Scotland ease to stodgy victory over USA

Scotland completed the North American leg of their summer tour with a comfortable if sluggish 42-7 victory over the USA in front of 17,00 fans at the nation’s capital. While the Eagles showed improvement in some aspects from the loss to Romania, poor discipline contributed to four first half tries for the Scots, including three from Canadian-born hooker Ewan Ashman.

Duhan van der Merwe was the poster-boy heading to the game and the giant winger wasted little time getting his name on the scoresheet. Five minutes in van der Merwe slid across to the right side and there was no stopping him from five meters out on an arcing outside angle. Adam Hastings added the conversion to make it a full seven.

The Scots were knocking on the door but a sloppy throw-in allowed the Eagles to clear, and led to a penalty opportunity for AJ MacGinty. It was well within his range but the veteran flyhalf made a sclaff of his kick and the flags stayed down. Within two minutes the visitors were back in USA territory and this time Ashman found his target, with the hooker breaking away from the maul to score.

Repeat team infringements resulted in a yellow card for David Ainu’u, and Ashman was in for his double at the ensuing lineout. The Eagles had a response, however, and when Matt Fagerson attempted to peel away from a scrum he was met by JP Smith and the ball spilled free. Tommaso Boni was soon over the line to get the Eagles on the board just after the half-hour mark.

The USA scrum won a penalty just inside their own half but instead of kicking for the corner, Luke Carty attempted an ill-advised shot at goal that was wide of the mark. Again the Scots took full advantage and before the halftime whistle Ashman was given an arm-chair ride in for his hat-trick.

Early in the second half Kyle Rowe roped in a deflected ball and broke down the right side. George Horne was in support on his inside to take the score pass clear for the finish, with Hastings again on song with the extras to make it 35-7 to the visitors.

Nate Augspurger was forced off with a knee injury just before Saia Uhila entered the match, the 37-year-old becoming the USA’s oldest ever debutant. Rain fell in the final minutes when Fagerson finished off a pushover try. The Eagles would have one final attack that nearly yielded a consolation score but Ethan McVeigh was held up over the line to bring on full-time.

It’s off to Chile now for Scotland, who will take on Los Condores next Saturday before finishing their tour in Uruguay. The bulk of the Eagles squad will return to their Major League Rugby clubs before reconvening ahead of the Pacific Nations Cup in mid-August.

 

SCORING

USA 7
Tries (1) – T. Boni (32′)
Cons (1) – A. MacGinty 1/1 (33′)
Pens (0) – A. MacGinty 0/1, L. Carty 0/1
YC (1) – D. Ainu’u (26′)

SCOTLAND 42
Tries (6) – D. van der Merwe (5′), E. Ashman 3 (19′, 27′, 40’+3′), G. Horne (49′), M. Fagerson (73′)
Cons (6) – A. Hastings 5/5 (6′, 20′, 28′, 40’+4′, 50′), R. Thompson 1/1 (74′)

TEAMS

USA
1 Jack Iscaro (17 Jake Turnbull 55′), 2 Dylan Fawsitt (16 Kapeli Pifeleti 55′), 3 David Ainu’u (18 Paul Mullen 55′), 4 Vili Helu (19 Saia Uhila 63′), 5 Greg Peterson (capt.) (20 Benjamín Bonasso 58′), 6 Sam Golla, 7 Paddy Ryan, 8 Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz, 9 JP Smith (21 Ethan McVeigh 72′), 10 AJ MacGinty, 11 Nate Augspurger (23 Mitch Wilson 59′), 12 Tommaso Boni, 13 Tavite Lopeti (22 Bryce Campbell 63′), 14 Conner Mooneyham (18 Paul Mullen 31′-36′), 15 Luke Carty

SCOTLAND
1 Pierre Schoeman (17 Rory Sutherland 50′), 2 Ewan Ashman (16 Robbie Smith 59′), 3 Murphy Walker (18 Elliot Millar-Mills 50′), 4 Alex Craig (19 Max Williamson 50′), 5 Scott Cummings, 6 Jamie Ritchie (20 Luke Crosbie 63′), 7 Rory Darge (co-capt.), 8 Matt Fagerson, 9 George Horne (21 Jamie Dobie 59′), 10 Adam Hastings (22 Ross Thompson 59′), 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 12 Sione Tuipulotu (co-capt.), 13 Huw Jones (23 Matt Currie 68′), 14 Kyle Steyn, 15 Kyle Rowe

MATCH INFO

Date: Friday, July 12
Venue: Audi Field, Washington DC
Kickoff: 18:30 local
Weather: cloudy with showers, 82°F (28°C), humidex 91°F (32°C), wind S 7-11mph (11-18km/h)
Attendance: 17,418

OFFICIALS

Referee: Jordan Way (Australia)
Assistants: Adam Leal (England) & Robin Kaluzniak (Canada)
TMO: Chris Assmus (Canada)