Scotland 85-0 USA: One-way traffic as Scots put foot down

By Bryn Palmer

Scotland ……………………… 85pts

Tries: Richardson 5, Van der Merwe 7, 24; Graham 9, 35, 43; Dobie 19, 26, 77; Rowe 57, McDowall 70, Horne 73, Smith 80

Conversions: Hastings 6, 8, 10 20, 27; Horne 58, 71, 74, 78, 80

USA ………………………………….. 0pts

Scotland ran riot with 13 tries as they romped to their biggest-ever win at Murrayfield against a totally outclassed USA in the opening game of their autumn campaign.

The prolific Darcy Graham plundered his fourth Test hat-trick to draw level on 34 tries at the top of Scotland’s scoring charts with wing partner Duhan van der Merwe, who had to settle for a mere double on his 50th cap.

But arguably the standout performance came from scrum-half Jamie Dobie, who also helped himself to a hat-trick, the third after switching to the wing for the final half-hour.

His versatility is a boon for Gregor Townsend, especially if he opts for a six-two bench for the far stiffer challenges awaiting against the All Blacks next Saturday and Argentina eight days later.

Readiness

If this embarrassingly one-sided contest was of limited value as a gauge of the Scots’ readiness to claim a first-ever win over New Zealand, the head coach was pleased with how his side kept their foot on the throat for the full 80 minutes.

“Everybody’s aware of the step up next week,” Townsend said. “You’ve just got to deliver your actions, your performance, regardless of who the opposition is.

“But we obviously know New Zealand are going to test us in different ways than the USA weren’t able to.”

Sniper: Jamie Dobie breaks to score Scotland’s sixth try

PICTURES: Getty Images

Match action

Such is the state of flux in the US domestic game that seven of their starting XV here are currently without clubs after the recent collapse of three MLR teams.

Any hope they might prove competitive was painfully exposed as they conceded three quickfire tries in the opening 10 minutes and four more by half-time.

Dylan Richardson plunged over from close range for the opener before Van der Merwe dotted down from Liam McConnell’s one-handed offload, after the first of several superb breaks from the debutant blind-side flanker.

“Liam was excellent,” Townsend noted. “He’s confirmed what we thought around his potential growth and how he can bring more than just one aspect of the game.”

Graham grabbed his first from Adam Hastings’ looping pass before Dobie chipped over the top to find Graham, who collected the winger’s pass to scoot home.

Hastings’ fourth successful conversion out of four made it 28-0 after just 20 minutes, and the tries continued to flow at regular intervals.

Van der Merwe battered his way for his second try, Stafford McDowall‘s loverly show-and-go and break up the middle handed Dobie his second before the excellent Kyle Rowe’s exquisite tip-on pass gave Graham an easy second before the break.

Flyer: Darcy Graham runs in the third try

Second half

Scotland made five changes at half time to keep certain players fresh for next week, but it remained one-way traffic.

Rowe calmy collected a high ball and released Graham, who played a one-two with Ollie Smith before taking the return pass for his hat-trick score.

More slick hands in midfield and Dobie’s inside pass saw Rowe grab a deserved try, before Mc-Dowall ignited a late flurry with the 10th.

Neat inter-play from Van der Merwe and Rowe created two more tries for first Horne and then Dobie, who raced away down the right wing to complete his own hat-trick, before Smith completed the rout in the final play.