Scotland Defeats Canada

Jeff Hassler scored Canada’s lone try while James Pritchard booted for 12 Canadian points in Canada’s 19-17 loss to Scotland in an international Test match.

Grant Gilchrist scored the single try for Scotland, while Greig Laidlaw kicked four penalties and a conversion.

Hassler scored in the 23rd minute, after Ciaran Hearn broke through the Scottish midfield and sprinted 30 metres down the sideline in front of a crowd of 18,788 fans at BMO Field.

Gilchrist responded four minutes later, muscling his way across the try line for Scotland after some strong work from the Scottish forwards.

Scotland took a 13-8 lead into the dressing room at halftime.

Pritchard booted four penalty kicks, plus a conversion, but his penalty attempt with 15 minutes to play, and with Canada trailing by two points, banged off the post. Pritchard made good on his next attempt to put the Canadians up 17-16.

But Laidlaw booted his fourth of the day to put the Scots back on top with eight minutes to play.

Stuart Hogg also had a penalty kick for the Scots.

The Canadians were looking to bounce back from a 34-25 loss to Japan in a Pacific Nations Cup game a week earlier in Burnaby, B.C. — an ugly affair that saw the Canadians give up 25 unanswered points in the second half.

The No. 16-ranked Canadians knew they’d be in tough against Scotland, a Tier 1 squad ranked eighth in the world, but a much more solid defensive effort Saturday kept them in the game for the full 80 minutes.

The Scots were coming off a 24-6 victory over the United States a week earlier in Houston.

It was another strong rugby turnout at the lakeside venue that Canadian players have dubbed their unofficial home.

A good size crowd of 22,566 watched the Maori All Blacks defeat Canada 40-15 last November, which was a North American record crowd for the sport. Canada’s loss to Ireland a few months earlier drew 20,396 fans to BMO Field.

The game was Scotland’s first victory over Canada on Canadian soil. Canada had beaten Scotland twice at home — 24-19 in 1991 in Saint John, N.B., and 26-23 in Vancouver in 2002.

They’ve met two times in Scotland, both Scottish victories — 22-2 in Edinburgh in 1995 and 41-0 in Aberdeen in 2008.

The game was halted for about 10 minutes midway through the first half while medical staff attended to Scotland’s Alasdair Strokosh. Strokosh was eventually wheeled off the pitch on a stretcher.

The Canadians face the United States next Saturday in a Pacific Nations Cup game in Sacramento.