SIX TRIES EARN SCOTS A PERFECT TEN
Posted: 18/Sep/07
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Scotland continued their perfect run in the Rugby World Cup posting a second bonus-point victory after beating Romania at Murrayfield this evening. Allister Hogg scored a hattrick of tries, Rory Lamont a brace with Chris Paterson firing in the opener within seconds and kicking all six conversions.

After winning their first match against Portugal in St Etienne by 56-10, the Scots now have a maximum of ten points and sit in second place behind New Zealand in Pool C, due to points difference.

It was a blistering start from Scotland on a cold autumn night as Chris Paterson scored within 70 seconds of the match kicking off. Jim Hamilton took the ball cleanly in a lineout around 30 metres out from the try line, and the pack took on the Romanians straight away with a solid rolling maul. The ball came out and Mike Blair passed to Dan Parks who kicked a high ball into the opposition’s 22. Paterson scooped up the loose ball and chipped ahead, beating several defenders to get his hand on it and score the opening try. The wing then added the conversion.

Romania were then given the chance almost immediately to grab back three points but the penalty attempt went wide. Scotland also looked set to score after Parks kicked the ball from within his own 22 to almost the same area in the opposite half. The Romanians lost the ball in the lineout and Blair picked up and sent the ball out wide towards the left wing and Simon Webster made ground darting through the defence. The ball came back through the scrum half to Parks and Sean Lamont before going out to Paterson on the right, but the ball was spilled just short of the tryline.

Romania showed their attacking skills around 12 minutes in as flanker Alexandru Manta broke through and ran unhindered into the opposition half, but he knocked the ball forward when he was eventually hauled down. The Scots again moved play back downfield, and were awarded a penalty when The Oaks strayed offside. As against Portugal, they decided to run the ball instead of kicking for goal. From the lineout, the pack rolled forward and Allister Hogg was at the back with the ball, but his dart for the line was just short. However, the referee penalised the Romanians again and the Scots again took the lineout option. This time, they only had five metres between the forwards and the line, and second time lucky for Hogg as he grounded the ball for a try eighteen minutes in. Paterson once again converted to make it 14-0 before the end of the first quarter.

The Romanians rallied and set off in attack but were again quickly thwarted as possession was turned over and Rory Lamont, scorer of the first two tries against Portugal, showed his pace, spinning out of potential tackles and sprinting around 35 metres downfield.

An untidy period of play saw both sides lose some of their discipline, giving away penalties, but again there were some great sparkling moments: Webster sprinting through and making great ground upfield, Blair making a beautiful one handed scoop of the ball after the centre was brought down. Another move downfield didn’t quite go to plan, but the Scots showed they were about to strike again, and they did soon after when the Romanians were penalised. The ball was won by the forwards and strung to the left and when Dewey went to ground, it was recycled through Blair and Parks. With men aplenty outside him, it was Rory Lamont who carried the ball over the line for Scotland’s third try just before half time. Paterson slotted his third conversion of the night making it 21-0 going into the break.

The Scots almost started the second half as they’d ended the first with a try, but Blair’s stretch for the line was adjudged to have been a double movement. However within minutes they had notched up their fourth and bonus point try after putting the Romanians under pressure. Simon Taylor charged down a kick and Blair darted up with the ball before passing to Hogg who sprinted over the line for his second score of the evening. Paterson’s conversion made it 28-0 after 46 minutes.

The Edinburgh flanker made it a night to remember moments later by scoring a third. With the pack not making much headway against the strong Romanians, the ball was sent left. When Parks was brought down, Blair moved the recycled ball to Webster and the last pass went to Hogg who screamed in for the try. Paterson was again successful with the conversion making it 35-0.

With a commanding lead, Scotland took the opportunity to make changes with five substitutions going on ahead of the final quarter of the match, and shortly after, everyone on the bench joined the field.

Romania made their closest attack on the Scottish tryline in the 70th minute but were unable to make any inroads through the defence barely five metres out. Scotland stole possession and Hugo Southwell hoofed the ball upfield. They then struck from half way for yet another great try, as Scott Lawson rolled out of tackles and popped the ball to Rory Lamont who rocketed to the line for his second score of the night. Paterson continued his perfect run of conversions kicking his sixth of the night with eight minutes left on the clock.

The game began to lose shape in the final moments, but Scotland had the victory they had worked for, winning the match by 42-0.

Scotland

Rory Lamont (Sale Sharks), Sean Lamont (Northampton Saints), Simon Webster (Edinburgh), Rob Dewey (Ulster), Chris Paterson (Gloucester), Dan Parks (Glasgow Warriors), Mike Blair (Edinburgh), Gavin Kerr (Edinburgh), Ross Ford (Glasgow Warriors), Euan Murray (Northampton Saints), Nathan Hines (Perpignan), Jim Hamilton (Leicester Tigers), Jason White (Sale Sharks) CAPTAIN, Simon Taylor (Stade Francais), Allister Hogg (Edinburgh).

Substitutes:

Scott Lawson (Sale Sharks) for Ford 58 mins, Craig Smith (Edinburgh) for Kerr 51 mins, Kerr for E Murray 67 mins, Scott MacLeod (Llanelli Scarlets) for Hines 51 mins, Kelly Brown (Glasgow Warriors) for Hogg 64 mins, Chris Cusiter (Perpignan) for Blair 58 mins, Hugo Southwell (Edinburgh) for Dewey 58 mins, Nikki Walker (Ospreys) for Parks 67 mins

Scorers:
Try: Paterson, Hogg 3, R Lamont. Con: Paterson 5.
Romania

Iulian Dumitras, Catalin Fercu, Csaba Gal, Romeo Gontineac, Gabriel Brezoianu, Ionut Dimofte, Lucian Sirbu, Petrisor Toderasc, Marius Tincu, Bogdan Balan, Sorin Socol CAPTAIN, Cristian Petre, Florin Corodeanu, Alexandru Manta, Ovidiu Tonita

Substitutes:
Silviu Florea, Razvan Mavrodin, Cosmin Ratiu, Alexandru Tudori, Valentin Calafeteanu, Ionut Tofan, Florin Vlaicu.

Referee: Nigel Owens (WRU)

Man of the match: Allister Hogg

Attendance: 31,222

This article was posted on 18-Sep-2007, 21:41 by Hugh Barrow.