Scotland routs Canada
MATCH REPORT: Gus Warr, Dylan Richardson and Arron Reed each scored two tries to lead Scotland in a 73-12 rout over host Canada at the weekend.
The Scottish squad set a record with 10 players earning their first caps, breaking the old mark of eight debuts against Tonga in 2021, and crushed their rivals before a crowd of 11,447 in Ottawa.
Warr and Reed started in their debut match for Scotland, which had 11 tries at the start of an Americas tour that continues next Friday in the United States.
Scotland improved to 5-1 all-time against Canada, the 61-point margin being the most lopsided rout in the rivalry.
Scotland grabbed a 24-5 half-time edge, although the Canadians opened the scoring on Lucas Rumball’s try in the ninth minute.
A Josh Bayliss try and Ross Thompson conversion in the 13th minute put Scotland ahead to stay.
Richardson added his first tries for Scotland in the 16th and 26th minutes and Sale Sharks’ Reed’s first Scotland try brought a 19-point lead at the half.
Warr sandwiched tries in the 45th and 52nd minutes around Kyle Baillie’s try and Peter Nelson’s conversion for Canada and Reed’s second try in the 54th minute made it 45-12.
Harry Paterson scored a try in the 61st, Jamie Dobie dotted down the ball in the 69th, co-captain Stafford McDowell added another try in the 75th minute and Kyle Steyn completed the tries in the 80th minute.
“We needed possession,” Canada coach Kingsley Jones said, adding: “We need a good line-out, a good ball and a good defence for Canada.
“We need to improve in those areas in the next five days.
“The set pieces you’ve got to be pleased with and other aspects, the players’ attitude.
“There’s six new caps, it’s the start of something special for those guys.
“The start was good. We controlled possession and there are positives there for us.
“However, the players are pretty devastated, the staff as well.
“It’s hard, we want to win. We talk about it, but the reality is, without the ball, we weren’t good enough.
“It’s difficult for all of us, we want to do better.
“The scoreline in the end is pretty disappointing.
“The next five days are about fixing what we see from that.”
The scorers
For Canada
Tries: Rumball, Baillie
Con: Nelson
For Scotland
Tries: Bayliss, Richardson 2, Reed 2, Warr 2, Paterson, Dobie, McDowall, Steyn
Cons: Thompson 5, Healy 4
Teams
Canada: 15 Cooper Coats, 14 Andrew Coe, 13 Mitch Richardson, 12 Ben LeSage, 11 Nic Benn, 10 Peter Nelson, 9 Jason Higgins, 8 Siaki Vikilani, 7 Lucas Rumball, 6 Mason Flesch, 5 Kyle Baillie, 4 Conor Keys, 3 Conor Young, 2 Andrew Quattrin, 1 Liam Murray.
Replacements: 16 Jesse Mackail, 17 Djustice Sears-Duru, 18 Cole Keith, 19 James Stockwood, 20 Siôn Parry, 21 Brock Gallagher, 22 Talon McMullin, 23 Takoda McMullin.
Scotland: 15 Harry Paterson, 14 Jamie Dobie, 13 Matt Currie, 12 Stafford McDowall (co-captain), 11 Arron Reed, 10 Ross Thompson, 9 Gus Warr, 8 Josh Bayliss, 7 Luke Crosbie (co-captain), 6 Gregor Brown, 5 Glen Young, 4 Max Williamson, 3 Elliot Millar Mills, 2 Dylan Richardson, 1 Rory Sutherland.
Replacements: 16 Robbie Smith, 17 Nathan McBeth, 18 Will Hurd, 19 Ewan Johnson, 20 Matt Fagerson, 21 Ben Healy, 22 Kyle Steyn, 23 Ross McCann.
Referee: Adam Leal
Assistant referees: Kat Roche, Kahlil Harrison
TMO: Austin Reed
