Pack power key as sloppy Scotland 'A' scrape past stubborn Chile

It looked like being a comfortable evening for the second-string Scots when Arron Reed scored inside three minutes.  

Chile hit back with a try of their own to lead at half-time, before Scotland took control of the game in the closing stages thank to scores from Edinburgh flanker Tom Dodd and a penalty try.  

The visitors had the final say with the last play through replacement Nicolás Garafulic, who intercepted another loose pass to score, but it was too late to cause an upset.  

Here are five things we learned from Hive Stadium.  

Bristling start by hosts 

Scotland cut the visitors open inside three minutes, a well-crafted move from a lineout putting Arron Reed in space before the Sale Sharks man – who scored two tries in the win over Portugal a week ago – opened Scotland’s account.  

Reed was busy early and created another couple of chances, freeing first Jamie Dobie then Freddy Douglas, but on both occasions the visitors got back to relieve the danger. 

Errors creep in as visitors strike 

Scotland failed to make the most of their early dominance and mistakes then allowed the visitors into the game. Chile enjoyed plenty of possession and after missing a long-range penalty, they hit back on the half-hour when fullback Luca Strabucchi capitalised on a loose pass from Scotland captain Stafford McDowall, kicking ahead and controlling to score. Santiago Videla’s conversion put the visitors in front.  

The Scotland captain was then sent to the sin-bin for an illegal clear-out and the visitors threatened to score a second try from a strong lineout drive, only for Douglas to intervene.  

Major Scotland rejig in second half  

McDowall's return from the sin-bin lasted merely a minute before he was withdrawn again. His replacement was scrum-half Ben Afshar which prompted a major reshuffle in the back division. 

Jamie Dobie moved from scrum-half to fullback, Arron Reed to the left wing, Ross McCann switched flanks and Matt Currie moved to outside centre, with Mosese Tuipulotu pushed in to 12.  

It did not pay immediate dividends, Videla extending the visitors’ advantage with a penalty seven minutes after the restart, before a moment of brilliance by Ben Afhsar brought Scotlnd back into the game.  

The scrum-half gathered a loose ball and broke up the middle of the Chilean defence, fending off fly-half Juan Cruz Reyes in the process before feeding Tom Dodd for the try. Thompson’s conversion put Scotland back in front before he was replaced by Ben Healy.  

Pack power key 

Chile’s starting team competed well at the set-piece but the match wore on Scotland began to take control, with a gulf in the quality of replacements noticeable up front. The power game led to the hosts’ third try – the visitors forced to infringe at a retreating five-metre maul, offering referee Gianluca Gnecchi little option but to award a penalty try and send Raimundo Martínez to the sin-bin.  

A week on from his international debut Freddy Douglas put in a big shift for Scotland, while his Edinburgh colleague Tom Dodd was also busy and showed great work-rate for his try.  

Strength in depth tested  

While this squad featured seven players from the win over Portugal last weekend, there were a further four replacements who have yet to make their professional club debuts.  

This will have been a tough test for those players against a side full of international experience, but one that they will be better for in the long-run having come out on the right side of the result.  

Horne and the watching Gregor Townsend will surely have learned more from this match than the 52-11 thrashing the senior national side dished out to largely the same Chilean side in Santiago six months ago.  

Scotland 'A': Arron Reed, Matt Currie, Mosese Tuipulotu, Stafford McDowall (Afshar 43), Ross McCann (Brown 69), Ross Thompson (Healy 57), Jamie Dobie; Jamie Bhatti (Jones 58), Gregor Hiddleston (Morris 61), D'Arcy Rae (Richardson 10-22'; 69), Marshall Sykes (Oguntibeju 69), Ewan Johnson, Tom Dodd, Freddy Douglas, Ben Muncaster (McConnell 61) 

Tries: Reed (3), Dodd (56), penalty (71) 

Conversion: Thompson (57) 

Yellow card: McDowall (33) 

Chile: Luca Strabucchi, Cristóbal Game (Garafulic 58), Domingo Saavedra, Santiago Videla (Tchimino 74), Matías Garafulic, Juan Cruz Reyes (Fernández 67), Benjamín Videla (Torrealba 67); Javier Carrasco (Aguayo 69), Diego Escobar (Böhme 58), Iñaki Gurruchaga (Dittus 58), Santiago Pedrero, Bruno Sáez, Martín Sigren (captain), Clemente Saavedra (Martínez 33), Alfonso Escobar  

Tries: Strabucchi (29), N Garafulic (80) 

Conversions: Videla (30), M Garafulic (80) 

Penalty: Videla (47) 

Yellow card: Martinez (71) 

Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy) 

Player of the Match: Freddy Douglas