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Scotland rookies impress in resounding win over Portugal
By PA
Darcy Graham moved level with Duhan Van Der Merwe at the top of Scotland’s all-time try-scoring charts with a magnificent first-half effort in a nine-try 59-21 win over Portugal at Murrayfield.
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Given the gulf in status between the two nations, Gregor Townsend took the opportunity to make 14 changes to the team that started the defeat by world champions South Africa last weekend.
Several less established internationals took advantage of their opportunity to impress by crossing the whitewash, including Leicester prop Will Hurd and Sale wing Arron Reed, who added a second-half double.
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But it was the talismanic Graham who had another bumper Murrayfield crowd in raptures when he produced a delightful piece of skill to score his 29th Scotland try and move level with Edinburgh colleague Van Der Merwe.
The hosts required just four minutes to get themselves up and running when tighthead Hurd marked his first appearance at Murrayfield by pushing over for the first try of his career. Adam Hastings missed the conversion.
Stafford McDowall – captain for the day – added the Scots’ second of the match when he seized on a loose pass from Portugal wing Raffaele Storti and raced clear from the halfway line to place the ball down beneath the posts, while Hastings converted.
Portugal’s difficult start to proceedings continued when they conceded a penalty try in the 27th minute after Duarte Torgal was penalised for deliberately collapsing a maul. The second-rower was sent to the sin-bin.
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Scotland capitalised by scoring two further tries in Torgal’s absence. Graham got his score in the 34th minute as he waltzed effortlessly past three Portuguese to move level with Van Der Merwe before Hastings converted.
Josh Bayliss then breezed over on the right for Scotland’s fifth try of the match after lovely play by Tom Jordan and Rory Hutchinson to set him free. Hastings again added the extras.
Portugal eventually got off the mark in the last action of the first half when hooker Luka Begic scored off the back of a maul, with Samuel Marques converting, meaning there was a 26-point gap between the teams at the break.
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Loosehead Jamie Bhatti pushed over to reassert Scotland’s authority four minutes into the second half, with Hastings missing the conversion.
Portugal refused to capitulate, however, and Marques wriggled his way over off the back of a scrum in the 55th minute and then added the conversion himself.
Reed – also making his first Murrayfield appearance – put daylight between the teams with two quickfire scores on the left, either side of the hour mark that were both converted by Hastings.
There was a notable substitution in the 66th minute when 19-year-old Edinburgh back-rower Freddy Douglas came on to become Scotland’s youngest debutant since 1963, despite never having made a competitive appearance at club level.
Portugal scored their third try of the match moments later when Storti found a gap on the right and darted over, with Marques converting.
But Scotland flexed their muscles again in the 73rd minute as replacement back Jamie Dobie went over the line, with Jordan – who switched from full-back to stand-off after Hastings was substituted – taking over kicking duties and adding the conversion.
