For the Scots

[gwenith, BSN, RN]

posted: monday, october 20, 2003. 10:05pm (aest)

scots untroubled by 'sloppy' us

by stuart watt

scotland have beaten the united states 39-16 in their group b rugby world cup match at lang park in brisbane.

the scots ran in five tries to pick up a bonus point and were never troubled by the americans, who were disappointing after their heroics against fiji last week.

on that occasion the americans showed character and some class to fall just short of victory. against scotland the same character was on show but the eagles could not hang onto the ball for long enough to build any momentum.

american captain dave hodges acknowledged as much after the match. "our effort was always there, but we let ourselves down with our execution - we dropped too much ball," he said.

hodges said the americans planned to match it physically with the scots but were "too sloppy".

us coach tom billups was very disappointed with his side's showing. "we didn't perform tonight... when you play poorly and win it's not very fulfilling and when you play poorly and lose, you're kind of down on the curb and that's the feeling in our dressing room tonight," he said.

scottish captain, hooker gordon bulloch, was just happy to win the match. "it was very tough in these conditions - hot and the tough-tackling americans," bulloch said. "we're just happy to get the five points."

bulloch says the scots will need to be more disciplined against the tournament's stronger sides, after giving away a welter of penalties. he says a similar effort in scotland's crunch match against france this weekend, which will decide the outcome of their group, would be fatal.

south african referee jonathan caplan was tough on both sides, finding penalties at the breakdown and in general play. as a result, the near-capacity crowd of almost 47,000 was witness to a stop-start encounter.

he also sent a man from each side - prop tom smith for scotland and fullback paul emerick for the us - to the sin bin.

the scots led 24-9 at half time after winger simon danielli scored two tries and prop gavin kerr scored one.

flyhalf gregor townsend and chris paterson, who started on the wing but moved to number 10 when townsend was replaced late in the game, both scored second-half tries.

paterson finished the night with 19 points after kicking four conversions from five attempts and two penalties form three attempts.

for the us, mike hercus was successful with five of his six penalty attempts.

the result means scotland joins france at the top of pool b on 10 points. fiji is third with four points while the us have one and japan are yet to earn a point.

scotland meet france on saturday night at the olympic stadium in a match which will probably decide first and second place in the group. for the winner, a relatively pothole-free road to the semi-finals awaits.

but the loser will have to play the winner of pool a, which is likely to be australia, in the quarter-finals before a likely meeting with the all blacks in the semis.

frantic beginning

the scots began the match in fine style, attacking at a frantic pace to have the us backpedalling. that early pressure was turned into points in the fourth minute when paterson potted the first of his penalties.

but hercus replied in kind in the ninth minute for the americans during what turned out to be a rare foray downfield for his team.

scotland stamped their authority on the match through danielli's tries in the 20th and 25th minutes. in the first, the winger showed his pace to outsprint the us defence on the outside. for the second, he used brute strength to run over the top of hercus and carry two would-be tacklers over the line.

paterson kicked both conversions from wide out and by the 26th minute scotland led 17-6. that blew out after kerr scored his try, following up his own charge down of a paul emerick kick to touchdown.

the second half was a far less fluent affair with no tryscoring action until inside the final 10 minutes. townsend crossed to secure a bonus point for the scots with a stepping run close to the line after good lead-up work by danielli.

then with two minutes to play paterson darted down a short blind side to cross untouched after good pressure by the scottish forwards. he capped a good night with a sideline conversion.

http://www.abc.net.au/sport/content/s971160.htm

i was going to post a pic but the image function is off in this forum so i will post the site for you.

http://www.abc.net.au/rugbyunion/worldcup/2003/galleries/scotlandvusa/index.htm

[karenG]

see.............we can beat someone!!!!!!

Karen

[chrisrob]

think that people forget the best of the best have come out of scotland so what if our rugby is not brill we cant be good at everything, but as Karen says see..............we can beat someone!!!!!!!

[Whisper]

Well, I am just so happy that Bradford won the superleage, that I think I'll change my spots and root for Scotland in the world cup!!

[chrisrob]

well i'll just have a little weep and expect some sympathy (lots actually) cause i'm upset that Man U beat Rangers sob sob!

but on a happier note still nicotine free:)

[donmurray]

At least we can win against the weed! France will be a stern test at the weekend.

O Flower of Scotland!................................

[donmurray]

We lost 51-9! Just as well it's only a game, then! Maybe next time........

[donmurray]

Skin of our teeth time against Fiji! They don't come much closer than that! :imbar Our reward? Australia! well, sorry in advance, but we Scots do seem to be getting the hang of it now! :kiss :roll

[karenG]

well it looks like we remembered how to play........and our reward is australia!! and did you see the wales v new zealand match- oh so close!! wales played well! so are we going to beat the aussies.........of course we are:)

Karen

[donmurray]

If Wales had fielded a full strength team, there could have been All-Blacks with red faces!