Scotland see off Japan as Stuart Hogg breaks all-time try-scoring record

This was mission accomplished in the sense that Scotland were never in serious danger of falling victim to Japan as they so memorably did two years ago in Yokohama. There was also history made as captain Stuart Hogg's twenty-fifth Test try made him Scotland's highest try-scorer. A starting debut for No 8 Josh Bayliss and debuts off the bench for prop Javan Sebastian and openside Dylan Richardson completed the credit column of the ledger.

Yet the entries in the debit column mean Scotland coach Gregor Townsend is unlikely to be feeling unambiguously chipper after a frustratingly disjointed match. This encounter was perhaps encapsulated by its ending, when Hogg instructed Finn Russell to kick a penalty instead of going for the corner with a minute to go. It was a sensible precaution after Japan pulled back to a converted try from victory, but one which drew whistles of frustration from a crowd hoping for a carnival of running rugby.

“We're not far from where we need to be,” said Hogg. “At times we were spot-on, and there were little parts we let slip. Our discipline at times wasn’t where we need it to be but we won a Test match, we managed to win three of four games in the autumn and the exciting thing for me is we’re not quite satisfied with everything that happened.

“We’re yet to find the compete 80-minute performance but I think that was because we were put under a lot of pressure by Japan. They managed to hold onto the ball for large periods of the game and as you can see the ref was favouring the attacking side so we just had to take our medicine and be clinical when we got an opportunity.”

Chief among Townsend's areas of concern will be the litany of breakdown offences which contributed to another worrying tally of 13 penalties, and which earned prop Jamie Bhatti a yellow card early in the second half after Scotland were pinged four times in as many minutes.

If that suggests a lack of patience and accuracy, so does the fact that three of Scotland's four tries came directly from set-piece ball, with two lineout drives and a try from a scrum. In open play Scotland showed some nice flourishes but with Japan keeping the ball for long passages they struggled to build through the phases or to fashion clear chances against a brave and organised defence. Only when Hogg started and finished a move midway through the first half did they decisively breach Japan's defences in broken play.

Japan coach Jamie Joseph complained afterwards that the visitors were rusty after not playing together from the World Cup until this summer, and they certainly seemed to offer little penetration with the ball in hand. This was, said Joseph, partly because of their own shortcomings, but Scotland's defence in general and Man of the Match Chris Harris in particular, with the outside centre putting opposite number Shogo Nakano out of action with two sledgehammer tackles in the first half.

Although Japan were successful in keeping the ball for substantial periods, they rarely looked in danger of breaching Scotland's line. Indeed, apart from wing Kotaro Matsushima's sparkling break for their second penalty, their only threat was keeping the ball in hand and drawing penalties. It was a successful approach though, Rikiya Matsuda kicking two of three penalties before the break and three afterwards.

Scotland seemed to be more focused on try-scoring, and they started early, with Duhan van der Merwe barrelling over from a lineout after just six minutes. Hogg then added a beautifully constructed score midway through the half when he beat three men and fed Harris before the ball was moved all the way across the field to the left wing, with Hogg coming onto the ball at pace for Scotland's second try. Another Hawick back, wing Darcy Graham, further extended Scotland's lead when he wriggled over after Russell's ghosting break off the back of a scrum gave Scotland a comfortable 19-6 lead at the break.

Further tries were hard to come by after the break as Japan's aggressive blitz defence was successful at stopping Scotland out wide, often behind the gainline. So it was no surprise when Scotland's final try came from a set-piece move, Stuart McInally flopping over at the back of a lineout drive try just seconds after coming on for George Turner. That score put Scotland in command at 26-12, but with Scotland throwing on a slew of replacements they lost their way somewhat and Japan began to come back into the game.

An alarmingly soft try from replacement blindside Tebita Tatafu, who broke through the centre of the home side's lineout and flopped over, was the standout score, but the Brave Blossoms also ate away at Scotland's lead. Two penalties in the moments after half-time had brought the visitors back into the game, and following Tatafu's try Japan then drew to within six points of Scotland when Matsua's fifth penalty made it 26-20.

In the circumstances, and given the trauma of Yokohama, it was no surprise when Hogg took control and ordered Russell to kick a 78th-minute penalty rather than go to the corner as he had planned.

Townsend hails selfless Hogg after full-back sets new try-scoring record

By Richard Bath

Gregor Townsend has claimed that Stuart Hogg could have scored even more tries had the full-back not been so keen to make chances for team-mates since becoming Scotland captain. The coach spoke shortly after Hogg’s try in his side’s 29-20 win over Japan at Murrayfield on Saturday made him the top try-scorer in Scotland’s history.

“The biggest development in Stuart’s game is how much he plays for others,” said Townsend. “The biggest change in the last two years is he puts something on the ball so others can do better. He could carry the ball himself or kick the ball himself and not pass, and he’d still have a great game, but he tries to bounce out to a second defender to give team-mates an opportunity.”

Hogg, who has also overtaken Scott Murray to become Scotland’s fourth most capped player after Ross Ford (110), Chris Paterson (109) and Sean Lamont (105), has been in prolific form this year. As well as his try against Japan he scored two against South Africa last week and two against Wales in the Six Nations to bring his tally to five in eight Tests for Scotland in 2021 - and 25 in total.

Hogg's Indian summer at the age of 29 is partly because he enjoys the challenge of leadership so much, Townsend suggested. “The longer he’s been in the role, the more he’s been able to enjoy it,” the coach said.

“He was really looking forward to getting the opportunity to captain the team. He’s a proud Scot that loves his Scottish rugby history, so he knew what an honour this [breaking the try-scoring record] would be.”

Townsend also paid tribute to the impact of the Borders town of Hawick. Hogg broke the record jointly held by Ian Smith who scored 24 tries in 32 tests between 1924-33, and Hogg’s fellow Hawick man Tony Stanger, who also scored 24 tries but in 52 Tests.

“For a small place, Hawick has provided so many Scotland players,” said Townsend. “It already had the joint record-holder, so to have a winger and a full-back from the same club holding the record together and then for Stuart to go on and break the record which had stood for close to 100 years was fantastic. It was great for Hawick as well that Darcy Graham scored another try [against Japan]. Well done Hawick.”