Romania says Scotland has the edge over Italy

EDINBURGH: Scotland is heading for a pool decider against Italy next week and Romania captain Sorin Socol, whose side has lost to both, said on Tuesday the Scots had the edge.

Scotland thrashed Romania 42-0 at Murrayfield on Tuesday, giving itself a confidence boost before the September 29 clash with Italy which looks likely to decide the runner-up in Pool C behind favorites New Zealand.

"Scotland is a much more complete side," said Socol, whose side ran Italy close in its 24-18 loss in the opening match.

"I was surprised to see how strong they were in contact. We knew they had a number of key players like the Lamont brothers but against us it was an all-round performance from the Scots."

Scotland was on the attack from the start and scored in the first minute when Chris Paterson pounced on a loose ball for a try and conversion.

"The first try was hard for us. It was a bad score coming from a small mistake," added Socol.

The score came from an up-and-under by Scotland flyhalf Dan Parks. The Australian-born Parks used the tactic to good effect during the game with the approval of his coach Frank Hadden.

"Why wouldn't we try up-and-unders when we have the best kicker from hand," said Hadden, who is convinced his side has made progress since its opening 56-10 win against Portugal.

"I asked the boys to crank it up a notch tonight and they certainly did.

"I was particularly pleased with the 'nil' scoreline. We beat them here last November by the same margin of points but they did not have all their best players available for that game. This was a far stronger Romania team."

Despite the comfortable win, Hadden still had concerns about some of the forward play.

"The scrummaging is something we will have to address after we've looked at the tape," said Hadden, after watching his forward pack at times struggling against the Romanians.

Hogg scores three tries

Scotland flanker Allister Hogg scored three tries in an impressive 42-0 win for the home side against Romania on Tuesday.

Hogg scored in the 17th minute, secured a bonus point for the Scots with its fourth try five minutes after halftime and completed his hat-trick seven minutes later.

The victory will put the Scots in good heart for the match against New Zealand on Sunday.

In blustery conditions, Scotland grabbed its first points with barely a minute gone.

From the kick-off Scotland set up a rolling maul that seemed unproductive until flyhalf Dan Parks used the possession with a towering kick that put the Romanian defence in trouble.

When the ball spilled loose wing Chris Paterson pounced for the score, before making it a seven points contribution with a difficult conversion.

Romania had a chance to reply only for Ionut Dimofte to pull his attempted goal kick to the right. The Scots too missed a scoring opportunity when Paterson was hauled down a metre short of the try line.

When Scotland's forwards tested their muscle power against the tough Romanian pack from a driven lineout Hogg claimed his side's second try, Paterson converting from wide out.

Breaks by Simon Webster and Sean Lamont showed the Scots' potential, realised four minutes before halftime when inside centre Rob Dewey, taking a reverse pass, threatened the Romania line.

When the ball was recycled, Parks was on hand to supply a long pass to Rory Lamont for the fullback to crash over for Scotland's third try, Paterson's third successive conversion giving the Scots a 21-0 interval lead.

Agencies

(China Daily 09/20/2007 page23)