ARGENTINA 21, SCOTLAND 15
AFP, ROSARIO, Argentina
Argentina beat Scotland 21-15 in the first Test on Saturday, scoring two tries, and five penalties from the boot of Chris Paterson was the tourists’ haul.
Scotland had been hoping for revenge from their 19-13 quarter-final World Cup loss to Argentina last October, but tries from Alvaro Tejeda in the first half, then Gonzalo Tiesi in injury time, played a large part in their winning points haul. Paterson kept Scotland in the game with nine points before the break, when they trailed by a point.
Scotland went ahead after 10 minutes when Paterson put the first points on the board with a penalty. The home side got back on terms with fly-half Federico Todeschini’s penalty.
Debutant hooker Tejeda gave Argentina the initiative when he put the Pumas ahead with a try in the 21st minute. Center Felipe Contepomi kicked the conversion, however Scotland were kept in the game by another penalty from the boot of Paterson.
Paterson kicked over another three points and would have put Scotland ahead had he not missed a further kick. Todeschini and Paterson both failed with later penalty attempts as the home side held their slim 10-9 advantage at halftime.
After the break two more penalties from Todeschini and two more from Paterson kept the match close right until the end, but it was Tiesi’s injury time try that made the difference.
JAPAN 21, AUSTRALIA A 42
AFP, FUKUOKA, Japan
Australia A fought off a second-half rally by Asian champions Japan to post a 42-21 win with six tries in their opening game of the Pacific Nations Cup yesterday.
Australia scored tries through Morgan Turinui, Gerrard, Kimlin and Van Humphries. Gerrard slotted over every conversion opportunity.
Australia A captain Turinui said his squad made good on all the opportunities they were presented in the first half.
“And that gave us a comfort zone to protect our lead,” he said.
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