Mission accomplished: Scotland coach

Scotland coach Andy Robinson. Photo: Reuters
Scotland coach Andy Robinson. Photo: Reuters
Scotland coach Andy Robinson pronounced himself entirely satisfied with the completion of stage one of his adopted country's World Cup campaign as they beat Georgia 15-6 on Wednesday to make it two wins in five days.

In a game that will not live long in the memory, Dan Parks kicked all Scotland's points to put them top of Pool B following their 34-24 win over Romania on Saturday.

"I set a target of nine points from the two games in Invercargill and we've achieved that," Robinson told reporters.

"In terms of winning a game it was a good performance. There was a lot of talk beforehand from a lot of people but the key for us was to get four points (for the win).

"The guys stuck to a very good plan today. We didn't score tries but we controlled the game and some days you have to play this way, you have to win ugly, and I'm delighted with the attitude shown.

"We scored four tries against Romania and got criticised."

Scotland's pack took most of the flak in the media after the Romania game but they certainly fronted up on Wednesday against a tough Georgia outfit.

"Everybody wrote about the strength of Georgian scrummaging, rightly, but I felt we dominated the scrum today," former England flanker Robinson said. "Also we stopped Georgia mauling, which we struggled with against Romania.

"The front five were outstanding in the way they took on a renown Georgian pack."

Stand-in captain Rory Lawson, who has won all four games he has played as skipper, said there was frustration that the backline were unable to find a way through in difficult wet conditions.

"Maybe we forced one or two passes but it was such a stop-start game, because of the penalties they were giving away, that can break your rhythm," said the scrumhalf.

"Conditions were tough but we back our skillset and I felt that if another couple of passes had gone to hand we could have had a couple of scores.

"But ultimately tonight was about controlling the game and controlling territory."

Georgia coach Richie Dixon said the 14 penalties his side conceded in their first outing of the tournament ruined any chance they had of an upset.

"I felt our defence was holding up but the most disappointing thing was that we didn't really get our attacking play going because of giving away too many penalties at crucial times," he said.

"Maybe it was a bit of 'first-match syndrome,' some of the penalties were through over-enthusiasm. The first game was a long time coming and the boys were chomping at the bit and we were our own worst enemies.

"There is a lot to build on here. I'm heartened by the spirit and the way they rose to the challenge."

While Scotland now have 10 days to prepare for their next game against Argentina, Georgia are back in action on Sunday when they play England in Dunedin.

"How we get on in that match depends a lot on how well we recover in such a short time," said Dixon, a former Scotland coach.

"But today's game will stand us in good stead as we are not as far away as some people might think."

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