Scotland reaction: Gregor Townsend makes surprising admission after seven-try victory over Argentina

Townsend even made the surprising admission that he was “grateful” for that 33-24 autumn loss at Murrayfield because it helped shape the character of the squad.

He said it sparked some honest conversations which have allowed them to grow as a team.

“Now looking back, we're very grateful for that defeat [in November],” said Townsend after the win in Cordoba on Saturday. “It was really painful at the time, to be in a winning position and then to disappoint your own crowd. But the week after, I felt that we became a much better team, we had more honest conversations and then during the Six Nations we were more prepared for momentum swings in the game.

“So sometimes your biggest growth comes from adversity, from your most painful moments and I've seen that with the team. Today was another step forward, coming to Argentina, who are playing so much good rugby, and winning away from home, but I know there's a lot more in the team. We can trace a lot back to those final 20 minutes at Murrayfield to see how much we've improved since then.”

There was no such capitulation at the Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes where the visitors began their Nations Championship campaign with a bang. They conceded an early try to Joaquin Oviedo but were clinical thereafter, scoring tries in the first half through Sione Tuipulotu, Pierre Schoeman and Rory Hutchinson to lead 19-10 at the turn.

Ranked fifth in the world

Argentina also started the second half strongly, with Rodrigo Isgro crossing, but the Scots quickly reasserted themselves and further tries from Gregor Brown, Scott Cummings, debutant Gregor Hiddleston and Kyle Rowe put the visitors in a commanding position, stretching their lead to 47-24.

Late tries from Lucio Cinti and Agustin Moyano took some of the gloss off and earned Argentina a bonus point but this was still an excellent away win against the side ranked fifth in the world, two places above Scotland.

“I think there's areas in the game we need to improve,” said Townsend. “I think from a coaching perspective, if you're going to win and you play well and you've still got things you can improve, that's the ideal scenario.

“We came here to play a team, ranked fifth in the world and scored seven tries. I was so proud of some of the individual performances, but just the team too. We were tested today, Argentina dominated possession for the first 10 minutes. And then in the second half, they came right back into the game. But we were able to change both scenarios around and really impose our game on them and get the points on the ball.”

Injury worry

The one worry for Townsend was the injury sustained by prop Elliot Millar Mills. The tighthead had to go off after 13 minutes and the coach fears he could miss Scotland’s remaining summer matches, against South Africa and Fiji.

“It was a calf injury, so I think he felt it in his first scrum, and in the second scrum, which was a dominant one, and unfortunately he felt he couldn't continue. So I would reckon that's going to keep him out for the rest of the tour. Let's hope it doesn't, but he seemed in a fair bit of pain after the game.”

Scotland were due to fly to South Africa immediately after the Argentina game. They will play the Springboks at Loftus Versfeld next weekend then return to Edinburgh to host Fiji on July 18 in their final fixture in the first part of the Nations Championship.

South Africa also scored seven tries on Saturday in a highly impressive 45-21 win over England at Ellis Park.