Scotland uproot stubborn Oaks

Romania undone by energetic Scots

Scotland coach Frank Hadden tasked his men to "smash" their first opponents of the November series, and they duly delivered, notching up a 48-6 victory over Romania at Murrayfield on Saturday.

But the final scoreline flatters the Scots who were outmuscled up front and forced to rely on the superior organisation of their backline and the fine support-running of their loose forwards.

Hadden's tenure began with a 39-19 win over the Oaks in Bucharest in June of last year, and this result in Edinburgh tells us a little bit about Scotland's recent development.

There were encouraging signs from Scotland's clutch of debutants and the side's new-found desire to probe the gaps was nothing if not admirable.

Yet there are still plenty of areas that need to be worked on before they meet the Romanians in Pool C of the 2007 Rugby World Cup.

But it's hard to expect a group of men to hit the heights when just 12,000 of their compatriots make the effort to come and support. Is a tenner for a ticket really too much to ask?

It was a game of contrasting style with the visitors determined to draw their hosts into a pitched battle and the Scots keen to avoid contact and spread possession wide.

Scotland were full of confidence from the off, refusing two kickable penalties as they went on search of a try to kick off proceedings.

The Romanians repelled an early attack but the home side eventually broke their opponents' resistance in the 14th minute when Johnnie Beattie crashed over for a debut try after Scotland captain Jason White had attracted the attention of three tacklers.

Phil Godman, handed a first start at fly-half, successfully added the conversion but Romania fullback Florin Vlaicu replied with a penalty to leave the score at 7-3 at the midpoint of the half.

Scotland immediately hit back, Hugo Southwell outpacing centre Catalin Dascalu on the outside before chipping over Vlaicu and collecting the ball to slide over for his sixth international try in the 21st minute.

Romania were penalised at a scrum five minutes later and White invited Godman to kick the straightforward penalty to move Scotland 15-3 ahead.

Southwell extended Scotland's lead to 17 points when he dived over in the same corner for his second try of the match in the 36th minute after a fine break from the base of a ruck from scrum-half Mike Blair.

But the half ended on a sour note for Scotland as White was stretchered off with a leg injury to be replaced by a third debutant, David Callam.

Scotland had fielded almost an all-Edinburgh backline, with Northampton's Sean Lamont the odd man out, and three of the capital side's players combined for the fourth try of the match six minutes into the second period.

Godman darted inside before feeding Simon Webster who in turn spread it to Dewey and he became the second debutant to cross for a try when he fended off two tacklers to skip over and move his side further ahead.

Vlaicu kicked a second penalty to double his side's tally while an event of more significance occurred in the 55th minute when James Hamilton replaced Nathan Hines to become the 1,000th player to be capped by Scotland.

Godman then got in on the try-scoring act when he skipped over for his first in international rugby after good work from Webster and Southwell.

Hooker Dougie Hall followed suit with his first try for Scotland in the 65th minute after the Edinburgh man was sent clear by a clever pass from replacement Chris Cusiter.

Cusiter, having to be satisfied with a role from the bench since Hadden took over and installed Blair as his scrum-half, danced over for Scotland's seventh try of the game following a slick handling move with replacement Chris Paterson to the fore.

Webster almost cut through with seconds left but was ankle-tapped to deny Scotland the chance to finish the game in style by bringing up their half-century.

Romania must take comfort from their strong start and the ability of their big forwards. But this is not the Romania of old. Argentina's quest for playmates is currently hogging the headline, but Europe have a needy – perhaps moribund – relative on their own doorstep.

Scotland deserved the win, and they deserve plaudits for accepting Romania's request for a game – it is the only one the Oaks managed to get this November.

Man of the match: Romanian's big forwards, hewn from the abrasive surrounds of France's Top 14 league, put in a terrific performance. For Scotland, new boys Johnnie Beattie and Rob Dewey impressed, Phil Godman directed operations well and Simon Webster was his usual industrious self. Mike Blair's constant sniping took the wind out of Romanian sails and Chris Cusiter enjoyed his returned to Scotland colours when he came off the bench for the final quarter. But our man of the match is Hugo Southwell who has developed into a world-class performer; it was his penetrating running that uprooted the Oaks.  

Moment of the match: Perhaps Johnnie Beattie's try on debut – or rather the composure of his father, John, in the BBC's commentary box, allowing himself a brief "good support work from Beattie" before breaking off. The entry of James Hamilton, who became the 1,000th man to play for Scotland, will also live long in the memory. But in terms of Scotland's development, perhaps the key moment was when Jason White was stretchered off just before half-time with what looked like a serious knee injury. We wish him well.

Villain of the match: Not much aggression in this encounter – perhaps too little from Scotland's pack. Romania wing Gabriel Brezoianu took a swing at the giant frame of James Hamilton, but we'll let him off – Hamilton hardly noticed!

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Tries: Beattie, Southwell 2, Dewey, Godman, Hall, Cuister
Cons: Godman 4
Pen: Godman

For Romania:
Pens: Vlaicu 2

Scotland: 15 Hugo Southwell, 14 Simon Webster, 13 Marcus Di Rollo, 12 Rob Dewey, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Phil Godman, 9 Mike Blair, 8 Johnnie Beattie, 7 Kelly Brown, 6 Jason White (c), 5 Scott Murray, 4 Nathan Hines, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Dougie Hall, 1 Gavin Kerr.
Replacements: 16 Scott Lawson, 17 Allan Jacobsen, 18 Craig Smith, 19 James Hamilton, 20 David Callam, 21 Chris Cusiter, 22 Chris Paterson.

Romania: 15 Florin Vlaicu, 14 Gabriel Brezoianu, 13 Catalin Dascalu, 12 Romeo Gontineac, 11 Ioan Teodorescu, 10 Ionut Dimofte, 9 Valentin Calafeteanu, 8 Ovidiu Tonita, 7 Cosmin Ratiu, 6 Florin Corodeanu, 5 Cristian Petre, 4 Sorin Socol (c), 3 Bogdan Balan, 2 Marius Tincu, 1 Petru Balan.
Replacements: 16 Razvan Mavrodin, 17  Ion Paulica, 18 Cezar Popescu, 19 Valentin Ursache, 20 Alexandru Lupu, 21 Ionut Tofan, 22 Csaba Gal.

Referee: Matt Goddard (Australia)
Touch Judges: Tony Spreadbury (England), Federico Cuesta (Argentina)
Television Match Official: Tim Hayes (Wales)