A deep-seated feeling of anger in the Scotland squad could be the key to gaining revenge in Saturday’s second international against Argentina. That’s the view of Alasdair Strokosch, the Scotland flanker, who admits to having had words with the rest of the team in the changing-room immediately after last week’s game.

Several days later and Strokosch is still fuming because he felt that Scotland were the better side - for the second game on the trot - but made enough mistakes to lose the match.

“I don’t usually say all that much, to be honest, but I felt I had to get it off my chest,” the 25-year-old Strokosch said. “I’m quite an angry guy a lot of the time. I’ve not got many caps, but I felt it after we played Italy [a 23-20 defeat in the RBS Six Nations Championship in March] and it’s happened here again. I get sick of losing against teams I know we’re better than.”

The key, for the forwards at least, is to harness that anger and turn it into the real aggression on the field that was missing last weekend when Scotland lost 21-15 to Argentina in Rosario. “You’ve got to want to hurt someone when you tackle them or when you clear a ruck,” Strokosch, who won his fifth cap last Saturday, said. “You’ve got to want to be dominant. That comes down to everyone looking at themselves. I can’t make anyone else feel that way. It’s down to everyone looking after their own job and if everyone does that then we will operate as a team.

“It comes down to the decisions being made on the pitch. It’s us that dropped the ball or didn’t look after it in contact so it’s down to us to change it. The coaches can only guide you so far; we’ve got to take responsibility for what happens and we’ve got to fix it.”

Strokosch was backed up by Simon Webster, the Edinburgh wing, who watched most of the game from the stands after spending the last two months injured and only just recovering in time for the tour. “It is not a lack of effort but a few clinical things, a few little issues,” Webster said. “If we can just clean those up, I can’t promise it will make us win but it will give us a much bigger chance of winning. It is not more effort but a more clinical performance that is needed.

“There were times at the weekend when we got in good positions but let them escape too easily. Rather than putting more pressure on them they got away with cheap clearances and turnovers. We have to avoid that.”

Strokosch, whose career has blossomed since he moved from Edinburgh to Gloucester in the Guin-ness Premiership, thinks that a lack of confidence may be the cause of Scotland’s problems. “I see the potential that is there and how good they could be,” he said. “That’s what got to me more than anything, we are underperforming, not fulfilling our potential, if we did that we could be a top-four or top-five nation. Are we going to move from being a team that wins a couple of games a year to one that is consistently good? We have got to make that choice as players.

“Collectively, we all wait for Allister Hogg or Mike Blair to create something or for Chris Paterson to kick a goal, but everyone should be trying to break the game. The guy who lifts in the lineout or clears the ruck is just as important as the guy who scores the try, so when it comes to doing your little bit, you have to do that perfectly, which we’re not doing. It’s easy to change, most of it is in our heads. We all have the skills, but we need to do it to the best of our ability every time.”

According to both Strokosch and Webster, the time for Scotland to stop rolling over in these close games and start pushing Argentina all the way to try to clinch a victory will come this weekend. Whether it is the cool approach among the backs or the more passionate approach of the forwards, they both feel the side is ready to turn things round.

“It comes down to everyone looking at themselves and asking if they did everything properly,” Strokosch said. “Did you do your job? Were you where you were meant to be? There’s been a lot of analysis done and we’ve got to take that into the training sessions.”