Take a bow Portugal, well done the scots

Scotland got their Pool C campaign off to a solid start with an eight-try 56-10 victory over Portugal on Sunday but the losers were by no means disgraced in their first Rugby World Cup appearance.

Fullback Rory Lamont scored twice and hooker hooker Scott Lawson grabbed a third as Scotland started well but Portugal winger Pedro Carvalho then made his mark on rugby history when he crossed in the 28th minute for his country's first-ever World Cup try.

Rob Dewey added a fourth Scots try to earn a 28-10 halftime lead but they had to wait until the 57th minute for their next score from Dan Parks as the Portuguese amateurs maintained their discipline and fitness.

Hugo Southwell, Kelly Brown, and Ross Ford added further scores for the Scots, who now have to wait nine days before facing Romania in Edinburgh. Portugal face the ultimate test against the All Blacks in Lyon next Saturday.

SCOTLAND 56 (Rory Lamont 2, Scott Lawson, Rob Dewey, Dan Parks, Hugo Southwell, Kelly Brown, Ross Ford tries; Dan Parks 5 cons, Chris Paterson 3 cons) bt PORTUGAL 10 (Pedro Carvalho try; Duarte Pinto pen, con)



Wallabies site report....

Scotland serves notice
Story by Sportal for the ARU
Monday, September 10, 2007 - 05:25 AM (AEST)

PA Sport


Rob Dewey
© Getty Scotland laid down a marker by running in eight tries against World Cup debutants Portugal in an entertaining Pool C clash that finished 56-10 in St Etienne.

There will be tougher tests to come for Frank Hadden's men, but they showed they will be a force to be reckoned with on this showing, although admittedly it was against limited opposition.

Flyhalf Dan Parks scored a try and five conversions to grab a 15-point personal haul, while Rory Lamont (two), Scott Lawson, Rob Dewey, Hugo Southwell, Kelly Brown and Ross Ford also dotted down

The Portuguese celebrated their first World Cup match with a converted try by Pedro Carvalho and a penalty by Duarte Pinto, but they were overrun by the Scots, whose cutting edge will have impressed Hadden.

Lamont, especially, was a handful for the Portuguese and it was his early brace of tries which set the tone for the evening. The Scots showed a refreshing appetite for running rugby in the first half, turning down kickable penalties and showing some brio in the backs and power in the forwards.

Lamont's tries arrived in the opening 14 minutes, both coming in the right corner and both assisted by Jason White. Lawson crossed for the third after an excellent cross-field kick into the left corner from Parks, and Dewey bludgeoned over for a fourth before half-time.


Parks' conversions were flawless but the same could not be said of Scotland's defence, which was breached by Carvalho in the 28th minute for Portugal's first World Cup try. Duarte Pinto's conversion and 34th-minute penalty made it 28-10 at the interval.

Hadden's men were sloppy in the opening quarter of an hour of the second half, and Portugal noticeably grew in confidence. But order was restored close to the hour mark, Parks and then Southwell going over from close range for converted tries in the space of three minutes.

Parks departed after his own try and would have been delighted with his evening's work. Brown and Ford came off the bench to score close-range tries in the last 12 minutes, and all in all Scotland was the most potent it has been in a long while.

One worry for Hadden would have been the injury suffered by prop Allan Jacobsen, who was carried off on a stretcher down at the end of the first half.