Scots in control at the interval

Scotland 21 Romania 0

Scotland were well in control at the midway point of their World Cup Pool C clash with Romania at Murrayfield.

Chris Paterson opened the scoring after little more than a minute of action and Ally Hogg added a second try following excellent work by the forwards.

After a lull midway through the first period Rory Lamont scored Scotland’s third try just before the break and Paterson added another conversion.

Scotland made a dream start when the Romanians failed to deal with an up and under from Dan Parks and Paterson gathered the loose ball.

The recalled utility back chipped ahead and was fortunate to see the ball elude the Romania defenders to allow him to touch down after just 68 seconds.

He added the conversion to make it 7-0 and came close to claiming a second try in the seventh minute – after Webster had made a scorching break – but was stopped inches short of the line.

Stand-off Ionut Dimofte missed the chance to land a penalty for his side in a rare foray into Scotland territory but the first quarter of the match was otherwise dominated by the home side and Parks in particular.

That superiority was demonstrated in the 17th minute when a classic rolling maul from the forwards culminated in a try from close range for flanker Ally Hogg, Paterson converting.

The game was lit up just after the midway point in the half when Rory Lamont showed why he is currently Scotland’s most dangerous runner with a rapier break which Romania’s scrambling defence did well to snuff out 10 metres from their own line.

Hadden’s side lost some of their momentum in the following 10 minutes though, in part due to a succession of penalties conceded at the breakdown.

Another break from Webster sparked some more fluent play as first Sean Lamont and then Rob Dewey burst through the Romania line.

Dewey’s run created sufficient confusion in the opposition’s defensive line that a flat pass from Parks enabled Rory Lamont to slide in for Scotland’s third try of the night two minutes before half-time and Paterson again converted.