It was a curates egg of a game at BT Murrayfield with a hatful of tries, some superb finishing and the win, but also a worrying lack of defence and direction. Here are our player ratings:
15. Stuart Hogg – always a threat with the ball in hand, kicked well when Scotland seemed to lack direction and showed real leadership after John Barclay went off. He’ll be top of the All Blacks & Wallabies concerns in the next two games 7.5/10
14. Tommy Seymour – created the first try with a brilliant kick ahead and again dominated the aerial contests in which he was involved. Quiet in the second half and saved for next week to allow Chris Harris his debut. 7/10
13. Huw Jones – A great return to the national side with a try: dangerous in attack and solid defensively. Townsend couldn’t have asked for much more – this guy is absolutely the real deal. 7.5/10
12. Alex Dunbar – took his try well and carried hard. Was without much ball early on due to Russell’s mistakes but grew into the match as time went on. 7/10
11. Lee Jones – continued his great club form with a fine showing. Teed up Dunbar for his try with an excellent offload & nearly set up Hogg in the first half with lovely kick. Has surely cemented his place for now, at least. 7/10
10. Finn Russell – An erratic first half performance and too many mistakes from the mercurial Glasgow stand-off gave Samoa easy ball. A few flashy touches that look like brilliance but will need to be better next week. 6/10
9. Ali Price – Kept the pack moving and was vocal throughout. Linked well with flatmate Russell to keep Scotland on the front foot, and made one blistering break that his team-mates should have finished. Replaced by Pyrgos just after the hour. 7/10
1. Darryl Marfo – brilliantly industrious on his debut, with two turnovers the prime evidence of that. Carried hard and the scrum went well (the ref didn’t always agree), but bigger tests definitely lie ahead. Seems a good find. 7/10
2. Stuart McInally – an afternoon that will live long in the memory for the Scotland hooker. His first home start and two tries, both from powerful rolling mauls. Put in a huge shift, he tackled well and carried hard before making way for debutant George Turner on the hour. 8/10
3. WP Nel – scrummaged well and carried hard before making way mid-way through the first half with an arm injury that could rule him out of the next fortnight. Looked keen, so it would be a big loss. 6/10
4. Ben Toolis – combined well with Gray and set-piece went well. Offered himself to carry and made handy yards while making his tackles. Gave away a couple of penalties that will need cutting out. 7/10
5. Jonny Gray – industrious: tackles, tackles and more tackles from the Glasgow man. Worked hard in defence and was a menace at the breakdown for the Samoan defence. Deserves plaudits for the success of the set-piece. 7/10
6. John Barclay (captain) – Quieter than during his brilliant Six Nations performances but that is perhaps to be expected given the skipper’s recent injury worries. Showed lovely hands on more than one occasion and it was great to see him get through 65 minutes. 6/10
7. Hamish Watson – won a crucial turnover with Samoa powering towards the Scotland line but wasn’t as effective in the carry as on previous outings. Also completed 12/12 tackles, leading the defensive effort. 6/10
8. Ryan Wilson – another to have a quiet afternoon, carried well and made his tackles but will need to offer more ‘grunt’ in the next two weeks. 6/10
REPLACEMENTS
16. George Turner – A first cap debut for the in-form Glasgow man who was ignored by Edinburgh. His lineout went alright but limited impact in the loose. Perhaps suffered in comparison to McInally who played very well. 5/10
17. Jamie Bhatti – another debut. Apart from a couple of carries, see above 5/10
18. Zander Fagerson – slotted in seamlessly after Nel’s departure and continually offered himself to carry. Showed some nice hands at first receiver on multiple occasions too. Must cut out the handbags and nonsense though and he could be a real star. 7/10
19. Tim Swinson – made a minor but vital intervention with Samoa still technically pushing for a match-winning try. Threw himself into every contact and was the perfect impact sub. 6/10
20. Cornell Du Preez – his lovely offload for Horne’s try proved decisive in the end. Didn’t get his hands on the ball enough as Samoa grew into the game but showed some nice touches. 6/10
21. Henry Pyrgos – came on for Price and there was no drop in tempo. Picked his runners superbly and offered composure towards the end. 6/10
22. Peter Horne – scored the match-winning try and another okay performance from 10 – but doubts must remain about his Test future there. 6/10
23. Chris Harris – not a lot to do in attack and ran one poor line where he and Jones collided. Was caught out for the Nanai-Williams score late on. 5/10
INJURY UPDATE (13/11): Jon Welsh has been called up to the Scotland squad after Willem Nel, Tim Swinson and Rob Harley were ruled out of the next two tests through injury.
Nel and Swinson sustained an arm fracture and hand injury respectively and require further specialist assessment. Tommy Seymour had an MRI scan on his toe which confirmed that the player will require ongoing treatment by the Scotland medical team before returning to training this week.
Harley’s knee injury happened in training last week and he’s back with Glasgow.