Sport

Scots ease up in second half

Scotland 34 Pacific Islands 22 : It is not often two teams share a 4-4 try count in a one-sided match but such was the case …

Ian Morrison At Murrayfield
Mon Nov 20 2006 - 00:00

Scotland 34 Pacific Islands 22: It is not often two teams share a 4-4 try count in a one-sided match but such was the case here, where Scotland won far more easily than the final score suggests.

The home team grabbed four first-half tries before taking their foot off the gas and managing no more than a Marcus Di Rollo drop-goal after the break.

Any qualms the Scotland coach Frank Hadden might have about his side's mediocre second-half performance were overshadowed by two more injuries in his squad. The 20-year-old number eight Johnnie Beattie was carted off after five minutes with an ankle problem and, while reports suggest he might make a speedy return, Chris Cusiter will not be so fortunate.

The scrumhalf had failed to finish his previous two starts for Scotland and on Saturday he suffered a dislocated shoulder only 11 minutes in. Since the Tongan blindside Viliami Vaki threw him to the ground with the ball long gone the citing commissioner Matt Bayliss is sure to have spent the weekend studying the video evidence.

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But that was a rare act of aggression by the visitors. Trailing 28-0 towards the end of the first half the Islanders were more pacifist than Pacific before they were jolted into life by an injury-time try from Rupeni Caucau at the end of the first half.

Caucau's first-half try was followed by two more in quick succession after the break before centre Kameli Ratuvou scored his second, and his team's fourth, on the stroke of full-time. "We are now in a position of knowing we can beat Australia," said Hadden afterwards.

  • Guardian Service

SCOTLAND: Paterson (capt); Lamont, Di Rollo, Henderson, Webster; Parks, Cusiter ; Kerr, Hall ), E Murray, Hines, S Murray, Taylor, Beattie, Brown (Borders). Replacements: Callum for Beattie (6 mins), Blair for Cusiter (11 mins), Jacobsen for Kerr, Ford for Hall (both 57 mins), Kellock for Taylor (65 mins), Godman for Parks (72 mins), Southwell for Paterson (77 mins).

PACIFIC ISLANDERS: Ligairi (Fiji); Fa'atau (Samoa), Ratuvou (Fiji), Seveali'i (Samoa), Caucau (Fiji); Pisi (Samoa), Rauluni (Fiji); Felise (Tonga), Schwalger (Samoa), Taumoepeau (Tonga), Raiwalui (Fiji, capt), Leo (Samoa), Vaki (Tonga), Taione (Tonga), Latu (Tonga). Replacements: Lutui (Tonga) for Schwalger (30 mins), Rabeni (Fiji) for Caucau, Sititi (Samoa) for Taione, Molitika (Tonga) for Vaki (all 53 mins), Va'a (Samoa) for Felise, Bai (Fiji) for Seveali'i (both 65 mins).

Referee: B Lawrence (New Zealand).