By Bill Johnstone BBC Radio Scotland rugby commentator in Argentina

The first Test against Argentina was a game the Scots could and should have won.

Los Pumas flanker Juan Fernandez Lobbe celebrates victory in Rosario

That it did not materialise was hugely frustrating for both the players and management.

Chris Paterson had kicked his fourth and fifth penalties of the match, the Scots had fought off a forceful Argentine start to the second half and things were looking pretty good.

But the old problem of losing turnover ball continued and Argentina were expert in isolating Scottish ball carriers.

Gonzalo Tiesi's stoppage-time try came when Scotland were throwing caution to the wind in a desperate effort to catch up.

There were too many errors in the Scottish performance which played into the hands of the opposition. Losing large amounts of turnover ball was one of them.

Assistant coach Sean Lineen felt the backs did not get enough quick ball. Again the finger was pointed at Argentine expertise in slowing it down.

Scottish breaks were few and far between. Those that stick in the mind were made by Mike Blair off a line-out deflection and shimmy between two Argentine forwards and another by Graeme Morrison, which petered out through lack of close support.

But the Scottish coaches suggested their charges could do better given some quicker possession and a chance to hit the line at pace.

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And in the second half he went through a period when his otherwise accurate touch kicking deserted him.

Instead of making sure of his touch he seemed to go for length and Juan Manuel Leguizamon, Bernardo Stortoni and Tomas de Vedia all caught failed touch finders and ran the ball back at the Scots. It created pressure which could have been avoided.

Ben Cairns and Thom Evans had few chances to show what they can do. Cairns made one superb tackle on the fleeing Felipe Contepomi and did not look out of place at all.

And Evans once showed in the early second half that he can twinkle out of a tackle and make ground up the touchline given a minimum of room to work in. But he may have to work a bit more on how to receive the tackle.

On one occasion he was unceremoniously upended by Nunez Piossek right in front of our commentary position. The crowd loved it. I am not sure young Evans appreciated it quite so much...

But I think both of these new caps have a good rugby future.

Scotland scrum-half Mike Blair runs at the Argentine defence

When I spoke to him at the Captain's Run on Friday afternoon at the Gigante de Arroyito Stadium, he was bursting with pride at being chosen and totally committed to the Thistle. I thought he had a good game.

Mustchin is as awkward as they come on the field but full of experience of the professional game. He will feel disappointed if he is not in the starting line-up in Buenos Aires, but I think he will be there.

Three players will require further assessment early in the week to see if they are fit to train. Simon Danielli, Dan Parks, and Scott MacLeod all have bumps and bruises requiring further medical attention.

Scotland will need every man available and fit for selection if there is to be any chance of securing the margin of victory which will see the team rise up to eighth in the IRB rankings.

They need a 15 points margin of victory in the second Test to achieve that.

A tall order at any time and one which many will feel could have been more easily achieved in Saturday's match, when Argentina were as untried and untested as the Scots.

A Scottish win in Buenos Aires against these Pumas will take a team effort nothing short of Herculean.