If the mischievous caricature of the Scottish capital is to be believed, Greig Laidlaw will be happy to offer Argentina a traditional Edinburgh welcome this weekend.

Or, to put it another way, no welcome whatsoever.

Laidlaw, who has been confirmed as captain for the Argentina game, will probably stop short of enquiring whether the South Americans have had their tea, but he is still determined that they should not enjoy their visit to the home of Scottish rugby. "We have to get wired into them for 80 minutes and make Murrayfield a horrible place for teams to come and play," he explained.

The Scots were none too good at that on the Pumas' last four visits to these shores. Indeed, it was Argentina who made things pretty unpleasant for their hosts, winning by single-digit margins in 1999, 2001, 1995 and 2009. In total, 24 years have now gone by since Scotland last recorded a home win against the Argentines, a 49-3 victory in November 1990 against a side for whom the legendary Hugo Porta was making his last international appearance at the age of 39.

In which light, there is a perversely fascinating symmetry about the fact that Scotland have claimed victories in their last four games on Argentinian soil, a sequence that included a first southern-hemisphere Test series win when Andy Robinson guided them to their triumphs in Tucuman and Mar del Plata in 2010. However, there is little to be taken from their most recent result, when the Scots won 21-19 in Cordoba five months ago, as that was over a largely home-based, second string Argentina side.

Instead, Laidlaw opted to focus on Argentina's historic 21-17 win against Australia last month, their first success in the Rugby Championship since their admission to the tournament in 2012. "They have changed their game a bit in the last few years," the 29-year-old observed. "They were traditionally a power team, and they still have an element of that, but now they are in the Rugby Championship they realise they have to expand their game if they want to compete.

"The last time they pulled on the Pumas jersey they had one of their best results. I'm sure they'll be full of confidence. It is about us stemming that and meeting fire with fire."

In Laidlaw's determination to inject an element of discomfort into the Argentines' experience of rugby in these parts, the influence of new coach Vern Cotter is easy to see. Cotter famously led Clermont Auvergne on a run of more than 70 home victories before he threw in his lot with Scotland, and making Murrayfield as much a fortress as the Stade Marcel Michelin once was - Clermont's run of wins stopped after his departure - is clearly on his agenda.

In other regards, Cotter is continuing to play his cards close to his chest, not least in his refusal to anoint Laidlaw as Scotland captain for the entire November series, in which the Scots will also go up against New Zealand and Tonga. When he spoke at their Newcastle training base last week, Cotter hinted that the leadership issue might be decided on a game-by-game basis and, while he praised Laidlaw at yesterday's Murrayfield announcement, it was significant that he sidestepped a question about his captaincy strategy beyond Saturday.

"We will get through this game and see what happens next," said the coach. "We are focused on a big challenge against Argentina, a very big game. We need to get through that and then we will assess things afterwards."

There was a suspicion last season that Laidlaw's game had gone off the boil a little. His international goal-kicking percentages dropped and he lacked some of his old sharpness. However, the scrum-half agreed his close-season move from Edinburgh to Gloucester and his experience of playing in the Aviva Premiership had a rejuvenating effect on his game. "The way Gloucester want to play the game has really helped me come on," he explained. "I've enjoyed working with [head coach] Laurie Fisher down there. It's about playing quickly, speed of ball, and thankfully I'm fitting in well to their system.

"I've had a lot of game time under my belt. Playing week in and week out always helps, especially in the playmaker's role. It helps you get your finger on the pulse and play with confidence. So far so good.

"The Premiership is a good competition. There's a sense, with relegation, that every game is a big game. Teams are scared to lose but so far I've enjoyed it."

Even with the proviso that the captaincy - or, for that matter, the scrum-half berth - is not to be considered a sinecure, Cotter declared that he was satisfied he had the right man in place for this Test. "Greig captained two games [against the USA and Canada] on the summer tour and has been playing exceptionally well for his club," said Cotter. "When we sat down we had a number of leaders but Greig's form and the fact that he has captained for me before made him the obvious choice.

"We have younger guys coming through and showing leadership qualities, Jonny Gray for example. It is encouraging. There is a lot of enthusiasm within the group for these upcoming games.

"But Greig has an old head on his shoulders and he is going to be channelling all that energy on to the field and will do a good job."