Scotland slay Tonga with eight-try win despite long lull as some fringe players give food for thought

Tonga are not, of course, one of rugby's superpowers and, at 19th, they are 10 places below Scotland in the world rankings but they are a proud side and play with ferocious physicality.

Gregor Townsend's side coped with it well in the main but there was a 36-minute lull in the middle of this match during which Scotland failed to score a point. Given there were eight converted tries over the course of the 56-0 victory it may seem a little curmudgeonly to dwell on this point-less interlude but it was another example of this team’s habit of dropping out of games.

Scotland were 21-0 up by the time of the lull - the same lead they held against Argentina before the collapse - but there was no repeat. The Tongan dam burst in the 59th minute with Duhan van der Merwe’s record-breaking try and Scotland would add four more before the afternoon was up.

They came from super subs Ewan Ashman and George Horne, who scored two apiece, with the latter supplementing his cameo with three conversions.

The result won’t undo the damage done by the Pumas but Scotland at least ended a largely disappointing year on a positive note. The autumn campaign yielded victories over only the USA and Tonga and the focus will naturally be on the losses to New Zealand and Argentina because those were games Scotland could have won and put themselves in a position to do so.

Gregor Townsend rang the changes for Tonga, bringing in 14 new starters, and they didn’t have long to find their feet. Tonga’s discipline was sadly lacking at times. They were punished with a 20-minute red card and had another three players sent to the sin-bin but it could have been more.

Physicality was always going to be a feature of this game and Tonga strayed beyond what was legal as early as the fifth minute. Semisi Paea’s dangerous clearout was initially seen as a yellow card offence but as the flanker was keeping warm on a watt bike at the side of the pitch it was announced that it had been upgraded to a 20-minute red.

That ended Paea’s afternoon prematurely and the Scots were already 7-0 ahead by the time foul play review officer Olly Hodges had corrected match referee Luc Ramos’ earlier leniency. Ritchie was the try-scorer. Playing his first match of this autumn campaign, the Perpignan man finished well following a good move from Scotland which had begun with van der Merwe’s break.

It was a well deserved score for the flanker who has had to be patient in recent weeks but took his opportunity against the islanders with a rounded performance. Ritchie has endured some difficult weeks since moving to France but the former Edinburgh man looked much like his old self at Murrayfield.

The second try followed in the 13th minute, George Turner marking his 50th cap with the score, and, again, van der Merwe had a big hand in it. The winger collected Ben White’s high ball then sidestepped his way through before playing in Magnus Bradbury.

Tonga hit back. Literally. Veikoso Poloniati caught Ollie Smith high and late and Turner was taken out by Lotu Inisi, again after the ball had gone. Inexplicably, Ramos saw fit to award only a penalty when both offences could have been punished with cards.

Scotland responded in the best possible way, with a try from Max Williamson, his first for his country. The Glasgow Warriors lock twisted his way over and was able to ground the ball one-handed. Fergus Burke converted, as he had done with the previous two tries.

The game then hit a flat spot, with Tonga slowing things down and Scotland lacking the guile to break them down. As the match moved past the 40-minute mark Poloniati was shown the yellow card he should have been given earlier. On this occasion the lock was guilty of being offside as well as a deliberate knock on as Scotland camped on the Tongan line. But the home side failed to add to their lead and went in at the turn 21-0 ahead.

Tonga were proving a tough nut to crack but indiscipline again cost them. Taniela Filimone and Fine Inisi were yellow-carded for deliberate knock-ons 10 minutes apart and the Scots were finally able to take advantage when van der Merwe cut through. It was his 35th international try in his 52nd appearance and moved him one ahead of Darcy Graham in the all-time Scotland chart. He owes a big debt to Horne for the assist.

The game was now over as a contest and the Scots pressed home their advantage. Ashman, the replacement hooker, was twice on the end of lineout mauls to score and Horne bagged arguably the try of the match when he finished a delightful backs move created by Ollie Smith’s floated pass to Kyle Steyn.

The little scrum-half made a big impression when he replaced the equally impressive White and scored Scotland’s seventh try after good work by Ritchie before Ashman rounded things off.

Horne also knocked over three conversions after Burke had landed the first five on a day when both kickers were 100 per cent off the tee.

Scotland v Tonga teams and scorers

Scorers: Scotland: Tries: Ritchie, Turner, Williamson, van der Merwe, Ashman 2, Horne 2. Cons: Burke 5, Horne 3.

20-minute red card: Semisi Paea (Tonga, 5min).

Yellow cards: Veikoso Poloniati (Tonga, 40+1min), T Filimone (Tonga, 48min), F Inisi (Tonga, 58min)

Scotland: T Jordan; K Rowe, O Smith, S Tuipulotu (S McDowall 55), D van der Merwe; F Burke (K Steyn 66), B White (G Horne 55); R Sutherland (N McBeth 47), G Turner (E Ashman 47), Z Fagerson (W Hurd 47), A Samuel, M Williamson (M Sykes 55), A Onyeama-Christie (J Bayliss 61), J Ritchie, M Bradbury.

Tonga: W Havili; T Filimone, F Inisi, (T Fainga’anuku 24-35) S Kata, J Tapueluelu (A Tuitavuki 57); P Pellegrini, S Takulua (A Halo 65); S Fisi’ihoi (F Paea 51), S Maile (S Moli 51), B Tameifuna (P Kite), V Poloniati, H Mataele, S Paea (S Timani 26), S Moala (F Lokotui 51), L Inisi.

Referee: Luc Ramos (FFR).

Attendance: 60,000