Gregor Townsend revelling in Scotland duo’s battle at top of try-scoring list

Gregor Townsend is revelling in the ongoing battle between Darcy Graham and Duhan van der Merwe at the top of Scotland’s all-time try-scoring list after the prolific pair crossed the whitewash five times between them in Saturday’s 57-17 rout of Fiji.

Graham, 27, marked his first international appearance in 13 months after a spate of injuries by scoring four times to briefly move level on 28 with his fellow Edinburgh wing as the national team’s record scorer.

But 29-year-old Van der Merwe – who overtook Stuart Hogg on this year’s summer tour of the Americas – soon reasserted himself at the top of the charts with a 72nd-minute score of his own, shortly after Graham left the field following a head injury.

“It’s fantastic that we’re living this history,” said head coach Townsend. “You’ve got two players that have still got a lot of rugby ahead of them that are setting try-scoring records.

“I think Ian Smith from 1925 had held that for so many years, but now we’re seeing it broken every game or every other game that those two are playing.

“They’re not driving each other on and trying to look for tries, they’re doing the right thing for their team. And their tries are often scored by the work of other people too.”

Graham’s man-of-the-match display came on his first Scotland appearance since the World Cup defeat by Ireland in October 2023.

“Darcy was outstanding,” said Townsend. “He scores different types of tries. So yes, it was not only great to see him back, but even better to see him scoring tries.

“I thought in the last game he played for Edinburgh against Cardiff that was close to his best form. Not playing last week allowed him to have a really good week of training, being fresh, and today was another level up, which was very pleasing.”

Townsend confirmed that Graham failed an on-field HIA, casting doubt over whether he will be available for next Sunday’s Test against South Africa at Murrayfield.

“I think he failed that HIA one, so we’ll now have to wait and see HIA two,” said the head coach. “That’s why he didn’t come back on the field. If he passes that, then he’ll have an HIA three in two days’ time.”

Full-back Kyle Rowe, who scored Scotland’s first try on a day when centre Huw Jones got a double, went off at the end of the first half with a hamstring injury and is expected to miss next weekend’s clash with the two-time reigning World Cup winners.

“Kyle’s obviously upset because he’ll be thinking that he might be missing the next few weeks,” said Townsend. “He’s felt his hamstring, so he’ll know his own body.

“We hope it won’t be anything serious, but you don’t know until you get scan results. It’s a real shame as I think he’s been playing excellently all year, all calendar year.”