Second-string Scotland put Canada to the sword

A Scotland team comprised largely of second and third-choice players put Canada to the sword by a score of 73-12 in Ottawa on Saturday. Gregor Townsend took the opportunity to award 10 new caps and the youngsters delivered 11 tries against the outclassed Maple Leafs.

The Canadians at least had strong local support with over 11,000 in attendance, and their energy was rewarded with the first try of the game. It came via captain Lucas Rumball, who was driven over in the middle of a rolling maul after a period of sustained pressure won a penalty. Peter Nelson’s conversion attempt was wide but the home side were on the board.

Things went sour quickly for the Canucks. With their first attacking possession the Scots went through the phases, repeatedly finding half-gaps until Harry Paterson and Matt Currie combined to free Josh Bayliss. Ross Thompson added the extras and a few short minutes later scythed through the line to send a supporting Dylan Richardson over for a second Scottish try.

Richardson took a more conventional hooker’s route to his double, touching down on the end of a lineout drive. Slick passing down the line saw Richardson making ground on the right side before the ball was flung wide left. Paterson took on two defenders and somehow managed to get a backhanded offload away to Arron Reed to make the halftime score 24-5 to the visitors.

Not long into the second half the Scots were knocking on the door. Gus Warr sniped from a ruck to grab the fifth try. A penalty from the restart, however, gave Canada an opportunity to reply. Rumball went quick from a second penalty and though he was stopped short, Kyle Baillie was on hand to power over with help from a couple of his teammates.

It was all downhill from there for the Canadians. Warr went in for a double almost immediately after Paterson had broken through the line. Reed was next to grab a brace, tearing down the left side and beating the cover with a shimmy of the hips. Paterson himself got in on the scoring act, bringing up the half-century on the end of a long breakout that started in Scottish territory.

There was time enough for three more tries to the visitors. Jamie Dobie snuck through under the posts after Reed came in off his wing looking for work. Stafford McDowall stepped through the middle to touch down in the same spot, and finally it was a straight run-in for Kyle Steyn after a nifty offload from Ben Healy on the gainline.

Canada will remain in Ottawa to host Romania next Friday. On the same day Scotland will square off against the USA at Audi Field in Washington DC.

 

SCORING

CANADA 12
Tries (2) – L. Rumball (7′), K. Baillie (49′)
Cons (1) – P. Nelson 1/2 (50′)

SCOTLAND 73
Tries (11) – J. Bayliss (11′), D. Richardson 2 (15′, 24′), A. Reed 2 (29′, 54′), G. Warr 2 (43′, 51′), H. Paterson (61′), J. Dobie (68′), S. McDowall (74′), K. Steyn (80’+1′)
Cons (9) – R. Thompson 5/7 (12′, 16′, 44′, 52′, 55′), B. Healy 4/4 (62′, 69′, 75′, 80’+2)

TEAMS

CANADA
1 Liam Murray (17 Djustice Sears-Duru 50′), 2 Andrew Quattrin (16 Jesse Mackail 62′), 3 Conor Young (18 Cole Keith 52′), 4 Conor Keys, 5 Kyle Baillie (19 James Stockwood 70′), 6 Mason Flesch, 7 Lucas Rumball (capt.), 8 Siaki Vikilani (20 Siôn Parry 57′), 9 Jason Higgins, 10 Peter Nelson, 11 Nic Benn, 12 Ben LeSage (22 Talon McMullin 62′), 13 Mitch Richardson (21 Brock Gallagher 69′), 14 Andrew Coe (23 Takoda McMullin 57′), 15 Cooper Coats

SCOTLAND
1 Rory Sutherland (17 Nathan McBeth 50′), 2 Dylan Richardson, 3 Elliot Millar-Mills (18 Will Hurd 50′-64′, 69′), 4 Max Williamson (19 Ewan Johnson 55′), 5 Glen Young, 6 Gregor Brown, 7 Luke Crosbie (co.capt.) (16 Robbie Smith 55′), 8 Josh Bayliss (20 Matt Fagerson 73′), 9 Gus Warr (23 Ross McCann 62′), 10 Ross Thompson (21 Ben Healy 55′), 11 Arron Reed, 12 Stafford McDowell (co-capt.) (22 Kyle Steyn 13′-19′), 13 Matt Currie (22 Kyle Steyn 62′), 14 Jamie Dobie, 15 Harry Paterson

MATCH INFO

Date: Saturday, July 6
Venue: TD Place Stadium, Ottawa
Kickoff: 17:00 local
Weather: partly cloudy, 78°F (26°C), wind NE 10mph (17km/h)
Attendance: 11,447

OFFICIALS

Referee: Adam Leal (England)
Assistants: Kat Roche (USA) & Kahlil Harrison (USA)
TMO: Austin Reed (USA)