Mentioning Argentina stirs a whirlwind of emotions for Hugo Southwell.

The former international full-back felt heartbreak when Scotland fell to the Argentinians in the 2007 World Cup quarter-final.

However, he also recalls the joy of 2010, when Scotland achieved two remarkable victories over Argentina—winning 24-16 and 13-9—to secure their first-ever Test series triumph in the Southern Hemisphere.

In recent years, Argentina has not only bested South Africa but also claimed victories over the British & Irish Lions, New Zealand, and Australia. Just last weekend, they dominated Wales with a 52-28 victory in Cardiff, a notable achievement against a team still finding its rhythm.

As a result, Argentina will arrive at Murrayfield on Sunday buoyed with confidence, quite the contrast to a Scotland side reflecting on their missed opportunity after a 25-17 loss to the All Blacks last weekend.

Hugo Southwell says Scotland’s mentality will only improve if they beat one of the big nations

For Southwell, however, the match against Argentina is a chance for Scotland to now lay down a marker.

A ‘Rory McIlroy’ moment, as he puts it. A performance which will define where they’re at, in terms of world rugby progression, and a chance to take confidence from their own abilities.

‘I do liken it to Rory McIlroy,’ said Southwell, whose great-grandfather once presided over East Stirling football club.

‘Once you win the Masters, you think it’s going to open the floodgates. I’m not saying Scotland are Rory McIlroy but it’s a similar analogy, where we need to get a game won against one of the big nations in a big game environment.

‘We’ve beaten England, we’ve done that. You can see the confidence now when we play them. It’s almost as if we’re going to beat them every time. We haven’t got that against Ireland, South Africa or New Zealand, and I don’t think that will change until we win one of these.

‘I do think it’s mental what happened last weekend.

‘If you went to watch training of the All Blacks and Scotland, it’s pretty much like-for-like. The guys we’ve got on the pitch right now are the very best we’ve ever had. That’s not the issue for me.

‘The issue is getting to 17-17 and then not putting the game to bed, like Ireland did in their pomp, where they didn’t play fancy rugby necessarily, but they could get the game won in situations where the game was on the line.

‘We’ve seen that with Leinster, we’ve seen it with their other club sides. I don’t think we have developed in this area. I think it’s crucial we put ourselves in positions like we put ourselves in at the weekend, and somehow get ourselves over the line.’

For Southwell, who qualified for Scotland through his mother’s side, much has changed since his first foray in a Scotland shirt.

Thrust into Matt Williams’ squad in 2004 for Scotland’s Tour of Australia and New Zealand, it was a time of less consistency.

His inclusion, he admits, came unexpectedly, but ended in an impressive 59-cap career.

‘It was actually thanks to Craig Chalmers that I ended up going up to Scotland,’ said Southwell.

‘After university, I hadn’t quite adjusted to pro rugby and was enjoying myself a bit too much. I’d been playing at Worcester but they needed someone with more experience after going down a league.

‘Chick suggested I try for Edinburgh, so I went up there, had a trial under Frank Hadden, and ended up on a really good run with them.

‘Craig still ribs me about that. I saw him last weekend and he asked me when he was going to get paid commission.’

His international career ended, however, in disappointment.

‘Though I didn’t know it at the time, my last game turned out to be against Wales in the Six Nations.

‘I misjudged the chase of a high ball and ended up with Lee Byrne’s boot in my face. Twenty stitches later, I’ve still got the scar.

‘As I was trying to get fit for the World Cup in 2011, I then damaged the medial ligament in my knee while playing for Stade Francais. It involved an 8-12 week lay-off, which would take me up to about two weeks before the World Cup.

‘Unfortunately, I was also out of contract with my club and two weeks before the end of the season, I was told they were going to release me.

‘This, as you can imagine, wasn’t a good place to be in, particularly in a World Cup year.

‘I had my second kid on the way, and was also out, injured.

Grant Gilchrist and his Scotland  team-mates came up agonisingly short against the All Blacks

‘I asked the Scotland head coach, Andy Robinson, for an indication as to whether I would be going to the World Cup, but he said he couldn’t do that.

‘I totally understood, as I didn’t want to be in an advantageous position, but I wanted him to understand that I had to make a decision around a club contract, that would be right for my family.

‘I therefore decided to go down the club route and Andy took exception to that. I took the opportunity to sign for Wasps and just like that, my career for Scotland was over.

‘It wasn’t the swansong I had hoped for. I had some clubs that wanted to sign me, the World Cup didn’t start until October, and club contracts run from July, so if I had said no to a club, that would have been three and a half months with no salary. I wasn’t in a position to have that.

‘I haven’t really spoken about this before but I’ve seen Andy since, and I bear no grudges. I may not even have been selected for Scotland. Who knows?

‘I made that decision purely for my family. I had no reassurance I’d be in the World Cup squad, I’d been injured, I wouldn’t have had any warmup games ahead of the competition, and I could have ended up sitting on the bench and then not having a club to come back to.

‘Looking back at it, it was the right decision. Should it have been dealt with better? Yes, probably, but it is what it is. It all worked out well for me, but it was the behaviour around what happened that was disappointing.’

Despite this, Southwell’s relationship with Scottish Rugby remains a good one. This weekend, he will once again be on hosting duties at Murrayfield, while keeping a watchful eye on the game being played out in front of him.

The match, he believes, is pivotal. Not just for Scotland, but for Gregor Townsend too, and what lies ahead for the 52-year-old head coach.

‘It’s a hugely important game,’ he said. ‘Is the pressure on Gregor if we lose this one? There will certainly be question marks.

‘Personally, I don’t think Gregor is to blame for what happened against New Zealand. If they lose to Argentina, it changes the perspective completely.

‘There will be pressure if they lose two games building into a Six Nations, coming off the back of what’s happened before. It’s that sort of environment, you have to be getting results.

‘They didn’t get the result against the All Blacks, so they have to learn from that against Argentina.

‘I said before the autumn internationals that we needed to win three of them. Argentina will really test us, and it will be a big scalp for Scotland, should they win.’

Whether Scotland now develop that ‘McIlroy mentality’ however, is another matter altogether.

‘I think the biggest thing we need to do, is to be as competitive as possible on the floor,’ said Southwell.

‘We need to be really offensive in the tackle, which means not giving them that platform to set things up for their backs. If the Pumas get on the front foot, and they start their offloading game and put these little chips in behind and they get their attacking game going, it could be a long afternoon.

Gregor Townsend will come under mounting pressure if Scotland lose to Argentina on Sunday

‘Argentina have changed completely since my day.

‘When we beat them away from home, all we had to do was nullify their biggest threats; their kicking game and their set piece and driving maul.

‘They’ve now got attacking threats all over the pitch.

‘They always had a back row that really got in your face but they’re now such talented footballers. You saw that against Wales when they got on the front foot.

‘I played with Felipe Contepomi (now Argentina head coach) when I was at Bristol and he was just one of those guys that got the crowd on their feet. He loved to be the showman, and I think that’s what he’s brought to this Argentina side, that extra bit of flair.

‘In games, they tended to rely very much, like Italy previously, on their forward pack, driving mauls. They were all about the scrum, all about the front row, but then didn’t get the ball out much.

‘When they did, they put bombs up. Their game has now developed so much.

‘A big area for us to watch is just slowing the ball down. We have to try and do that. Because if they get quick ball, they will be totally lethal. I do expect Scotland, however, to put in a good performance. I think they will get a result.’