Scotland try record equalled as standout fringe player puts hand up to start against Australia

This was a game Scotland were supposed to win well and they duly did, scoring nine tries to Portugal’s three in a 59-21 victory.

It was by no means perfect; the lineout malfunctioned at times and there will be questions asked about the tries they conceded but there were plenty of positives too. Josh Bayliss was excellent and even popped up on the right wing to score a try. The No 8 impressed throughout and put his hand up to play against Australia next week and fill the vacancy created by Jack Dempsey’s injury.

Other highlights included a fine breakaway score from Stafford McDowall on the day he captained his country, a quick-fire double from Arron Reed, Darcy Graham equalling the Scotland try record and a first cap off the bench for Freddy Douglas.

Scotland's Josh Bayliss scores the fifth try of the win over Portugal. (Photo by Paul Devlin / SNS Group) | SNS Group / SRU

The teenager became the youngest Scotland debutant in over 60 years and his 15 minutes on the field were his first taste of first-class professional rugby. There were also debuts for Ben Muncaster and Alex Samuel but the latter’s afternoon ended early when he went off with a head injury.

Scotland had made 14 changes following the defeat by South Africa so it was understandable that things didn’t always click but the fringe players impressed against opponents who played with ambition and were fit enough to keep causing problems right up until the final whistle.

Tom Jordan, the only player retained from the Springboks game, had another cracking game at full-back and was denied a first Scotland try in the second half because of a forward pass, much to the crowd’s chagrin.

There were around 60,000 at Murrayfield, a remarkable attendance given Scotland were playing a side who are still largely amateur and were captained by a dentist. To put it in perspective, fewer than 6,000 turned up when the teams last met at Murrayfield 26 years ago. But Portugal have come on leaps and bounds in the last couple of years and won many admirers with their performances at last year’s World Cup. They will leave Murrayfield with memories of three good tries but the hosts ultimately had too much quality.

The breakthrough came in the fourth minute, Will Hurd crashing over from close range after Scotland had gone through the phases. It was the Leicester Tigers prop’s first international try in what was his fourth Test appearance.

Scotland's Jamie Bhatti scores his side's sixth try of the victory over Portugal at Murrayfield. (Photo by Paul Devlin / SNS Group) | SNS Group / SRU

Portugal received plaudits at the World Cup for their exciting brand of rugby and the opening skirmishes at Murrayfield were certainly fast and loose. Adam Hastings and Rory Hutchinson had kicks charged down and there were turnovers aplenty for both sides.

Chances were bound to come amid the chaos and it was McDowall who capitalised. Raffaeli Storti had already seen one wayward pass go to Scottish hands and when he did it again on the halfway line the Glasgow centre gobbled up the opportunity, turning and outpacing everyone to mark his captaincy with a fine try which Hastings converted.

Scotland got away with an interception of their own a few minutes later when Jose Madeira was adjudged to have knocked on Hastings’ pass but it was a warning for the home team. In truth, after the frantic start Portugal had begun to run out of steam and the Scots were able to score three more tries before half-time.

Takehito Namekawa, the Japanese referee, awarded a penalty try as Scotland turned the screw at the lineout maul and Duarte Torgal was shown a yellow card. Six minutes later, Graham ran in his record-equalling score. George Horne was the creator, catching the ball acrobatically over the line then passing back inside before his feet touched the ground. Graham did the rest, cutting back inside and dancing through the Portuguese defence to score his 29th Scotland try and move level with Edinburgh colleague Duhan Van Der Merwe.

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Bayliss then popped up in Graham’s right-wing channel to score in the corner after a lovely offload from Hutchinson. Hastings’ conversion from the corner made it 33-0 but Portugal had the final say of the half, hooker Luka Begic stretching over in the corner from a lineout maul. It was a soft try for Scotland to concede and scrum-half Samuel Marques added the extras to make it 33-7 at the break.

Portugal had been guilty of throwing away possession in the first half and Tomas Appleton gifted Scotland an opportunity in the early part of the second. His pass was intercepted by Horne who hared towards the line and was caught just short. Scotland recycled and Jamie Bhatti forced his way over for his first Scotland try.

Performance levels then dipped for the home side and Portugal were able to capitalise from a scrum in front of the posts. Marques gathered from the back and was able to wriggle free of Horne to score and then convert his own try.

It seemed to give Scotland a jolt and Reed offered the perfect response with two tries in two minutes. Jordan slung out a great pass for his first and then the Sale winger cut inside and sped past the Portuguese defence for the second. Hastings converted both to make 52-14 and it was the cue for Scotland to bring on Douglas for his Test bow, the openside replacing his Edinburgh team-mate and fellow debutant Muncaster.

The teenager had only been on the pitch a couple of minutes when Portugal scored their third try, winger Raffaele Storti bouncing through a couple of tackle attempts before touching down. Marques’ conversion made it 52-21.

Scotland had the final say, Jamie Dobie diving over for their ninth try after a couple of pick and goes. Jordan converted.

Scorers:

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

Portugal: Tries: Begic, Marques, Storti. Cons: Marques 3.

Yellow card: Duarte Torgal (Portugal, 26min)

Scotland: T Jordan; D Graham, R Hutchinson (M Currie 58), S McDowall, A Reed; A Hastings (K Rowe 65), G Horne (J Dobie 58); J Bhatti (R Sutherland 50), P Harrison (J Matthews 65), W Hurd (E Millar Mills 50), A Craig (E Johnson 50), A Samuel (A Craig 68), L Crosbie, B Muncaster (F Douglas 65), J Bayliss.

Portugal: 15 Simao Bento; 14 Raffaele Storti, 13 Jose Lima, 12 Tomas Appleton, 11 Lucas Martins (23 Manuel Cardoso Pinto 47); 10 Domingos Cabral (22 Hugo Aubry 58), 9 Samuel Marques (21 Antonio Campos 79); 1 David Costa (17 Pedro Vicente 54), 2 Luka Begic (16 Abel Cunha 54), 3 Diogo Hasse Ferreira (18 Antonio Prim 54), 4 Jose Madeira (19 Antonio Rebelo de Andrade 40), 5 Duarte Torgal, 6 Andre Cunha, 7 Nicolas Martins, 8 Federico Couto (20 Vasco Baptista 48).

Referee: Takehito Namekawa (Jpn)