Gregor Townsend stood by his squad's ability in crucial matches
Scotland have incorporated additional layers and layers to their games in the past period, but the persistent issue is their soft underbelly.
It was brutally exposed by an Argentina side who appeared to be dead and buried well before their stunning turnaround.
The home stadium was shocked at the end, unable to process how this Scotland team succeeded to take a 21-0 lead against a Argentina side looking way below their best and proceed to conjure the most dramatic of meltdowns to lose by eight points.
The setback by the New Zealand one week earlier was hard to take. This proved more disappointing. Significantly more troubling.
Game Breakdown
The visiting team looked a less impressive copy of the side that walloped Wales in historic fashion in Cardiff, and Townsend's team were in complete control for the initial stages.
They constructed three excellent tries, two from Ashman and one from Jack Dempsey.
With a commanding lead, they were camped on the Pumas line, aiming to go for the decisive score. But, as has been the case on numerous occasions, rather than landing the decisive strike, Scotland extended a hand to help their rivals off the canvas.
Game-Changing Sequence
The playmaker's ill-advised long floating pass was intercepted, the visitors advanced upfield, Blair Kinghorn was sent to the bin for illegally halting the attack, and the Argentina captain went over to breathe new life into what had seemed a moribund contest.
The great teams, the finest squads in the world, navigate these moments. They remove the pressure the game. Townsend's side are not constructed like that. They lack the nous, the tactical knowledge, the psychological approach to press the momentum out of a match that should be firmly in their control.
Familiar Problems
It echoed of Cardiff and the 2024 Six Nations, when Scotland established a commanding position and looked for all the world like they were on course for a decisive win until the faintest indication of resistance caused alarm throughout the whole squad.
In that instance, they were able to recover from the point of collapse to win by a single score, but the Pumas were in no mood to let them off the hook here.
After the New Zealand substitute emerged from the bench to crush Scottish hopes against the New Zealand last week, another substitute entered the fray in the later stages to dominate proceedings.
Carreras was like a individual driven, emerging in every offensive move, finding gaps in a weakening Scottish backline and motivating his team to raise their level.
Performance Decline
The hooker's try was the opening of multiple in an remarkable short spell in which the home side completely capitulated. The fly-half's penalty temporarily halted the flow to make it a two-score game, but the wind was at Argentina's backs and Scotland looked powerless to reclaim the momentum.
Familiar Problems Again for Scotland
When Piccardo went over to put the seal on a extraordinary recovery for the Argentina, the Murrayfield faithful headed for the exits. They had witnessed sufficient on this particular day, and numerous have reached their limit of this team struggling to advance under the head coach.
Scotland's manager cut a downcast figure at full-time. He acknowledged it simply wasn't acceptable, that his team couldn't manage the momentum swing at 21-0, and they simply have to be improved.
The concern is it is the identical issues that are cropping up repeatedly. There is no solace to be derived from performing adequately for portions of games, from creating multiple opportunities and not capitalizing, from pushing top sides close but not emerging victorious.
Townsend rejects the suggestion that his team is missing the psychological strength required to win the crucial encounters, but the indications is not in his favor.
Two crucial World Cup pool games against Ireland, in previous World Cups, remain fresh in the memory. When the stakes was at its height, when the big players and sides are expected to deliver under pressure, Scotland crumbled.
They have achieved big, one-off victories in the tournament, but in the considerable time on the coach's watch, when the moment in the campaign has arrived to advance and properly challenge, they have foundered.
Gregor Townsend had his tenure prolonged to guide the team through the upcoming World Cup in Australia, with the decision-makers at Scottish rugby authorities certain that this squad is on the brink of something successful.
The team has been on the edge for quite some time, and those followers who vocally criticized their team from the Murrayfield pitch will feel justified to wonder: can the progression finally happen? And could a different manager do superior?
