Laidlaw delighted with Scotland resolve

10:17 PM GMT

Scotland skipper Greig Laidlaw thinks his side got their reward for refusing to panic against Argentina.

The scrappy Scots struggled to shake off the streetwise South Americans but eventually ground out a 19-16 win thanks to their captain's stoppage-time penalty.

It was sweet relief for the Gloucester scrum-half after he admitted letting Australia off the hook in last week's narrow 23-22 defeat when he struck the post with a conversion.

But having earlier seen his side cancel out Nicolas Sanchez's opening try with a quick-fire Sean Maitland touchdown, the captain kept his nerve when he was given a second chance, knocking over the decisive kick with 82-and-a-half minutes on the clock.

Laidlaw, who kicked 14 points in total, said: "That post doesn't like me at the minute. I struck it lovely but it just stayed dead straight and hung out to the right.

"The boys were giving me stick for taking two goes to win it but I was pretty happy to see the second one go between the posts.

"The key was after they scored. We stood under the posts and said, 'Don't panic, we can score tries.'

"We hit straight back and scored then pegged them back straight away. Psychologically that was a huge blow to them.

"We were still annoyed from that Australia game last week so we were delighted to get on the right side of one today."

Amid cold and wet conditions in Edinburgh, they struggled to keep hold of the ball while their fresh-faced pack toiled against the wily Pumas pack.

But head coach Vern Cotter said: "It's nice to be able to come away with the win. We knew it was going to be an arm-wrestle but I thought the boys responded really well.

"It wasn't perfect by any means but what we saw was a lot grit and character. The guys got what they went for and there are a lot of positives to come out of the game.

"We dominated territory in the first half, which I thought was good. We had opportunities and perhaps didn't make the most of them but it wasn't going to be an open game. "Argentina came to squeeze us and get the win that way. We defended well and the win was a reflection of our determination.

"What I really liked was that they scored a try and we scored one ourselves straight back. That was important. I'm very proud of the way the guys went about their business."

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Laidlaw delighted with Scotland resolve