Scotland take lead from Sione Tuipulotu in 8-try victory as new-look team finds its feet

The hosts were leading after 20 minutes as an experimental Scottish team took its time to gel, but they got stronger as the game wore on and finished with eight tries in a 52-11 win.

There were doubles for Kyle Rowe and auxiliary winger Jamie Dobie, and Josh Bayliss, Matt Currie, Dylan Richardson and Kyle Steyn all weighed in with one each. It means Scotland have now scored 25 tries in three matches on this tour and racked up 167 points. The journey, which began in Canada and the USA, ends in Montevideo next Saturday against Uruguay where Scotland will be confident of making it a clean sweep.

Sione Tuipulotu, Scotland’s co-captain, led by example and was at the heart of their best attacking moments. Adam Hastings also had a useful cameo off the bench, offering creativity in the second half against an admittedly tiring Chilean team. He also kicked three conversions, as had Ben Healy, the man he replaced at 10.

Tuipulotu felt Chile had improved significantly since Scotland beat them in an A international in 2022. “They’re very physical, very passionate,” said the centre. “I played in the A match and they are a lot better now than they were two years ago. We definitely thought the last two games of this tour would be our hardest, Chile and Uruguay, and we are expecting a really motivated team next week.”

It took Scotland 21 minutes to get on the scoreboard and that was testament to Chile’s defensive excellence in the first quarter. Twice they stood firm to repel Scottish lineout mauls on their line and they then had the temerity to take the lead, centre Santiago Videla kicking a penalty after Josh Bayliss and Ben Healy were guilty of not rolling away at the tackle.

Scotland’s inexperienced pack - eight caps between the front five - were taking a bit of time to find their feet. A couple of Dylan Richardson’s throw-ins were squint but the scrum looked solid and Nathan McBeth won an early scrum penalty.

Chile were more than holding their own but momentum began to shift when they lost their scrum-half Lucas Berti to a shoulder injury. Scotland scored their first try three minutes later. Chile were conceding too many penalties and Healy was kicking each one to the corner and this time the Scots got some purchase from it. Richardson found Gregor Brown at the lineout and, after a couple of phases, Bayliss showed good footwork to force his way over with the help of Jamie Ritchie and McBeth. Healy converted.

Chile certainly weren’t cowed by the try and Gus Warr was charged down at the restart as the hosts pressed for a quick reply. They won a penalty a few minutes later and stand-off Tomás Salas took over kicking duties to reduce Scotland’s lead to 7-6.

It seemed to give the tourists a jolt and they took the game to Chile from the restart, scoring two tries in five minutes. Rowe got the first after Sione Tuipulotu found him with a suspiciously forward-looking pass. Mathieu Raynal, in his last match before retirement, saw nothing wrong and Healy added the extras.

A brilliant break from Brown took Scotland up the field again and they got their third try of the match with a rare foray down the short side as Healy found Dobie on the right wing with a perfect pass. Healy converted again to make it 21-6 to the Scots at the interval and they came out for the second half with more intent than with which they had started the game.

Santiago Videla bounced off a ball-carrying Tuipulotu and after lengthy treatment the Chilean centre found himself penalised for head on head contact. Healy kicked to the corner and Scotland plundered their fourth try. The lineout was won cleanly and the ball was moved out the backline this time and the wraparound caught Chile off guard. Arron Reed delayed his pass perfectly, creating the space for Dobie to score his second in the corner. Healy was off target for the first time off the tee.

Patrick Harrison, the young Edinburgh hooker, was on for his Scotland debut but it was Chile who struck next. Diego Escobar, their replacement hooker, showed great strength to stretch over the line after a lineout maul. That made the score 26-11 but Scotland had been bolstered by their bench and a couple of positional switches. Dobie was now at scrum-half and Richardson in the back row as Townsend mixed things up. One the replacements, Currie, notched Scotland’s fifth try in the 57th minute, profiting from the quick hands of Tuipulotu before showing the Chilean defence a clean pair of heels. Adam Hastings, on for Healy at 10, slotted over the conversion. Chile’s cause wasn’t helped by the loss of Diego Escobar to the sin bin and Scotland capitalised against the 14 men through Rowe. It was the Glasgow full-back’s second of the game as the visitors replicated the move which worked so well for Dobie’s second. Hastings was on target again with the extras. Rowe looked like he might be in for his hat-trick a couple of minutes later but was caught a couple of yards short. Scotland didn’t have to wait too long for try number seven and it was created by the vision of Hastings, who put Steyn in space with a measured kick. The centre was stopped short but the visitors got support in numbers and Richardson was able to plunge over. Hastings was off target with the conversion attempt. There is no doubt the stand-off’s arrival had added more creativity to the Scotland attack and he played in Steyn for the eighth and final try, with the latter slaloming clear to score. Hastings converted.