Scotland beat Uruguay: Duhan van der Merwe sets try record

Duhan van der Merwe says he owes team-mate Kyle Rowe a beer after becoming Scotland’s record try-scorer in the victory in Uruguay.

The Edinburgh winger passed Stuart Hogg’s tally of 27 tries as he helped Scotland end their Americas Tour with a hard-fought 31-19 victory in Montevideo.

The South Africa-born back set the new record of 28 after playing only 41 games for his adopted country.

He was set free by Glasgow winger Rowe midway through the first half to set the new try-scoring mark and help Scotland claim a fourth win in a row on foreign soil for the first time since 1927.

“It feels absolutely amazing. Kyle made it very easy for me though. He had a walk-in and he just gave it to me,” said the 29-year-old.

“It just shows the relationship we have in the squad. I’ll need to buy him a beer for that one.”

Tries from Ewan Ashman, Luke Crosbie and Van der Merwe gave Gregor Townsend’s side a comfortable early lead but Santiago Alvarez and Filipe Etcheverry brought Uruguay to within five points at the break.

The hosts levelled when Manuel Diana crossed but tries from Patrick Harrison and Pierre Schoeman eased fears of a shock.

Van der Merwe says the four-game summer tour “has been class” and Scotland “can build on” the 100% record Townsend’s side return home with.

“Uruguay were a very tough team to beat, they just didn’t go away and played with a lot of passion,” added the British and Irish Lions winger.

“They were very good in the first half and we probably weren’t at our best – we made a lot of mistakes.

“We came out second half and managed to hold onto the ball a bit more and get some points on the board.

“At the end we luckily just got the win. That makes it four from four. To come away from home and get a win against a tough Uruguay side is amazing.”

Scotland convincingly defeated Canada, the United States and Chile in their previous games despite coach Townsend leaving some senior players such as Finn Russell behind for the tour.