EDINBURGH, Scotland (AP) — Portugal conceded nine tries and wasn’t disgraced in a 59-21 loss at Scotland on Saturday in its latest meeting with a top-tier opponent in the wake of its breakthrough performance at last year’s Rugby World Cup.
It was looking ugly for Os Lobos when Scotland flew ahead 33-0 by the 38th minute at Murrayfield.
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Scotland's Ben Muncaster, left, is tackled during the Autumn Nations series rugby union match between Scotland and Portugal at the Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium, in Edinburgh, Scotland, Saturday Nov. 16, 2024. (Jane Barlow/PA via AP)
Scotland's Darcy Graham breaks free to score his side's fourth try of the game during the Autumn Nations series rugby union match between Scotland and Portugal at the Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium, in Edinburgh, Scotland, Saturday Nov. 16, 2024. (Jane Barlow/PA via AP)
Portugal's Samuel Marques clears the ball during the Autumn Nations series rugby union match between Scotland and Portugal at the Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium, in Edinburgh, Scotland, Saturday Nov. 16, 2024. (Jane Barlow/PA via AP)
Portugal's Antonio Rebelo de Andrade wins the ball in a lineout during the Autumn Nations series rugby union match between Scotland and Portugal at the Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium, in Edinburgh, Scotland, Saturday Nov. 16, 2024. (Jane Barlow/PA via AP)
Portugal's Antonio Rebelo de Andrade wins the ball in a lineout during the Autumn Nations series rugby union match between Scotland and Portugal at the Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium, in Edinburgh, Scotland, Saturday Nov. 16, 2024. (Jane Barlow/PA via AP)
Scotland's Tom Jordan, center, is tackled by Portugal's Tomas Appleton during the Autumn Nations series rugby union match between Scotland and Portugal at the Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium, in Edinburgh, Scotland, Saturday Nov. 16, 2024. (Jane Barlow/PA via AP)
Scotland's Arron Reed, right, passes the ball to team-mate Darcy Graham to score his side's fourth try of the game during the Autumn Nations series rugby union match between Scotland and Portugal at the Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium, in Edinburgh, Scotland, Saturday Nov. 16, 2024. (Jane Barlow/PA via AP)
Scotland score their third try of the game, via a penalty try during the Autumn Nations series rugby union match between Scotland and Portugal at the Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium, in Edinburgh, Scotland, Saturday Nov. 16, 2024. (Jane Barlow/PA via AP)
However, Portugal held its own in the second half and finished with three tries, one coming from scrumhalf Samuel Marques after the Scotland scrum went backward in front of its posts. Marques, 36 next month, came out of retirement for new coach Simon Mannix.
The Portuguese are getting more chances at the top level after a World Cup campaign in which they drew with Georgia and beat Fiji for their first ever win in the sport’s biggest tournament.
They played world champion South Africa in Bloemfontein in July, losing 64-21, and gained more experience against the Scots, who rebounded from a 32-15 loss to the Springboks last weekend.
In a Scots side of 14 changes, Arron Reed scored two of their tries, both through razor-sharp finishes down the left wing in the second half. Will Hurd, Stafford McDowall, Darcy Graham, Josh Bayliss, Jamie Bhatti and Jamie Dobie also went over, while there was a penalty try.
Graham’s try was a beauty as he sidestepped and darted through Portugal’s defensive line and it took him to 29 for Scotland, tying fellow winger Duhan van der Merwe’s national record.
Luka Begic, in first-half stoppage time, and Raffaele Storti were Portugal’s other try-scorers.
Freddy Douglas, 19, came on as a back-row replacement in the second half and became Scotland's youngest debutant for the men's team since 1963. It was his first professional match, too.
Scotland opened the autumn campaign by beating Fiji 57-17, while Portugal lost to the United States 21-17 last weekend.
AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
Scotland's Ben Muncaster, left, is tackled during the Autumn Nations series rugby union match between Scotland and Portugal at the Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium, in Edinburgh, Scotland, Saturday Nov. 16, 2024. (Jane Barlow/PA via AP)
Scotland's Darcy Graham breaks free to score his side's fourth try of the game during the Autumn Nations series rugby union match between Scotland and Portugal at the Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium, in Edinburgh, Scotland, Saturday Nov. 16, 2024. (Jane Barlow/PA via AP)
Portugal's Samuel Marques clears the ball during the Autumn Nations series rugby union match between Scotland and Portugal at the Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium, in Edinburgh, Scotland, Saturday Nov. 16, 2024. (Jane Barlow/PA via AP)
Portugal's Antonio Rebelo de Andrade wins the ball in a lineout during the Autumn Nations series rugby union match between Scotland and Portugal at the Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium, in Edinburgh, Scotland, Saturday Nov. 16, 2024. (Jane Barlow/PA via AP)
Portugal's Antonio Rebelo de Andrade wins the ball in a lineout during the Autumn Nations series rugby union match between Scotland and Portugal at the Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium, in Edinburgh, Scotland, Saturday Nov. 16, 2024. (Jane Barlow/PA via AP)
Scotland's Tom Jordan, center, is tackled by Portugal's Tomas Appleton during the Autumn Nations series rugby union match between Scotland and Portugal at the Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium, in Edinburgh, Scotland, Saturday Nov. 16, 2024. (Jane Barlow/PA via AP)
Scotland's Arron Reed, right, passes the ball to team-mate Darcy Graham to score his side's fourth try of the game during the Autumn Nations series rugby union match between Scotland and Portugal at the Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium, in Edinburgh, Scotland, Saturday Nov. 16, 2024. (Jane Barlow/PA via AP)
Scotland score their third try of the game, via a penalty try during the Autumn Nations series rugby union match between Scotland and Portugal at the Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium, in Edinburgh, Scotland, Saturday Nov. 16, 2024. (Jane Barlow/PA via AP)
BEIRUT (AP) — Israeli ground forces reached their deepest point in Lebanon since they invaded six weeks ago before pulling back Saturday after battles with Hezbollah militants, Lebanese state media reported.
