Match Scotland 56 v Tonga 0 - 23/11/2025 - Quilter Nations Series

Scotland dominated the opening 40 minutes at Scottish Gas Murrayfield, building a commanding 21-0 lead through relentless pressure and sharp finishing. The hosts struck first when openside Jamie Ritchie powered over following a stolen lineout deep in Tongan territory, with Fergus Burke adding the conversion. A yellow card for blindside flanker Semisi Paea, later upgraded to a 20-minute red, compounded Tonga’s early struggles and Scotland capitalised quickly. Hooker George Turner crossed for the second try after a sweeping move sparked by Duhan van der Merwe’s aerial take, before 23-year-old lock Max Williamson muscled over from close range to make it three converted scores.

Tonga’s discipline and execution faltered throughout the half, with missed opportunities and a costly offside call near their own line. Fullback William Havili’s clever 50:22 briefly offered hope, but Scotland’s defence held firm and forced a turnover at the maul. The visitors’ best attacking spell ended with a knock-on inside the hosts' 22, while Scotland continued to threaten through slick offloads from captain Sione Tuipulotu and his midfield partner, Ollie Smith. A late surge saw Ben White held up over the line, denying Scotland a fourth try before the whistle.

The numbers underline Scotland’s dominance: 102 carries to Tonga’s 27, 780 metres gained, and eight line breaks compared to one. Tonga, by contrast, were forced into 121 tackles and missed 24, a reflection of the relentless Scottish tempo.

Scotland turned that dominant first-half display into a statement win, piling on five more tries after the break. The second period began quietly, with Tonga enjoying early possession but failing to convert pressure into points. Their hopes were dented further when Taniela Filimone was shown a yellow card for a deliberate knock-on, adding to a mounting disciplinary tally.

The floodgates opened just before the hour mark. Van der Merwe powered through for his 35th Scotland try, becoming the nation’s all-time leading scorer. From there, the hosts cut loose. Replacement hooker Ewan Ashman continued his prolific form with two tries from rolling mauls, while George Horne added a brace of his own, finishing slick support lines after breaks from Kyle Steyn and Jamie Ritchie. Each score was converted, with Horne taking over kicking duties late on.

Tonga battled gamely but spent much of the match down to 14 men and were unable to stem Scotland’s tempo. The final whistle confirmed Scotland’s biggest win of the autumn and a clean sheet to close out the year.

⭐️ Quilter Player of the Match: Magnus Bradbury (SCO)

"We chatted about what happened at the end of that game last week [against Argentina] and there was a lot of rotations, but we still had to carry that responsibility of righting the wrongs.

"The most important thing to us is the fans. [Without them] it wouldn't be anything like it is. We love playing here because of the fans, we love winning here to inspire the fans and they're our motivation as well. Every time we take the week, it's an opportunity to impress.

"We can look at the results or we can look at performances and we know that if we had a couple more points running in both of those middle two games, we could have won them. That's the belief we have and we're frustrated not to."