Sloppy Scotland still far too strong for Portugal in 38-point rout

Darcy Graham drew level with Duhan van der Merwe at the top of Scotland’s try-scoring charts as Scotland ran in nine tries.  

Arron Reed led the way with a quick-fire second half brace, props Jamie Bhatti and Will Hurd both scored their first international tries, while further scores from captain Stafford McDowall, number eight Josh Bayliss, scrum-half Jamie Dobie and a penalty try saw Scotland register a big win.  

Read more:

• Scotland player ratings vs Portugal as Tom Jordan impresses

• Gregor Townsend says Test rugby cannot become 'closed shop'      

But it was not an altogether convincing performance from a much-changed home team.  

Here are five things we learned from Scottish Gas Murrayfield.

Sloppy Scotland still far too strong 

A Scotland side showing 14 changes from the defeat to South Africa were too strong for Os Lobos, but the performance was far from perfect by Gregor Townsend’s side, who made a lot of unforced errors.  

While Hurd’s opening score was the result of sustained pressure, McDowall’s try came from an error by the visitors, who then infringed for Scotland’s third try.  

Stafford McDowall crosses for his try (Image: SNS) A yellow card to lock Duarte Torgal opened up space and Scotland took advantage, adding further scores through Graham – who equalled Duhan van der Merwe’s record – and Josh Bayliss to pile on points before the break.  

The visitors got on the board with the clock well past 40 minutes, hooker Luka Begic the man to touch down after a dominant lineout drive.  

Flashes in second half but another predictable dip  

Scotland’s sixth try, which came with the second half just four minutes old, again came from a Portuguese error as George Horne’s interception eventually ended with Jamie Bhatti crashing over for his first Test try.  

But there then followed another lull in the game – a far-too-frequent occurrence for Scotland throughout this calendar year - as Marques scored the visitors’ second try after shrugging off the challenge of opposite number Horne from a dominant scrum to squeeze over.  

That seemed to waken the hosts from their slumber, while Dobie and Currne added spark as Arron Reed helped himself to a quick-fire brace before his opposite man, Raffaele Storti, hit back with the visitors’ third try. 

Arron Reed scored twice in the second half (Image: SNS) Player of the Match Tom Jordan, who moved to fly-half for the final quarter, had a try chalked off for a forward pass in the build-up and Portugal almost helped themsleves to a fourth try, only for an outstanding tackle by Graham to thwart Simon Mannix’s side.  

Scotland’s set-piece cause for concern 

Despite wholesale changes, Scotland will have expected to dominate Portugal up front, but it did not play out that way, with the hosts struggling at the lineout and sent into reverse from at least one scrum.  

Rory Sutherland and Elliot Millar Mills struggled against the much-vaunted ‘bomb squad’ last week, and the same pair had problems again but against significantly poorer opposition.  

Townsend’s side will need to be much better against an ever-improving Wallabies side next weekend. Will Hurd’s showing may earn him a spot on the bench. 

New caps catch the eye 

Townsend handed debuts to Alex Samuel and Ben Muncaster from the start, while Freddy Douglas became the youngest Scotland debutant for 60 years when he emerged from the bench for the final 15 minutes. The starting duo threw themselves into the action from the off, with Muncaster prominent in attack.  

Douglas, described as “world class” by forwards coach John Dalziel despite having not played a game for Edinburgh’s first team, almost won a jackal penalty shortly after coming on.  

But given the one-sided nature of this fixture, they may have to wait for more senior caps. Expect them to feature for Scotland ‘A’ against Chile.  

First choice team won’t be too concerned 

Townsend chose to give the likes of Finn Russell, Zander Fagerson and captain Sione Tuipulotu the weekend off, and none of the players who sat this game out will be concerned about losing their place for the visit of Australia in seven days’ time.  

Rory Hutchinson and today’s captain McDowall linked well in midfield, while Jamie Dobie again added spark from the bench, but Townsend will surely revert to the majority of the team that faced South Africa for next weekend.  

Scotland: Tom Jordan, Darcy Graham, Rory Hutchinson (Currie 58), Stafford McDowall (captain), Arron Reed, Adam Hastings (Rowe 65), George Horne (Dobie 58); Jamie Bhatti (Sutherland 50), Paddy Harrison (Matthews 65), Will Hurd (MIllar Mills 50), Alex Craig (Johnson 50), Alex Samuel (Craig 68), Luke Crosbie, Ben Muncaster (Douglas 65), Josh Bayliss 

Tries: Hurd (4), McDowall (11), penalty (26), Graham (34), Bayliss (37), Bhatti (44), Reed (59, 61), Dobie (72) 

Conversions: Hastings (12, 35, 38, 60); Jordan (73) 

Portugal: Simao Bento, Raffaele Storti, Jose Lima, Tomas Appleton (captain), Lucas Martins (Cardoso Pinto 46), Domingos Cabral (Aubry 58), Samuel Marques (Campos 78); David Costa (Vicente 54), Luka Begic (Cunha 54), Diogo Hasse Ferreria (Prim 54), Jose Madeira (Rebelo de Andrade 40), Duarte Torgal, Andre Cunha (Couto 50), Nicolas Martins, Frederico Couto (Baptista 48) 

Tries: Begic (40), Marques (54), Storti (67) 

Conversions: Marques (40, 55, 68) 

Yellow card: Torgal (27) 

Referee: Takehito Namekawa (Japan) 

Attendance: 60, 983

Player of the Match: Tom Jordan