Scotland prepared for next weekend’s match against New Zealand with a 85-0 annihilation of USA at Murrayfield.
Winger Darcy Graham and scrum-half Jamie Dobie landed hat-tricks and Duhan van der Merwe, on his 50th cap, crossed the whitewash twice. There were tries for Dylan Richardson, Kyle Rowe, George Horne, Ollie Smith and captain Stafford McDowall. Adam Hastings kicked ten points, while Horne landed ten from the boot as well.
Scotland were without players based in England and France, but there was no need for them. USA were one of the worst international teams to visit Murrayfield and contributed to their own downfall with some awful defending.
This result is Scotland’s biggest winning margin at Murrayfield, eclipsing a 48-0 win over Spain in 1999. They fell short of breaking the all-time record victory, an 100-8 trouncing of Japan in 2004, although after an electric first half with 45 points on the board, the prospect was there.
Edinburgh duo Liam McConnell and Harri Morris made their debuts but there are likely to be many changes when the All Blacks visit Edinburgh on Saturday.
Here are marks out of ten for the Scotland starters at Murrayfield.
5. Marshall Sykes
Good spadework in his 51-minute assignment at second row. 7 | SNS Group / SRU
6. Liam McConnell
A lively Scotland debut for the 21-year-old. Burst away to set up Van der Merwe's first try with a fine turn of pace and also a lovely one-handed pass. Good steal at a lineout. Made a couple of eye-catching breaks in the second half but blotted his copybook by not passing to Horne for a gilt-edged try on 63 minutes. All in all though, a fine night's work. 8 | SNS Group / SRU
7. Dylan Richardson
Opened the scoring five minutes in as he barged over the tryline for his fourth try in seven matches. Dominant in the forward area. 8 | SNS Group / SRU
8. Jack Dempsey
An important 40 minutes for the powerful No 8 as he gets closer to full match fitness. 7 | SNS Group / SRU