SAMOA OF THAT AND WE’LL LOSE
SIX tries against Samoa should usually signal success for Scotland rather than a warning.
But Stuart Hogg admits it needs to be better next time when world champions New Zealand come to town.
The truth of this record-breaking Autumn Test was the need to withstand a second-half fightback from the Pacific Islanders after failing to put the game out of sight.
Tries from Hogg, Huw Jones, Alex Dunbar, Peter Horne and a Stuart McInally double combined with five conceded to rack up the highest points total in the history of the dark blues at Murrayfield.
Hogg dived over in two minutes for the first score and the Glasgow Warrior insists it was the start of the good, the bad and the ugly for his side.
He said: “It was scrappy but we need to credit Samoa. They really brought it to us and we struggled to get our game going at times.
“When it worked for us we were scoring points. There’s a lot to take out of that game and a lot to learn and improve.
“We got the win and we’re delighted with that but Samoa applied a lot of pressure to our defence.
“They made us play earlier than we would have liked. We will learn from that and look to improve against the All Blacks next week because if we play like that it will be a tough, long day.
“We’re fully aware of what the All Blacks are capable of. It’s going to be one hell of a challenge. We will enjoy this victory but come Monday we get back on the horse and get going again.”
Whether it was ring-rust or a case of switching off at key moments to allow Samoa to stay in the game is up for debate but Hogg isn’t relishing a team meeting with defence coach Matt Taylor this morning.
He said: “Matt was pretty annoyed after the game. He didn’t say much which is a bad thing. He’s probably going to unleash hell on Monday.”
Saturday also saw Hogg pull level with Gavin Hastings, Alan Tait and Gregor Townsend in the all-time list of Scotland try scorers – a landmark that took him by surprise.
He said: “I wasn’t aware of that. It’s pretty cool. It was right place, right time.
“We got ourselves into some good positions at times and fortunately the ball bounced into my hands.”