Scotland bounce back

Craig Joiner powers his way through

Scotland bounced back from their record 69-20 defeat at the hands of the All Blacks by beating Hawke's Bay 24-7 in Napier on Tuesday.

It was only the second win in six matches for the tourists, who face the All Blacks again in Auckland on Saturday.

Rain fell throughout the match, turning the ball into an uncontrollable object at times.

But Scotland retained possession well, earning praise from skipper for the day Graham Shiel.

David Officer tackles Richard Bains

"Overall we were happy," he said. "We retained the ball well.

"We've had to come to terms with holding onto the ball here.

"It would have been nice to play it a little wider here but it was dictated by the conditions.

"But we managed to recycle it well."

The home team tackled superbly but Scotland's continual pressure eventually told.

Scotland led 8-0 at half-time from an opening try by flanker Roland Reid and a penalty from Shiel.

It felt like they had 90 percent of the ball

Hawke's Bay skipper Scott Leighton

Substitute Duncan Hodge added three penalty goals after the break and also converted a try by Shaun Longstaff.

The home side claimed their only try when flanker Tafai Ioasa crossed over. Fly-half Scott Leighton converted the score.

Hawke's Bay captain Scott Leighton admitted it would have been a rout if his side hadn't tackled so well.

Martin Leslie runs into Marty Lloyd

"We did a power of tackling," he said. "It felt like they had 90 percent of the ball and we had 10."

In fact, Scotland had 72 per cent of the territory and won an astonishing 147 rucks and mauls to 63 for Hawke's Bay.

Of the players in a position to push for a Test place, Reid and lock Iain Fullarton did well while replacement lock Nathan Hines also impressed.

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Teams:

Hawke's Bay: Hamilton, Karauria, Norman, Powdrell, Lloyd, Leighton (captain), Baines, Ngarimu, Ioasa, Robinson, Quate, Johnson, Crawford, Schwaiger, Newlands.

Scotland: Murray, Moir, Officer (Hodge 34 mins), Joiner, Longstaff, Shiel (captain), Beveridge, Petrie, Leslie, Reid, Campbell, Fullarton, McIlwham, Scott, Jacobsen.