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Scotland “fell asleep at the wheel” in their dramatic capitulation against Argentina, according to captain Sione Tuipulotu.

The Scots led 14-0 at half-time and stretched their advantage to 21 points when hooker Ewan Ashman crashed over for his second try of the game four minutes after the break.

But, 10 minutes later, the game changed on one pass.

Finn Russell’s attempt to go wide was picked off by Rodrigo Isgro, and Blair Kinghorn was sin-binned after Argentina broke into Scotland territory.

Julian Montoya crashed over off the back of the penalty to get Los Pumas on the board and Gregor Townsend’s side never recovered.

From 21-0, it became 24-19 and it felt like there was only one outcome as a justified feeling of dread spread around Murrayfield.

Pablo Matera and Justo Piccardo both crossed in the closing stages as the visitors sealed a famous comeback victory – 33-24.

Former Scotland prop Peter Wright called Scotland’s mentality into question and the Murrayfield crowd let their feelings known as boos greeted the full-time whistle.

“Scotland lost that game,” Wright said. “There’s no doubt about it.

“We basically bottled it and forced the game when we didn’t need to.

“Argentina had the ability and skill to win it, but it was down to Scotland. Their lack of discipline at the offside line destroyed them.

Scotland have won just four of 10 Test matches this year and were left with an all-too-familiar feeling at full-time.

Tuipulotu was asked if criticism from the stands was justified after another defeat and said: “I think so, yeah.

“Gregor has spoken in the changing room about back-to-back home sell-outs, not every stadium does that.

“We watched some rugby yesterday and there were some empty seats in the stadium, but not in our stadium and there’s a little bit of guilt there because people pay good money to come watch us.”

It was the nature of Scotland’s collapse that was so alarming.

From a position of dominance to being carved open almost at will, with no way of stopping the tide.

Scotland shipped penalty after penalty during the Argentine onslaught as players tired and Santiago Carreras took the game by the scruff of its neck.

Replacements Tom Jordan and George Horne were left on the Scotland bench as they were swamped by wave after wave of blue-and-white attack.

“Decisions and discipline will be the two areas we look most closely on,” Townsend said.

“We have to be better in our discipline. If you give a team with momentum penalty after penalty, it makes it easier for them.

“We obviously didn’t handle that momentum change when we went 21-0 up and had an opportunity to go 28-0 up. It flipped on that moment.

“Credit to Argentina, they put us under pressure and deserved to win in that final quarter.”

Scotland came close against New Zealand last weekend, coming from 17-0 down to level before conceding at the death, but both captain and coach agreed this result was the bigger disappointment.

“I don’t think I could be as disappointed as I was last week, but I think this is more disappointing,” Tuipulotu said.

“I said to the boys, ‘We are going to have to take a really hard look at ourselves’.

Jannik Sinner is relishing more “great battles” with Carlos Alcaraz in 2026 after overcoming the world number one in two tight sets to defend his ATP Finals crown in Turin.

For the second consecutive year, the Italian captured the title without dropping a set throughout the tournament, winning 7-6 (7-4) 7-5 in the final, and is now unbeaten in 31 consecutive matches on indoor hard courts.

It was Sinner’s second victory in six finals against Spaniard Alcaraz this season and closed the gap in their head-to-head record to 10-6.

The duo have dominated the 2025 men’s tour calendar, winning a combined 14 titles, including all four Grand Slams, and the ‘Sincaraz’ rivalry went stratospheric in June when Alcaraz fought back from two sets down and saved three championship points to win a Roland Garros epic.

The Spaniard also triumphed in Rome, Cincinnati and at the US Open, but Sinner, who came out on top at Wimbledon, had the final word in front of home support.

“You are definitely a player I look up to, a lot of motivation. I hope to see you again next year with great battles ahead of us,” said Sinner, who pockets just over $5million (£3.85m) as champion, as he addressed Alcaraz.

“It was a close match-up. [Alcaraz had] set point in the first set and I’m happy with how I handed the situation. It means the world to me. Playing against Carlos, you have to play your best.”

Alcaraz, who has won seven of their past nine meetings, is similarly keen to renew their rivalry next year, issuing a friendly warning.

Despite missing out on the year-end number one ranking, Sinner said there could be “no better ending” to 2025.

A successful year on court saw him add two Grand Slam titles to his collection, including a maiden Wimbledon triumph, and reach all four major finals.

He missed three months of the season to serve a doping ban but still collected six titles – the second-best haul of his career – after reaching the final in 10 of the 12 tournaments he entered.

This latest win extends his prolific record at the end-of-season showpiece event, where he has not lost a match since being defeated by Novak Djokovic in the 2023 final.

Sinner becomes just the fourth player to successfully retain the men’s singles title this century, joining Lleyton Hewitt, Roger Federer and Djokovic.

All signs point to more dominance by 22-year-old Alcaraz and 24-year-old Sinner in the new year, and more contests played at this high level can only be a good thing for the sport.

After the first 11 games came and went without a break point, Sinner was forced to save set point with a huge second serve.

He then dominated the tie-break, capitalising on a run of backhand errors from Alcaraz and executing a couple of pinpoint lobs, to seal the first set.

His usually reliable serve faltered in the opening game of the second, with a pair of untimely double faults gifting Alcaraz, sporting a bandaged right thigh after receiving treatment earlier in the match, an early break.

However, Sinner hit back with a break of his own in the sixth game before saving a break point in the seventh to keep the set on serve, whipping the crowd into a frenzy with each point he won.