Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Skipper salutes forwards
CAPTAIN Grant Gilchrist hailed the impact of Scotland’s forwards that saw them to a 48-10 win over Canada in Edmonton.
Six of the pack play together for Edinburgh and that cohesion was clear as the Scotland backline took time to settle.
Despite the seven-try win there is still room to improve for Gregor Townsend’s troops.
“It helps with cohesion in that pack,” Gilchrist said. “We mauled well from the get-go, we had them under pressure at scrum time, and that counts in these games, especially early on.
“As they tired, our maul grew. When we maybe weren’t playing at our best, it was a way of scoring points and getting territory. It will be a weapon for us on this tour.
“I thought the backs put some great plays together, especially late on, and they were getting us in good areas.”
Gilchrist was impressed by the four players who came off the bench. Second-rower Lewis Carmichael scored on his debut and replacement hooker George Turner claimed a hat-trick of tries.
“The first caps did exceptionally well but it’s a great feeling to score for Scotland and to play for Scotland, so I’m sure they’ll cherish it.”
But it was not all rosy as hooker Fraser Brown and winger Lee Jones were injured.
Brown was given a scan for a rib injury while Jones hurt his knee and has been replaced by Dougie Fife.
Townsend also felt the bench had impacted the way Scotland closed out the game.
“The half-backs upped the pace of the game and took it to the opposition,” he said.
“Adam (Hastings) came on, got those passes from the forwards and had a go at the defence, Ali Price added pace to the game, Lewis Carmichael had a brilliant impact and George Turner had three tries.”