Scotland completed their arguably successful 2024 Summer Tour at the Estadio Charrúa in Montevideo with a spotty performance that left yet more unanswered questions around growing depth in Scotland’s international ranks.
Scotland started strongly, taking control early in the first half with close-up tries from hooker Ewan Ashman in the 13th minute quickly followed by another try from Luke Crosbie (his first for Scotland) in the 23rd minute, both converted by standoff Ben Healy.
The third try will be memorable for statistical reasons – Duhan van der Merwe inevitably overhauling Stuart Hogg’s all-time Scotland try-scoring record with his 28th – but in terms of aesthetics, it was a straight run in from a nice sympathetic pass by Kyle Rowe. It seemed like Scotland were coasting with the half-hour mark yet to appear and tighthead Diego Arbelo in the bin for not retreating after George Horne took a quick tap.
Uruguay responded with determination, and their efforts paid off when Santiago Álvarez scored an interception try in the 28th minute that served as a warning to Healy about the merits of playing from your own line in test match rugby.
Scotland’s more powerful runners like Matt Fagerson and Huw Jones were finding what looked like easy holes in the home defence, but the last pass often went astray giving Uruguay a route back into the game.
In the final ten minutes of the half, Felipe Etcheverry crossed the line for Uruguay’s second try which he then converted.
The home fans were delighted – Scottish fans would have been less so.
Half-time: Uruguay 14-19 Scotland
The second half began with Uruguay continuing their fightback while Scotland continued to squander possession in the Uruguayan half.
Kyle Steyn was welcomed off the bench by having to deal with a bouncing ball in all kinds of trouble; after he was bundled into touch, Manuel Diana’s try from the resulting lineout brought the score to an even 19-19.
It was just reward for Uruguay’s efforts probing for holes in Scotland’s line – they will rue the earlier missed conversions that would have actually given them a decent lead by this point along with a missed penalty that careened off the post earlier in the half.
Replacement hooker Patrick Harrison scored his first international try in the 64th minute, with Adam Hastings adding the conversion, but arguably Scotland were gifted a reprieve by Argentinian referee Damian Schneider having bottled their penalty advantage after quite a long bite at the cherry.
Scotland regained their composure with further fresh minds from the bench such as Hastings and Jamies Dobie and Ritchie, and gradually reasserted their dominance over the match to keep some half-chances from Uruguay at bay.
One of the “why is he on this tour?” big names, replacement Pierre Schoeman scored the game’s final try in the 67th minute by barrelling over from a short range pick and go, which finally sealed the victory for Scotland at 31-19 and put something of a gloss on the final score.
It seemed like Hastings and Steyn had combined for a further score but the TMO ruled there was a block by Huw Jones that was at best a 50/50 call.
Uruguay, despite the loss, showed significant improvement and resilience from their recent heavy defeat against Argentina and for spells were looking on for an upset, given what we know about Scottish mental fragility. It was certainly the toughest test on tour.
Scotland meanwhile, will be hard-pressed to gain much from this tour other than a hefty bump in Air Miles, and a few suitcases of goodwill from under-supported tier 2 nations. We’ve blooded some new players and redsicvoered some old ones but how many will we see again quickly?
SRBlog Player of the Match: nobody massively stood out for an 80-minute performance, although Matt Fagerson lead the pack with hard charging runs. Who can discount the impact that Duhan van der Merwe has had on Scotland’s try-scoring abilities?
Scotland: Harry Paterson, Kyle Rowe, Huw Jones, Stafford McDowall, Duhan van der Merwe, Ben Healy, George Horne; Rory Sutherland, Ewan Ashman, Javan Sebastian, Max Williamson, Scott Cummings, Luke Crosbie, Rory Darge (captain), Matt Fagerson.
Replacements: Patrick Harrison, Pierre Schoeman, Murphy Walker, Gregor Brown, Jamie Ritchie, Jamie Dobie, Adam Hastings, Kyle Steyn.
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