Van der Merwe equals try record as Scotland down USA

MATCH REPORT: Duhan van der Merwe scored a record-equalling 27th international try as Scotland romped past the United States 42-7 in the latest stop on their July tour of North and South America.

South African-born wing Van der Merwe raced over for Scotland’s opening try in a one-sided Test match in Washington D.C.

The 29-year-old’s score saw him draw level with Stuart Hogg as Scotland’s record try-scorer in international rugby.

However, despite Scotland’s dominance, Van der Merwe was unable to pull clear of Hogg at the top of the rankings.

Instead, it was left to Ewan Ashman to snaffle the try-scoring glory, with the Canada-born hooker grabbing a first-half hat-trick.

All of Ashman’s first half points arose from driving mauls from the line-out as Scotland punished US indiscipline.

After Van der Merwe’s early try, Ashman rumbled over for his first score in the 19th minute after Scotland opted for an attacking line-out, with flyhalf Adam Hastings converting.

Ashman’s second score was almost a carbon copy, with the hooker once again driving over from a line-out after a US penalty, Hastings converting to make it 21-0.

The US, meanwhile, finally got on the board soon afterwards once they forced a turnover after a Scotland scrum near their own line.

The ball was transferred to center Tommaso Boni who barged over for a deserved score. Flyhalf A.J. MacGinty added the conversion.

On the stroke of half-time though, Scottish forward pressure once again took its toll, with Ashman completing his hat-trick after dotting down from another driving maul to make it 28-7 at the break.

An improved US defensive display in the second half staunched the flow of Scottish points, but the tourists were nevertheless able to extend their lead through converted tries from scrumhalf George Horne and No.8 Matt Fagerson.

Friday’s game was the second of Scotland’s four-match tour of North and South America. The Scots face Chile in Santiago on July 20 before taking on Uruguay in Montevideo on July 27.

The scorers:

For USA:
Try: Boni
Con: MacGinty

For Scotland:
Tries: Van der Merwe, Ashman 3, Horne, Fagerson
Cons: Hastings 5, Thompson

USA: 15 Luke Carty, 14 Conner Mooneyham, 13 Tavite Lopeti, 12 Tommaso Boni, 11 Nate Augspurger, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 JP Smith, 8 Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz, 7 Paddy Ryan, 6 Sam Golla, 5 Greg Peterson, 4 Viliami Helu, 3 David Ainu’u, 2 Dylan Fawsitt, 1 Jack Iscaro.
Replacements: 16 Kapeli Pifeleti, 17 Jake Turnbull, 18 Paul Mullen, 19 Saia Uhila, 20 Ben Bonasso, 21 Ethan McVeigh, 22 Bryce Campbell, 23 Mitch Wilson.

Scotland: 15 Kyle Rowe, 14 Kyle Steyn, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sione Tuipulotu (co-captain), 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 George Horne, 8 Matt Fagerson, 7 Rory Darge (co-captain), 6 Jamie Ritchie, 5 Scott Cummings, 4 Alex Craig, 3 Murphy Walker, 2 Ewan Ashman, 1 Pierre Schoeman.
Replacements: 16 Robbie Smith, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Elliot Millar Mills, 19 Max Williamson, 20 Luke Crosbie, 21 Jamie Dobie, 22 Ross Thompson, 23 Matt Currie.

Referee: Jordan Way
Assistant Referees: Adam Leal, Robin Kaluzniak
TMO: Chris Assmus