What did we learn from Scotland’s win over Maori All Blacks?

Head coach Gregor Townsend was delighted to see Scotland’s summer tour “start on a positive” with a 29-26 win over Maori All Blacks in New Zealand.

In a hard-fought non-cap international, the visitors’ tries came from Harry Paterson, Arron Reed and two either side of the interval from George Horne.

Scotland’s lead dwindled to three points with 10 minutes to go but a largely callow team held on under some fierce pressure.

“The Maori are a quality side and we decided to put a team out that wasn’t as experienced knowing that it’ll be a great development and learning experience for them,” said Townsend.

“But we also wanted to win this game and we’re so pleased that we did and how we set that win up in the first half – how clinical we were.

“And then the pressure around set-piece and our defensive effort at the end saw us through. So, we’re really pleased that the tour starts on a positive. “

It was hard to pick a player of the match given the gladiatorial efforts in defence, but it was Ollie Smith’s contribution in attack that means he was the cream of the crop.

His first assist came at a time where Scotland were struggling to break down the Maoris blitz defence, but his perfectly weighted kick put Paterson in.

His second, another stab in behind, was a great grubber and set up Reed. He managed both of these feats despite being lined up for several terrifying tackles.

It almost seems cruel that at the age of 26, Andy Onyeama-Christie only has eight Scotland caps.

At his best, there is very little to choose between him and Jamie Ritchie, Rory Darge, or any of the plethora of Scotland’s back-row options.

Like Smith, this was his return to the international stage after a horrendous injury and, also like Smith, he made a faultless transition back to the big time.

The stats at half-time showed the Maoris had dominated ball possession, territory on the field, metres made – yet it was the Scots who led 24-12.

They were, for the first 40 minutes, clinical. Reminiscent of the attacking accuracy of the Six Nations, back-line moves were carried out with precision and Horne’s second try will go down as one of Scotland’s best.

They knew they couldn’t truck it up the middle, instead they waited to pick holes in behind the home defence and used their kicking game expertly. That’s where Smith, Adam Hastings and Horne all shone.

They had other opportunities to score, though. More points should have been taken when the Maoris were down to 13 men at the start of the second half, while the red-zone entry in the final 10 minutes lacked structure.