Scotland kicked off their Nations Championship campaign with an emphatic bonus-point victory away against Argentina in Cordoba.
On a day of top-class rugby across the globe, Gregor Townsend’s men were outstanding in scoring seven tries against Los Pumas.
Not many teams go to Argentina and make the home side look this ordinary, but Scotland richly deserved the win.
They were utterly ruthless in attack, scoring tries almost every time they ventured inside the Argentine 22.
It was also a nice measure of revenge given the horror show of what unfolded when these teams last met at Murrayfield back in November.
This was Scotland’s highest ever score away in Argentina. The scrum was dominant and they played with a tempo and accuracy in attack that was far too much for the home side.
Gregor Brown crosses over as Scotland scored seven tries in a thrilling win over Argentina
Try-scorers Scott Cummings (left) and Kyle Rowe embrace at the end of a good night’s work
The acid test will come next week when Townsend and his players travel to Pretoria to face world champions South Africa.
But Scotland could not have wished for a better start. This was a thrilling contest and the quality of Scotland’s rugby should give them plenty of hope against the Springboks.
For all the talk of Scotland facing a hostile home crowd at the Estadio Mario Kempes, there were swathes of empty seats and it actually seemed fairly subdued by Argentine standards.
Some of the players had spoken this week of trying to rid themselves of any demons that may have lingered from when these teams last met at Murrayfield in November last year.
On that occasion, Scotland blew a 21-point lead and capitulated to a defeat which led to calls for Gregor Townsend to be sacked.
To the credit of Townsend and his players, they turned it around in the Six Nations and went into the final weekend still with a chance of winning the championship, only to fall short against Ireland in Dublin.
The question was whether they could build on that campaign coming into the inaugural Nations Championship, with Finn Russell missing this opening clash against Los Pumas.
It was Tom Jordan who started at fly-half in Russell’s absence, but his game was disrupted after only four minutes when he went off for a HIA.
The opening exchanges felt like a continuation of that game at Murrayfield back in the autumn, with Argentina dominating possession and territory.
They scored the opening try after seven minutes through the simplest of routes, a lineout maul from five metres rumbling towards Scotland’s line and No 8 Joaquin Oviedo touching down.
Scotland’s maul defence was poor given that Oviedo ran straight up the middle unopposed, with fly-half Tomas Albornoz adding the conversion.
Sione Tuipulotu scored the first of Scotland’s seven tries in Cordoba to help stun the Pumas
Scotland eventually roused themselves and sprung into life on 17 minutes, with skipper Sione Tuipulotu scoring in the corner.
The move came via a terrific pass from Fergus Burke, who had come on to replace Jordan at fly-half, with the Saracens man adding the extras to draw Scotland level at 7-7.
Townsend had spoken about the depth beyond Russell at 10 and, in Jordan and Burke, he now has two more options playing at a good level in the English Premiership.
Scotland had their tails up. The second try arrived only five minutes later, with a terrific break from Kyle Rowe putting Argentina firmly on the back foot deep inside their own territory.
The ball was recycled quickly and it was Pierre Schoeman on his 50th cap who powered over to score. Jordan had come back on after passing his HIA but he missed the conversion.
After getting off to a slightly shaky start, Scotland’s response had been emphatic. They were winning all of the collisions and playing with excellent tempo and accuracy in attack.
A third try arrived on 36 minutes and it featured some thunderous carries over the gainline, most notably from the captain Tuipulotu.
His centre partner Rory Hutchinson became the chief beneficiary when he then crashed over to score just a few seconds later, with Jordan’s conversion putting Scotland 19-10 up.
Argentina had totally lost their composure. They were rattled and some of their players desperately resorted to trying to drag Scotland into some physical scraps and fisticuffs.
They only just managed to hold out and thwart another Scotland attack on the cusp of half-time. At 19-10, the home side were perhaps fortunate to only face a nine-point deficit at the break.
Certainly, from Scotland’s point of view, nothing was ever going to be taken for granted heading into the second half given what happened the last time they faced Argentina.
Argentina are dejected as Scotland celebrate Gregor Hiddleston’s try
Rory Hutchinson enjoys his try as Scotland’s attack really impressed in Cordoba
More than anything, it was the accuracy of their attacking play which had impressed so much during those superb opening 40 minutes.
But Argentina’s response was swift. Within three minutes of the restart, they came roaring back to score their second try.
After a lovely little chip in behind the Scotland defence, it was winger Rodrigo Isgro who collected the ball his left hand, before powering through a couple of tackles to dive over the line.
The conversion from Albornoz was good and it was very much game on again with the score 19-17 in Scotland’s favour.
However, unlike back in November, Scotland did not crumble. They extended their lead on 53 minutes when Gregor Brown scored their fourth try to secure the bonus point.
The move featured a lovely offload from Ewan Ashman and good play from Ben White, with Brown, who had come on to replace Jonny Gray only moments earlier, stretching to touch down.
As had been the case during the first half, it was ruthlessly efficient from Scotland. They were maximising almost every entry into Argentina’s 22.
Incredibly, they would score again just two minutes later. It was vintage stuff from Scotland, ripping Argentina apart when the game became loose and unstructured.
After winning turnover ball, Rowe and White combined to find Scott Cummings, who, like Schoeman, powered over to score a try on his 50th cap.
Now leading 33-17 heading into the final 20 minutes, this game was firmly in Scotland’s hands. They had been the better side by a distance and the scoreboard reflected that dominance Argentina tried to claw their way back into the game when prop Tomas Rapetti went over after a period of good pressure.
Scotland winger Jamie Dobie was sent to the sin bin and, a man down, that could have made for a nervy finale.
But the visitors roared back immediately and it was debutant hooker Gregor Hiddleston who went over to score and restore their dominant lead.
Rowe added another try for the visiting Scots, before Argentina notched a couple of late tries and a bonus point.
