A couple of minutes later it seemed that Scotland had made the breakthrough all their early pressure deserved when Sione Tuipulotu, their half-Tongan captain, stretched over to touch down near the posts. It looked a fine score but referee Luc Ramos decreed that the centre had been guilty of a double movement. Yet replays showed that Tuipulotu’s action had been legal, that Ramos was clearly in the wrong and that the try should have been given.
Still, the Murrayfield crowd did not have long to wait for a Scottish score. Scotland simply kept up the pressure and hammered away relentlessly in the Tongan 22. Something had to give and it fell to Jamie Ritchie to find the way through, setting up an easy conversion for Fergus Burke.
That was in the 10th minute. Three minutes later they doubled their total when Duhan van de Merwe collected a Ben White kick brilliantly. The winger charged on and fed the ball on to Magnus Bradbury. That took play up to within a few metres of the Tongan line, from where a few quick phases put the ball into the hands of George Turner and the half-century man ploughed on to score.
At this point the Tongans had barely touched the ball. Indeed, they had notched up more penalties than carries. And the onslaught continued as the Scots kept turning the screws, duly claiming their third try in the 22nd minute when Max Williamson twisted and turned to dot the ball down over the line. Ramos was initially reluctant to award the score, one oif his assistants having suggested that there had been a knock-on in the build-up, but after reviewing the video he decided that the score was good.
Burke’s third conversion took Scotland’s lead to 21-0. Under normal circumstances such an advantage would be considered insurmountable, but it was exactly the same position Scotland had surrendered in their horror loss to Argentina seven days earlier, so there was a certain nervousness around the ground – and probably in the Scotland coaching box as well. It would hardly have helped that Tonga immediately embarked on their best spell of play up to that point and started to make inroads into Scottish territory.
Tonga’s efforts brought no reward in terms of points, but they did manage to prevent Scotland from adding to their total. But the islanders suffered another blow just moments before the break when lock Veikoso Poloniati was pinged for offside as he tried to block a Ben White pass and was yellow-carded for his offence.
Tonga picked up their third card in the 48th minute when winger Taniela Filimone was shown yellow for that was considered – rather harshly in many eyes – to be guilty of a deliberate knock-on. Ten minutes later they were shown their fourth, when centre Fine Inisi was sin-binned for the same offence. By now, Tonga’s penalty count was well into double figures, but their resolve held up better than their discipline and they still managed to keep their line intact and deny Scotland any opportunity to add to their scoreline.
Yet Inisi’s going did leave a gap in the Tongan defensive line and Cvan der Merwe was alert to the opportunity in the 59th minute when he blasted through the hole and collected Scotland’s fourth try and his own 35th – nudging himself ahead of Darcy Graham in the all-time list. Again, the conversion was good, moving Scotland on to 28 points.
Finally, the energy seemed to be running out of Tonga. In quick succession, replacements Ewan Ashman and George Horne added the fifth and sixth tries, putting the outcome beyond all doubt. And just to put a couple of cherries on the cake the same players delivered the seventh and eighth as well. So a satisfying victory, but so many reservations remain.
Teams –
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 Baylkiss 60), J Ritchie, M Bradbury.
Tonga: W Havili; T Filimone, F Inisi (L Fainga’anuku 23-34), S Kata, J Tapueluelu (A Tuitavuki 56); P Pellegrini (L Fainga’anuku 70), S Takulua (A Halo 65); S Fisi’ihoi (F Paea 51), S Maile (S Moli 51), B Tameifuna (P Kite 56), V Poloniata, H Mataele, S Paea (S Timani 26), S Moala (F Lokotui 53), L Inisi.
Referee: L Ramos (France)
Scorers –
Scotland: Tries: Ritchie, Turner, Williamson, Van der Merwe, Ashman 2, Horne 2; Cons: Burke 5, Horne 3.
Tonga: No scorers
Scoring sequence (Scotland first): 5-0; 7-0; 12-0; 14-0; 19-0; 21-0 (h-t) 26-0; 28-0; 33-0; 35-0; 40-0; 42-0; 47-0; 49-0; 54-0; 56-0.
Yellow cards –
Tonga: Poloniata, Filimone, F Inisi
20-minute red cards –
Tonga: Paea
Player-of-the-Match: To some observers, Magnus Bradbury has never lived up to his early potential, but the No 8 delivered a superb display with some powerful carries against seriously physical opponents.
Talking point: The Argentina debacle the previous weekend was one of Scottish rugby’s all-time lows, but even in victory this much-changed side could not completely obliterate the memory. Gregor Townsend has some tough decisions to make as he tries to work out his best selection for the forthcoming Six Nations – and such an easy win against a poor Tongan side will not contribute much of great value to that process.