Scotland triumphed in their final fixture of the Autumn Nations Series on Saturday, taking on Argentina in an action-packed finale which descended into a chaotic on-pitch brawl at BT Murrayfield.
While Scotland ultimately proved the dominant side with an end score of 52-29, the match proved not to be the standard game fans are used to seeing. A total of six cards were issued throughout the game, including a red for Argentina’s Marcos Kremer early in the game.
As frustrations between the sides built, the crowd watched as Argentina captain Julián Montoya pushed Scotland’s leading man Jamie Ritchie, to which Ritchie was picked up on referee microphones telling Montoya to “set an example” to his team.
That was only the start of the violent behaviour, however, as only two minutes later, a mass brawl broke out between both sides, with players piling in to help their teammates.
Autumn Nations season ticket holder Keir detailed his view from the opposite side of the stadium: “We couldn’t see that well, and they turned the screens off during the fight which was quite funny.”
With the brawl briefly diverting attentions from the high-quality rugby on offer, Scottish Rugby expert and commentor Stuart Cameron suggested the severity of the situation wasn’t too extreme: “It was a lot of shirt-pulling and all that sort of stuff.” Stuart also highlighted “the fact that there was no red card shows you that it was just people letting off steam.”
Following the fight, a further two yellow cards were issued. Thomas Gallo became Argentina’s third player in the sin-bin, alongside Scotland’s Captain Ritchie, whose earlier statement was turned back against him by rival Captain Montoya, who told Ritchie to set an example to his own team.
Jonathan, a spectator close to the action in the South stand said he watched players interacting at the end of the match, managing to move past the clash: “It was great at the end of the game, I was watching players who had been pushing and shoving each other, and there was clearly respect for each other.”
Suggesting the fight could potentially benefit Scottish Rugby from a marketing perspective, commentator Stuart Cameron said: “If anything it makes it easier to market when there’s so many things going on, that game had everything!”
Drawing attention to the quality of rugby on display, Stuart suggested Scotland’s performance throughout the Autumn Nations bodes well for international fixtures including the World Cup next year: “I think we’re all quietly confident that Scotland can do well”, adding “it was 2 out of 4 in the Autumn Tests, but it could easily of been 4 out of 4.”
Offering his predictions for the Guinness Six Nations, also set for next year, Stuart said: “I’ll be surprised and disappointed if we don’t get at least three wins. We should win against Italy at home, we should beat Wales at home. With the way things are at the moment, I think we’ll beat England at Twickenham.”
Scotland’s Guinness Six Nations kick-off away against England on 4 February 2023, with the World Cup getting underway in September.
