Worth The Wait

DAY ONE of the new, all-singing, all-dancing Nations Championship was an exercise in stamina; five back-to-back broadcasts across two ITV Channels, lasting – apart from a short break between the South Africa v England game and the Argentina v Scotland one – some 15 hours of TV watching.

For me, the most-entertaining were the first match – New Zealand v France and the final one, our own win in Cordoba. Some of the best Rugby came in the Wales v Fiji game, when the Fijians had their off-loading game working at maximum efficiency, while perhaps the most-intensity came in the match in Johannesburg, where the mutual dislike offset the fact, England are not nearly as good as their media cheer-leaders would have us believe.

Sure, they can force a better side to dig deep, but, they do not play the sort of Rugby Union which wins top-tier international today. The fact that, by beating Los Pumas, we went above England in the world rankings was a plus any red-blooded Scot would take.

My principal concern was, naturally, the final game of the long day. I had an instant good feeling from the anthems, which I thought Scotland won – pipe band beats string ensemble every day. I was also impressed by our first defensive set, where we repelled 24 phases of intelligent and aggressive Argentinian attack.

Over the piece, Rory Hutchison was outstanding. It seemed for a time as if Tooney didn't fancy the Northampton man, but, as Huw Jones' star has waed, on the back of his club's rise, so too has Rory. He and Sione Tuipulotu were terrific on Saturday.

Kyle Rowe, deputising for the rested Blair Kinghorn, was another who stood out. Wee Kyle really has had a fantastic season, but, he has never been better than he was in Cordoba.

It was good too, to see how well Tom Jordan and later Fergus Burke covered for the injured MacMessi. The Argentinian football team doesn't function half as well when their magician is missing from the number ten shirt – the same fate did not befall Scotland on Saturday, which augers well going forward.

The Argentinians revel in scrummaging, so it was good to see our eight force them into reverse gear. Zander Fagerson, when he replaced the unfortunate Elliot Millar-Mills, looked to have regained his best form, which will be needed next weekend, while Jonny Gray silenced the doubters.

However, I felt we really won the game at the breakdown, where our back row, and in particular Rory Darge .were exceptional, setting-up the quick ruck ball on which our midfield thrives. Also, we now have depth and our game doesn't fall away once we start to empty the bench.

I did like the post-game excuses from the Argentinians – fictional though they probably were: “They were tired after staying up late to watch Messi at the World Cup.” Aye Right!

There were a few individual moments across the games, some terrific finishes but, for me, the highlight was that charge in open veldt from Ox Niche, it's always good to see a prop in full flight. Just behind that was that 50/22 from South Africa, off a very narrow angle, demonstrating the effects of altitude.

Above I mentioned our own depth at ten, but what about New Zealand's? Reuben Lowe had a most-impressive debut, apart from his early yellow card, yet, in the eyes of some Kiwis, he's only their fourth choice, behind Beauden Barrett, Richie Maningua and Damien McKenzie. On debut, he slotted in like a veteran.

I was never a great Dave Rennie fan during his spell at Glasgow. I always thought he approached that job as a staging post towards his real professional goal, the All Blacks job. Now he has that one, I reckon he just might be able to get the ABs back on top. Mind you, he does have some Scottish help – Mike Blair has already got them attacking with more vim than of late.

The Australia v Ireland game was a bit of an arm wrestle; Ireland, a team in transition, just beating an Australian side which is also a work in progress. The Wallabies will, I feel certain, be a tougher test by the time they arrive at Murrayfield in mid-November.

Meanwhile, it's on to South Africa and a really hard Test against the World Champions. In typically Scottish fashion, we travel hopefully.