Ewan Ashman praised his fellow forwards for laying his hat-trick of tries on a plate as Scotland secured a “scrappy” 42-7 win over the United States in Washington on Friday night.
The 24-year-old Edinburgh hooker was the beneficiary of some effective rolling mauls from the Scots as he helped himself to an “easy” first-half treble.
Duhan van der Merwe – now Scotland’s joint-highest try-scorer of all time alongside Stuart Hogg on 27 – George Horne and Matt Fagerson added the tourists’ other scores on a wet and humid evening at Audi Field.
“All the credit goes to the big boys up front for pushing me over,” Ashman told Scottish Rugby.
“I just have the easy job of holding on to the back and then celebrating and thanking the boys for pushing me over.
“Credit to (forwards coach) John Dalziel as well because a lot of work goes into the maul, so it was good to get a bit of reward from it. I was buzzing to get three over.”
The Scots made it back-to-back wins on their American tour after thrashing Canada last weekend, but Ashman admitted there is plenty of room for improvement in their remaining two matches in South America.
“Scrappy,” was his verdict on the match. “It was obviously good to get the win but we’ve got a lot to learn from.
“To be in that kind of heat and the sweat and the rain, it’s something we can only learn and grow from. There’s a lot to work on.
“Hopefully we can really build on it and get better performances for Uruguay and Chile coming up.”
Ashman paid tribute to Edinburgh team-mate Jamie Ritchie, who won his 50th cap in the American capital.
“I love every time I get to run out with that guy, he’s one of my favourite players to play with,” said the hooker. “He really gives you confidence, he’s a real warrior. He thoroughly deserves to get to 50 caps.”
Ritchie declared himself “super-proud” to have reached his half-century.
“It’s not just about the 50th cap, it’s about the 49 before it as well,” said the 27-year-old flanker. “As a kid all I ever wanted to do was play for Scotland and to be able to say I’ve done it 50 times is things dreams are made of.
“My wife surprised me by coming out the day before the game, I didn’t know she was coming. That was really special because she’s been by my side the whole way.”