But youre right, many mistakes, not helped by the conditions.

Yeah, I don't mean to slight Argentina at all. Thay played a great match. My point is about mistakes made. I don't know Argentina "wanted" it more than Scotland. But they certainly played the last 5 minutes smarter.

Taylor, morning to you too, mate.

That's a good point about the conditions making the drop a lower percentage option. But then the positioning for the drop becomes even more critical? Especially to make sure Parks would have taken with his preferred foot.

I think you summed up the try real well. It was well done. And he kept his footing, even as it seemed the Scotland defense coluldn't.

doctor_grey wrote:Yeah, I don't mean to slight Argentina at all. Thay played a great match. My point is about mistakes made. I don't know Argentina "wanted" it more than Scotland. But they certainly played the last 5 minutes smarter.

Well of course, it's an entirely subjective point of view but i thought they did and i thought Scotland seemed to lack that intangible aspect of the game that all who have played in a crucial match understand

Scotland never looked like scoring a try whilst Argentina always carried the threat which they eventually followed through.During the game I had a "vision" of a Tindall/Morrison combo for the Lions.It was horrible but I am better now.
Why do teams pick centres who can neither pass nor run?

Scotland problems:

1) They play rugby in the wrong places, they were lucky early on when they tapped that drop out 22, and if not for the referee Conteponi would of been in under the posts. They did the same against Italy in the warm up.
Scotland love to commit suicide.
Be expansive throw it around yes, but belt the bloody thing into their 22 and pressurise for a turn over, then chuck it about, there is a time and a place.

2) The don't get over the gain line often enough. Why doesn't Robinson spot this and change the team accordingly? Scotland just bash away all game and go backwards more than they go forwards.

3) Scotlands players are to used to losing, their losing more often than not in the Celtic / Italian league, then their losing in international rugby. It's acceptable and expected now for Scotland's players to be poor. they still get paid either way.

4) The SRU has mismanaged the professional game to such an extent that Scotland are in danger of becoming a tier 2 nation. Their starting to fall behind Italy, and probably will be in 2 years.

5) Argentina are as good a side as them

Dan Parks-greatish boot but sadly lacking in all other areas

senghenydd1913 wrote:Dan Parks-greatish boot but sadly lacking in all other areas

Most importantly the mental aspect.

Lamont is a great player for Scotland though.

The 'but'.. on the statistics about gain line etc is the amount of time spent in the Argentine 22. The Scots must be getting some things right in order to get into that part of the pitch.

They are all but clueless when they are there tho.

I am afraid that Gregor and probably AR will have to go

I was surprised Scotland did not pick Rory Lamont for this game as I thought he was their best player in the previous game that I watched. The problem with Patterson is he has lost his pace and made a number of mistakes at key moments in the second half. Yes Patterson kicks penalties but Jackson is more than useful, why he was taken off I can't work out as we all know in Wales, Parks defence does not exist, the coaching staff can take the blame for not knowing their own players limitations (it is easy to say after the game but when he came on I thought, this could be a big mistake).

Still, Scotland have an outside chance against England as they have a good set of forwards and they need to tackle their hearts out but IMO R Lamont must play unless he is injured.

Scotland do have a good set of forwards and will of course compete with England. But England have a well organised defense and can score length of the field tries, especially against a one paced team like Scotland.

So - assuming Scotland turn up for the game we have a large chance of the usual slug fest with England made to look bad. But as for the result there is a small chance of Scotland kicking a narrow victory and a much greater chance of England taking it with a couple of break away tries.

It would be a bit harsh to sack people for finishing third in a group they entered as third seeds.
Has anyone considered that the blame for Scotland not winnin the game may lie in Argentina not being a massive pile of poo

Well we always knew that it was going to be a close match, and the unpleasant thing of close matches is one mistake and you lose.

Scotland made most of the play, especially in the first half, but could unfortunately not finish

doctor_grey wrote:Was a terrific, tight match. And, its a shame both teams won't progress (most likely).

But I thought Scotland made too many errors after Argentina scored. Each was big. So, forget the offsides on the Drop Kick. They made 4 key mistakes in the last 5 minutes of that match. Each, had they not happened, could have changed the result of the match.

