Kellock: Scotland need to be ruthless
Scotland captain Alastair Kellock believes his side have already experienced a defining moment in their World Cup campaign after surviving a potential upset against Romania.
The Six Nations side were forced to dig deep in the final five minutes to clinch a dramatic victory after trailing to the Pool B minnows deep into the match.
Chris Paterson levelled the scores before a brace of tries by Simon Danielli in the last five minutes saved Scottish blushes and kept their World Cup campaign alive.
Kellock said: “When they went ahead it was a low point but we couldn’t let it get to you when you’re out there.
“It was already a massive moment for us in this World Cup. The way we responded would be defining and we did well to come back.
“It’s annoying that we put ourselves in that position but I’m delighted that we dragged ourselves out of it.”
Kellock admitted Scotland took their foot off the gas after letting slip a 15-3 early lead to trail 24-21 until the 70th minute.
And he knows Scotland cannot afford the same lull when they take on Georgia, who gave Ireland a similar scare four years ago in France, here in Invercargill on Wednesday.
He said: “We didn’t intentionally relax but we have spoken recently about being ruthless.
“We had the ability after 15 minutes to push on with more points and really keep going but our errors and mistakes allowed Romania to get back into the game.
“We didn’t show urgency and lacked accuracy at the breakdown but these are things we will fix.
“You have to give credit to Romania. The way they came at us was very good but we won and we go on from there.
“We are looking forward to playing Georgia. We will obviously work on a few things in our game but that will be a new game and a new challenge.”
Tries from Mihaita Lazar and Daniel Carpo either side of half time even hinted at the biggest result in a World Cup for the eastern Europeans, despite flyhalf Marin Dumbrava letting slip eight points at goal.
But after early tries by Mike Blair and Joe Ansbro, Max Evans twice broke free from defence to set up a brace of tries from distance for his fellow wing Danielli that clinched a bonus point victory for Scotland in Pool B.
Romania face Argentina here in Invercargill next Saturday believing and man of the match Marius Tincu, their captain, insists he has complete faith in his team.
Tincu said: “Before this game I don’t think anyone thought we had a chance in this pool but I have always believed in this team and this squad.
“Argentina are similar to Scotland so we must take confidence from our performance.
“We are very proud of our performance but I would have preferred to win the game than be named Man of the Match.”
AFP