The clashes and further Israeli bombardment of Beirut's southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold, came as Lebanese and Hezbollah officials study a draft proposal presented by the U.S. earlier this week on ending the war.
Israeli troops briefly captured a strategic hill in the southern Lebanese village of Chamaa, about 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the Israeli border, the state-run National News Agency reported. It said Israeli troops blew up the Shrine of Shimon the Prophet in Chamaa as well as several homes, but the claim could not be immediately verified.
Israel's military did not immediately respond to requests for comment but said in a statement that its troops “continue their limited, localized and targeted operational activity in southern Lebanon.”
Israeli warplanes pounded Beirut’s southern suburbs, known as Dahiyeh, as well as several other areas in southern Lebanon including the port city of Tyre. An airstrike on the northeastern village of Khraibeh killed a couple and their four children, the National News Agency said.
Shrapnel from one strike wounded a teenage girl in the head in a southern Beirut suburb and she was in an intensive care unit, a hospital official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about patients’ conditions.
Israel's military said it hit multiple sites used by Hezbollah.
Since late September, Israel has dramatically escalated its bombardment of Lebanon, vowing to severely weaken the Iranian-backed Hezbollah and end its barrages in Israel that the militants have said are in solidarity with Palestinians during the war in Gaza. Israel said Hezbollah fired more than 60 projectiles into Israel on Saturday but gave no details.
More than 3,400 people have been killed in Lebanon by Israeli fire — 80% of them in the past eight weeks — according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. Israel has said it wants to ensure that thousands of Israelis can return to their homes near the border with Lebanon.
Israel’s military said a soldier died in combat in southern Lebanon on Friday.
On Friday, Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister apparently urged Iran to try and convince Hezbollah to agree to a cease-fire deal with Israel, which would require the group to pull back from the Israel-Lebanon border. The proposal is based on U.N. Security Council resolution 1701, which ended the last Israel-Hezbollah war in 2006.
A copy of the draft proposal presented by the U.S. was handed over this week to Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who has been negotiating on behalf of Hezbollah, according to a Lebanese official. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the secret talks, said Berri is expected to give Lebanon’s response on Monday.
Another Lebanese politician said Hezbollah officials had received the draft and would express their opinion to Berri. The politician also spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media about the ongoing talks.
Berri told the pan-Arab Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that the draft does not include any item that allows Israel to act in Lebanon if the deal is violated.
“We will not accept any infringement of our sovereignty,” Berri was quoted as saying.
He added that one item in the draft that Lebanon does not accept is the proposal to form a committee to supervise the agreement that includes members from Western countries. A U.N. peacekeeping force already operates near the border in Lebanon.
Berri said talks are ongoing regarding that and other details, adding that “the atmosphere is positive but all relies on how things will end.”
There is also a push to end the war between Israel and Hamas, which began after Palestinian militants stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and abducting 250 others.
The Health Ministry in Gaza said Saturday that 35 people had been killed in Israeli strikes in the past 24 hours, bringing the war's overall death toll to 43,799. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but has said more than half of those killed have been women and children.
The U.N. Security Council’s 10 elected members on Thursday circulated a draft resolution demanding “an immediate, unconditional and permanent cease-fire” in Gaza.
The U.S., Israel’s closest ally, holds the key to whether the council adopts the resolution. The four other permanent members — Russia, China, Britain and France — are expected to support it or abstain.
Associated Press writer David Rising in Bangkok contributed to this report.
Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
Smokes rise from buildings hit in Israeli airstrikes in Tyre, southern Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike in the southern village of Chamaa, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Smoke rises from a building hit in an Israeli airstrike in Tyre, southern Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
Journalists film as smoke rises from a building hit in Israeli airstrikes in Tyre, southern Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
Smoke rises from a building hit in an Israeli airstrike in Tyre, southern Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
A Middle East Airlines airplane flies over Dahiyeh as smoke rises from Israeli an airstrike, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Flame and smoke rise after an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
An Israeli drone flies over Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
A bomb, center, dropped from an Israeli airplane falls towards a building in Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