So after Argentina scoired their try, here are the 4 big mistakes I saw:
1. Scotland is moving the ball pretty quite well, made quite a few yards, and have gone through a number of phases. Looking good. Then someone kicks possession away (I didn't see who it was). Dumb play.

2. Scotland have a lineout down near the Argentina line. They blow the lineout and lose possession and this ultra-valuable territory.

3. Argentina kicks the ball and the catch is dropped by Kelly Brown, goes right through his hands. Sadly he is hurt a few seconds later.

4. The drop kick, Mr. Parks:
4a. Parks positions himself directly in front of the Argentina defense. Forget whether they were offside, he positioned himself poorly. Should have been a little deeper and more behind the ruck to make it harder to for the defense to get to him.

4b. He should not have kicked the ball with his off foot and half of Argentina in his face. Should have run it up instead, retained possession, and put Scotland in place for a second shot at a driop kick.

To me, this is why Scotland lost. Too many mistakes in the last 5 minutes. Absolute, complete, shame.

You missed the ridiculous substitutions that put a stop to any fluency

Agreed - Hall for Ford was particularly baffling. Just a substitution for the sake of it, and bringing on a truly rubbish player in place of a good one.

We could have done without Blair and Parks as well. I thought Lawson and Jackson had a prety decent handle on the game at that stage.

Jackson had just kicked a great drop goal, he was in the boss seat, Parks was lucky on 2 occasions to find touch - I think Andy just went for the glory Sub and it backfired or misfired really

I'd hate to be subbed when, largely down to my efforts, the team was winning, only to watch helplessly from the touchline as the crucial game slips away. Must be hugely frustrating.

Still, as my wife unwisely said on Sunday morning, it's only a game.

doctor_grey wrote:Yeah, I don't mean to slight Argentina at all. Thay played a great match. My point is about mistakes made. I don't know Argentina "wanted" it more than Scotland. But they certainly played the last 5 minutes smarter.

They did yes. One thing I haven't seen mentioned is the amount of pressure they exerted on the Scottish breakdown in the final minutes. Some ferocious counter-rucking- Scotland couldn't get the clean ball they wanted, as a result their halfbacks were under a lot of pressure. Contrast that to say Englands drop in the final of 2003- the pack was in the boxseat and they were able to set up the best possible field position. Scotland were struggling to meet the Argentineans physicality right at the death. As much as 'they wanted it more' is a cliche, I think their pack really were willing to run through walls at the end to get that win.

I think the Romania and Georgia matches had an effect on this game as well. Scraping by against such limited opposition did no good to Scottish confidence in terms of trying to run with the ball or attack Argentina out wide. It also gave Argentina complete faith in their own gameplan of no-nonsense rugby.

If Scotland had scored a few more tries, they would´ve got their selection better I think and wouldn´t have gone for the safety option of Parks which had won them the series away in Argentina. They needed to be more attacking. The conditions are no excuse. Scotland is used to rain.

when scotland kicked the drop goal to go 6 up- i shouted at the screen- that has cost you- It was an allmost certain try scoring op- and no team feels comfortable with a 6 pt or less lead.

What makes the situation all the more stupid was that the drop goal atempt was scored knowing that a penalty would be awarded anyway- the commentators said oh thats good he has gone for the drop goal knowing they have a penalty- They were attacking the argies line, unbelivable.

You win rugby aganist the second tier teams with tries and the only way you put pressure on a team is by doing that. This was not scotland v South africa or australia- it was two second tier teams . England also could have come unstuck against the argies- but we went for tries throughout the arigies was the team trying for kicking points(they missed a load) but england came away victors due to taking the game by the scruff of th4e neck at the end- as did the argies v scotland

Yeah, they could have gone for the jugular at the end, 9-6 with a penalty advantage; score a try and they were not coming back. Unfortunately Parks' instinct is very conservative and he called the drop goal. Even if you go for a big play and lose it you get the penalty advantage and you waste more time, so it was a poor decision at a key moment. What was even worse was they relaxed after they got that six point cushion.

Such a hard defeat to take for Scotland. On the other hand Amorosino's jinking run will go down as one of the most dramatic and iconic moments of the group stages.