Scotland 43 Tonga 20

Scotland scored three second half tries to claim a hard-fought 43-20 win over Tonga at Murrayfield on Saturday, despite going into half time at only 11 points up.

Tries by James McLaren, Glenn Metcalfe, Roland Reid and Gordon Simpson did the damage for the Scots, after Tonga downed the first five-pointer of the afternoon through second-row Viliami Vaki.

Scotland got out of the blocks quickly, with fly-half Gordon Ross showing great composure in his first cap, nailing two early penalties to put the hot favourites into an early lead.

Tonga never looked completely outclassed as some of the pre-match hype may have suggested, and they touched down the first try of the game when lock Vaki breached the Scottish defence and raced over for the score from 30m out.

The failed conversion attempt kept Scotland still one point in front, one which was to grow bigger as the half went on, Ross' third penalty putting Ian McGeechan's side four points to the good.

Barnstorming centre James McLaren extended that further with a try 23 minutes into the game, as he crashed over in the left corner after three or four phases of good retention.

Ross converted the try, and two more penalties from him before the break ensured that Scotland went into the interval with a 22-11 lead, as Tongan fullback Sateki Tuipulotu struck two penalties to add to Vaki's try.

Two more penalties from Tuipulotu got Tonga back to 22-17, but Scotland finally found a bit of cohesion, when fullback Glenn Metcalfe went over for a well-worked try in open play.

It stemmed from good play by scrum-half Andy Nicol, who offloaded to Scott Murray at pace, with the Saracens lock finding John leslie in the centres down the left flank.  Leslie drew the last man, and gave Metcalfe a relatively easy run in from ten metres out for the score, as Ross converted well from out wide on the left.

The Scots finally got in gear in thelast quarter, with Rolan Reid grabbing the third try of the day in the left corner on 68 minutes, followed by Gordon Simpson who picked up and drove over from short range for the fourth score of the afternoon.

The crowd had to wait for the video referee to award the try though, before the obligatory strains of the Proclaimers on the stadium tannoy rang out again, Gordon Ross striking a fine conversion for a 43-17 advantage.

Siua Taumalolo struck a late penalty for the Tongans, who far from disgraced themselves against the 1999 Five Nations champions, Scotland not showing the Murrayfield crowd that they will have enough in store to give New Zealand too much trouble when they visit in the coming weeks.

Man of the match:  John Leslie.  The Northampton centre was instrumental in most of Scotland's good work in open play, and made the opening for Glenn Metcalfe's try.

Moment of the match:  Glenn Metcalfe's try.  A superb handling move in open play involving John Leslie, Scott Murray, and started by scrum-half Andy Nicol, Metcalfe went in at the left corner in the second half for a well-worked, and fully deserved score.

Villain of the match:  The Proclaimers.  I'm a big fan of the bespectacled Scottish duo, but whether their pop anthem was totally appropriate over the tannoy after every moment of excitement at an atmospherically lacking Murrayfield remains to be seen.  The fact that the "villain of the match" award has to be filled with such futile observations shows the professional and even-tempered spirit the game was played in, with pre-match talk of the Tongans' overly-aggressive tackling proving irrelevant as they competed in their usual tough but fair manner.

The Teams:

Scotland:  1 Tom Smith (c), 2 Gordon Bulloch, 3 Mattie Stewart, 4 Stuart Grimes, 5 Scott Murray, 6 Andrew Mower, 7 Jason White, 8 Jon Petrie, 9 Andy Nicol, 10 Gordon Ross, 11 Jon Steel, 12 John Leslie, 13 James McLaren, 14 Cammie Murray, 15 Glenn Metcalfe
Reserves:  Roland Reid, Graeme Burns, George Graham, Andrew Henderson, Steve Scott, Gordon Simpson
Unused:  Duncan Hodge

Tonga:  1 TPA2, 2 Aleki Lutui, 3 Tevita Taumoepeau, 4 Feleti Fakaongo, 5 TVA7, 6 Maama Molitika, 7 Matt Te Pou, 8 'Inoke Afeaki, 9 Sililo Martens, 10 'Elisi Vunipola, 11 David Tiueti, 12 Siua Taumalolo, 13 TLE2, 14 'Epeli Taione, 15 Sateki Tuipulotu
Reserves:  TAL2, Salesi Finau, TFI9, Fakataha Molitika, Tauna'holo Taufahema

Attendance:  44649

Referee:    Whitehouse n.
Touch judges:  Steve Lander (England) & Alain Rolland (Ireland).

Points Scorers:

Scotland
Tries:  Metcalfe G.H. 1, Reid R.E. 1, McLaren J.G. 1, Simpson G.L. 1
Conv:  Ross G. 4
Pen K.:  Ross G. 5

Tonga
Tries:  Vaki V. 1
Pen K.:  Taumalolo S. 1, Tuipulotu S. 4