Scotland Run in Seven Tries in Córdoba; Argentina Concede 47 and the Margin Somehow Flatters Them

Scotland — yes, Scotland, the nation that has spent a century perfecting the art of losing winnable games in ways that require a support group — went to Córdoba and put SEVEN tries and 47 points on Argentina in their own backyard. And here's the truly frightening part, confirmed by everyone watching: the nine-point margin flattered the Pumas. Scotland were better than 47-38 suggests, which is a sentence that has never been typed about an away Test in Argentina without the author double-checking their medication.

Context makes it sweeter, or more sinister, depending on your shirt. In November these same Scots led Argentina 21-0 and contrived to lose, a collapse so on-brand it should have had a sponsor. So this was revenge served the proper way — not cold, but at full pace, through the middle, seven times, in front of a Córdoba crowd that started the evening singing and ended it doing sudoku.

Seven tries away from home in Test rugby is video-game stuff. The Scottish backline spent the evening slicing through the Pumas like a claymore through flan, and every time Argentina rallied — and to their credit they kept rallying, 38 points is no small haul — Scotland simply went down the other end and re-stated their argument. It was less a defensive battle, more two men taking turns at a piñata while the piñata occasionally hit back.

For Argentina this is a genuine crisis wrapped in a fiesta of leaked points: 'lackluster' and 'humbled' were the kind words in the American press, and coach Corleto's men now face Wales knowing that a repeat performance turns a bad week into a national conversation. The Pumas beat everyone good at least once every cycle — that's their charm — but conceding 47 at the Kempes is the kind of thing that gets discussed at asados for years, between long silences.

And Scotland? Scotland now travel to face the world champion Springboks at altitude on 11 July, riding a seven-try high and the special, doomed confidence of a nation that has never once been hurt by hope. We say this with love, Scotland, and with a braai already lit: bring the same ambition to Ellis Park. The Bomb Squad loves ambition. It's their favourite food.