Another game, within four days, and another second half blitz of five tries carried Scotland back to a position of strength in their Rugby World Cup pool at Elland Road in Leeds yesterday.
The USA were blown away in the Yorkshire sunshine in the traditional no-nonsense style of the big county eventually. Once again Scotland toiled to assert themselves for a long spell, and only with a flurry of replacements restoring frontline players notably props Al Dickinson and Willem Nel at half time – did they look wholly convincing.
Stuart Hogg was named man of the match, but although he gave a fine scoring pass to Tim Visser to launch Scotland’s charge he was guilty of a horrible one to the same wing to miss a first-half chance. No matter, after Hogg righted that error for Visser to score, Sean Maitland, Nel, Matt Scott and Duncan Weir added further tries for another maximum five-point win and a quick return to the top of the pool.
Nine changes yesterday from the opening game clearly took their toll on Scotland’s continuity, but really it was basic handling errors that had them chasing the game at half time. Once more directness and better ball retention were applied, the four tries required were polished off relatively quickly inside 25 minutes of the second 40.
Ten points from the opening two games cannot be improved upon – and Scotland are the only team to have done it in the competition so far – while ten tries doing it has been especially welcome for the many who recall when we couldn’t buy a try at the World Cup. But it’s not been perfect, especially with what’s looming on the horizon the next fortnight.
The Scottish camp are pleased with two games in which they’ve outscored the opposition 33-3 in the second half. Still, they have to be aware that any similar sloppiness as the first half in Gloucester and here in Leeds will be punished far more severely by the Springboks and Samoa in the two games to come in Newcastle.
After six games and three months together in camp now, they’ve simply got to be slicker quicker than this.
The first Scottish error game direct from kick off, Grant Gilchrist spilling the ball and the US quickly forcing an offside penalty kicked by their impressive 10, Alan MacGinty.
Hogg’s massive penalty strike from halfway levelled the scores and when Finn Russell struck a second penalty to put Scotland 6-3 up after some decent and promising runs from Maitland and Mark Bennett, things seemed well in order.
But then Hogg missed a second mammoth kick and Gilchrist was forced off injured, the Americans seizing their first attacking chance inside the 22 to take the lead.
A penalty pinned Scotland back and the US star man Samu Manoa smashed through the first line of defence close to the line, prop Titi Lamositele wriggling over it for the try converted by MacGinty.
Still the Scots were playing too loosely and the scrum was struggling to move the US eight around, although they missed a golden chance when Hogg’s blistering run ended with him throwing an impossible pass to Visser with the line wide open. The US were threatening a second try on the stroke of half time when an offside penalty allowed MacGinty to put them 13-6 ahead at the break, the many Scottish fans in the stands looking nervously at each other.
But the transformation after ten minutes in the shed could hardly have been more stark. With the frontline props on, and within seconds of the whistle, Josh Strauss took out defenders, Pyrgos created an overlap with a fast, flat pass and Hogg put Visser in untouched for an unconverted score.
On their next attack deep in the 22 Russell took it to the line, held off a defender and delivered a killer pass to Maitland running a fine line under the posts, Russell converted.
MacGinty briefly hinted at some resistance with a penalty but Nel, a big threat in the loose when he appeared for Jon Welsh at half-time, barrelled over from close range for the third, with Greig Laidlaw, now on for Pyrgos, kicking the extras.
Some ineffectual lineout drives got the Scots caught up a little going for the crucial fourth bonus try but it duly came when another replacement, Matt Scott, picked a perfect line between defenders, Laidlaw adding two more.
With the job done the Scots eased off, but got a fifth try from another substitute, fly-half Duncan Weir, stretched out for his second try for his country, converted by Laidlaw.
Att: 33, 651
Scotland: S Hogg (Glasgow); S Maitland (London Irish), M Bennett (Glasgow), P Horne (Glasgow), T Visser (Harlequins); F Russell (Glasgow, D Weir (Glasgow) 60), H Pyrgos (Glasgow, capt, G Laidlaw (Gloucester) 53); R Grant (Glasgow, A Dickinson (Edinburgh) 40), R Ford (Edinburgh, K Bryce (Glasgow) 78), J Welsh (Newcastle, WP Nel (Edinburgh) 40); R Gray (Castres), G Gilchrist (Edinburgh, T Swinson (Glasgow) 18); A Strokosch (Perpignan), R Wilson (Glasgow, F Brown (Glasgow) 46), J Strauss (Glasgow)
USA: C Wyles (capt); T Ngwenya, S Kelly, T Palamo, B Scully (F Niua 59); A MacGinty, M Petri (S Suniula 50); E Fry (O Kilifi 67), P Thiel (Z Fenoglio 64), T Lamositele (C Baumann 69); H Smith (C Dolan 43), G Peterson (D Barrett 50); A McFarland, A Durutalo (J Quill 59), S Manoa.
Ref: C Pollock (NZ)