Scotland bounce back after Boks misery

MATCH REPORT: Scotland bounced back in fine style, beating Portugal 59-21 at Murrayfield on Saturday.

Scotland still reeling from their defeat to the Springboks, were out to make a big statement and for the majority of the match they did.

The hosts scored nine tries, including a penalty try and a brace by wing Aaron Reed.

Although on the losing side, Portugal showed glimpses of some good attacking rugby, scoring three tries.

Gregor Townsend made a host of changes from the side that went down to the Springboks, including a new captain in No.12 Stafford McDowall who replaces Glasgow teammate Sione Tuipulotu who’s not considered for this clash.

Scotland had two starting debutants in lock Alex Samuel and loose forward Ben Muncaster.

For Portugal, the encounter is their second Tier one opposition in their last five outings this season, their last one coming against South Africa where they showed real fight and also managed to score 21 points against the world Champions.

From the kick-off Scotland controlled proceedings and after a number of attempts on the Portuguese line, novice international tighthead Will Hurd was the forward who finally managed to touch down, despite the best efforts of Andre da Cunha and David Costa.

The returning Darcy Graham was surprised to receive a speculative no-look pass from Portugal wing Raffaele Storti in the middle of the field, the ball then finding captain Stafford McDowall who turned on the afterburners to score his second try in eight Test matches. Flyhalf Adam Hastings converted for a 12-0 lead with under 15 minutes played.

A morale-lifting moment came for Portugal ahead of the end of the first quarter when they won a scrum penalty inside their own 22, but the hosts were equally happy to take any prosaic win that came their way, which it did just before the half-hour. Scotland looked on course to score from a maul, only for the opposition to be deemed to have brought it down illegally. A penalty try for Scotland, and referee Takehito Namekawa handed a yellow card at second row Duarte Torgal.

After his four-try haul against Fiji on the opening weekend,  Graham showed great skills and beat three Portugal defenders for the try. The wing’s score was his 29th and he joined Duhan van der Merwe as Scotland’s leading all-time try scorer.

As half-time approached, Scotland worked the ball wide deep in Portuguese territory. Outside centre Rory Hutchinson surged forwards but was tripped by a good Lucas Martins ankle-tap, and before hitting the turf managed to put in a one-handed offload to No.8 Josh Bayliss on his outside to score. The extras added by Hastings turned the screw on the tourists, 33-0.

Portugal still had a window of opportunity to salvage something from an otherwise disappointing first half. When Scotland were penalised near their 5m line, Portugal kicked for touch, and from the resulting maul number two Luka Begic peeled off the back to go over. Scrumhalf Samuel Marques converted to see his team trailing 7-33 at the break.

In the second half, another intercept by Scotland let Portugal down once more at the start of the second half, captain Tomas Appleton shipping too fast under pressure from the oncoming Hastings, not realising that Scotland’s George Horne would be the beneficiary. The scrumhalf was snagged shy of the try-line, but Scotland went patiently through the motions until loosehead Jamie Bhatti spotted a gap through and extended his team’s lead to 38-7.

There followed an extended period of stasis until the 54th minute. Marques got the better of opposite number Horne, ripping out of the scrumhalf’s attempted upright tackle in front of the Scottish posts and scoring a try, which he converted himself, 38-14.

Two high and long passes were all it took for Scotland to score on the hour, wing Arron Reed with too much pace for the defence to catch him. Hastings converted, and a minute later was being called upon to do the same thing when Reed went out-and-in for his second try in as many minutes, with the Portuguese still reeling from his previous effort.

At 52-14, there seemed little chance of the embattled Portugal mounting any sort of meaningful comeback. Scotland had essentially emptied the bench with 15 minutes left, but instead of putting the game to bed even further, they messed up a lineout on their 5m line, losing possession, and wing Storti took a short pass to step and fend his way to the line for the try, scoring Portugals’s third try.

Marques converted.

Replacement scrumhalf Jamie Dobie then scampered across for a simple close-range try, his forwards having softened up the Portuguese defence with a barrage of hit-ups. Fullback Tom Jordan, now on kicking duty, converted for the 59-21 lead.

Portugal thought they might have had the last word in the match after replacement Vasco Baptista looked to have scored, only for the TMO to show that Darcy Graham, bumped off in the act, recovered to hold up the ball.

Moment of the match: When Portugal hooker Luka Begic crashed over the line at the maul on the stroke of half-time.

Villian of the match: Portugal’s inability to hold onto the ball with wayward passes their main downfall in the first stanza.

Man of the match: Darcy Graham was impressive with his amazing footwork, however, our nod goes to Tom Jordan. He was the heartbeat of the Scotland attack and his kicking really helped his team

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Tries: Hurd, McDowall, Penalty try, Graham, Bayliss, Bhatti, Reed 2, Dobie
Cons: Hastings 5, Jordan

For Portugal:
Tries: Begic, Marques, Storti
Cons: Marquess 3

Yellow card: Duarte Torgal (Portugal, 27 – collapsing a maul)

Teams:

Scotland: 15 Tom Jordan, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Rory Hutchinson, 12 Stafford McDowall (captain), 11 Aaron Reed, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 George Horne, 8 Josh Bayliss, 7 Ben Muncaster, 6 Luke Crosbie (vice captain), 5 Alex Samuel, 4 Alex Craig, 3 Will Hurd, 2 Patrick Harrison, 1 Jamie Bhatti.
Replacements: 16 Johnny Matthews, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Elliot Millar-Mills, 19 Ewan Johnson, 20 Freddie Douglas, 21 Jamie Dobie, 22 Matt Currie, 23 Kyle Rowe.

Portugal: 15 Simao Bento, 14 Raffaele Storti, 13 Jose Lima, 12 Tomas Appleton (captain), 11 Lucas Martins, 10 Domingos Cabral, 9 Samuel Marques, 8 Frederico Couto, 7 Nicolas Martins, 6 Andre Cunha, 5 Duarte Torgal, 4 Jose Madeira, 3 Diogo Hasse Ferreira, 2 Luka Begic, 1 David Costa.
Replacements: 16 Abel Cunha, 17 Pedro Vicente, 18 Antonio Prim, 19 Antonio R.Andrade, 20 Vasco Baptista, 21 Antonio Campos, 22 Hugo Aubry, 23 Manuel Cardoso Pinto.

Referee: Takehito Namekawa (Japan)
Assistant referees: Luke Pearce (England), Anthony Woodthorpe (England)
TMO: Brian MacNeice (Ireland)

*Additional Source: NationsCup