Winger Simon Danielli scored two first-half tries to help a stop-start Scotland subdue a battling US Eagle side by 39-15, in their Pool B clash at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.
But Scotland took their time to warm to the task with their forwards having little luck in their attempt to take on a very physical US Eagle pack. It was only when the ball was spun wide -- via the magical hands of fly-half Gregor Townsend and out to the like of Chris Paterson -- that Scotland's superiority became apparent.
The Scots looked like they would run away with it after scoring three first-half tries, but the US Eagles fought back by using their strong forwards to punch holes around the fringes. But their hard work was persistently let down by a string of elementary mistakes from their backs who failed to take advantage of their second-half possession.
After a shakey performance against Japan, Scotland needed a good game to silence their detractors and they duly delivered with a good first-half display of sharp running lines and instinctive back play.
But their free-flowing form failed to materialise in the second-half and they struggled to gain parity with a determined USA side in a scrappy and disappointing second 40 minutes.
Scotland's inability to attain any level of consistancy or apply sustained pressure will worry coach Ian McGeechan and that fact will exercise his grey cells ahead of Scotland's crunch Pool match against Six Nations rivals France on Saturday.
Scotland managed to run in three first-half tries but it took the Scot a little time to crack the code after early attempts to take on the hulking US forwards failed.
During the opening stages, the half-back pairing of Mike Blair and Gregor Townsend were reduced to watching their pack chase up dead-ends, and it was only when they finally managed to lay their hands on the ball it became obvious that the Scotland had been pursuing the wrong game plan.
After that the Scots span the ball wide as much as possible and 1997 Lion Townsend dusted off his spell-book to launch a series of searing breaks that stuck fear into the hearts of the back-pedalling Americans.
Scotland wing Chris Paterson opened the scoring with a penalty goal four minutes into the game after some good early Scottish pressure but USA fly-half Mike Hercus added two penalties of his own to take the US into a 3-6 lead after 13 minutes.
With both sets of fowards seemingly content to knock lumps out of each other it soon became obvious that a change of plan was needed should either side wish to score, and the first moment of clear and present danger for the US came when scrum-half Mike Blair spun the ball wide to Paterson who kicked ahead and forced the USA to take the ball dead behind their posts.
The cogs started to whizz in the minds of Scotland's half-backs as they eyed the disorganisased state of the US backs and after Ross Beattie broke a tackle in midfield, Daneilli-out stripped the defence over 40 metres to slide into the corner to regain Scotland's lead and boost their confidence in their running play.
Paterson added a good conversion for a wide angle.
A series of good runs confirmed that Scotland held total superiority out wide and they set about taking advantage of this fact. It was Daneilli again who punished the US for some week defensive shaking off a poor tackle from Hercus to slide into the corner after a good Townsend break down the centre turned the Eagles on their heels.
Scotland prop Gavin Keer then added to Scotland's team by charging down a clearance for US fullback Paul Emerick to touch down in somewhat dubious fashion under the posts.
Scotland had broken loose but the Americans dug deep and launched a lightning raid on the Scotland line just before half-time that proved to lift their confidence to a higher plain.
The move saw some excellent recycling work and the speed and vision of scrum-half Kevin Dalzell was world-class. After a series of thumping runs Dalzell span the ball went wide but the attackers got tangled up in a desperate Scottish ruck.
After the ball failed to materialise, Lions prop Tom Smith was pulled from the bottom of the pile by referee Jonathan Kaplan who sent him to the sin-bin for deliberately killing the ball.
The professional foul by the wily prop may have saved his team from conceding a try, but Hercus stepped up to cut the deficit by three points leaving the half-time score 24-9.
Scotland started the second-half as hesitantly as they started the first and the USA muscled them back towards their line.
A Hercus penalty hit the post and rebounded into the path of USA centre Phillip Eloff, but with the flat-footed Scots reduced to bystanders the Eagle failed to control the ball as he crashed over the line and his try was disallowed after more work by the video referee.
The American pressure was now rattling the Scots who were having grave problems finding first gear and some cynical saw a number of Scottish players kill the ball.
The American forwards had to wrestle the intiative from the Scots and set about winning some good ball courtesy of some very atheletic line-out work.
But their backs let them down by succumbing to a series of knock-ons and bad passes and they never looked like scoring. It was left to Hercus to put points on the board via a well-struck penalty 10 minutes into the half.
Scotland's early confidence had evaporated and Paterson elected to extend the lead with a penalty kick, but Hercus was equal to the task and added three points of his own soon after.
With time and the chance to add an important bonus point slowly ebbing away form Scotland they attempted to raise their game and clawed back terrority as their superior fitness began to tell.
A string of scrappy but effective raids took them beyond the gain-line and US fullback Emerick was finally forced to take drastic action and was sin-binned mid-way through the second-half for killing a Scottish move.
But Scotland had trouble taking advantage of their numeric advantage and were reduced to launching raids born from fly-hacks, charge downs and American knock-ons.
Finally, in the 71st minute, the Scottish try bonus point was secured. Following more scrappy play from both sides the ball reached the impressive Paterson who came infield to create space on the short side, Townsend appeared to take the pass but he jinxed his way inside to record the bonus point.
American heads didn't drop but the Scots were determined to end their day's work on a high, and a frenzied all-out attack at the death stretched the US on either side of the field before space was found for Patterson to slide in to add a try to his tally of kicks.
Man of the Match: Scotland wing Simon Danielli's two tries were both well taken, but his sharp 10-point performance was eclipsed by the 19 scored by fellow wing Chris Paterson. His kicking helped Scotland remain above water during a difficult second-half, but it was his running and his eagerness for work that got him noticed. He came off his wing several times to take the ball up the middle and committed several Eagles on each occasion.
Moment of the match: After the stilted opening exchanges, a try gave Scotland's talented backs the confidence to pull the strings. For Scotland's second try, Gregor Townsend shook himself out of his strait-jacket -- like the true magician that he is -- to dart through the first line of American defence before having the presence of mind to set up a move that lead to Danielli's second. Vintage Townsend! Lovely.
Villain of the match: Had the US scored during their dramatic raid prior to the break the second-half could have shaped up very differently so Tom Smith gets our reward for ruining it for the Americans. The veteran prop knew exactly what he was doing when he scooped the ball out of the ruck with his hand -- it was a professional foul from a model professional. But he may have saved the try and would be regarded more as a hero than a villain by his team mates.
The Teams:
Scotland: 1 Gavin Kerr, 2 Gordon Bulloch (c), 3 Tom Smith, 4 Nathan Hines, 5 Stuart Grimes, 6 Jon Petrie, 7 Ross Beattie, 8 Simon Taylor, 9 Michael Blair, 10 Gregor Townsend, 11 Chris Paterson, 12 Andrew Craig, 13 Andrew Henderson, 14 Simon Danielli, 15 Glenn Metcalfe
Reserves: Bruce Douglas, Ben Hinshelwood, Martin Leslie, Kenny Logan, Bryan Redpath, Jason White
Unused: Robbie Russell
United States: 1 Dan Dorsey, 2 Kirk Khasigian, 3 Mike MacDonald, 4 Luke Gross, 5 Alec Parker, 6 Dave Hodges (c), 7 Kort Schubert, 8 Dan Lyle, 9 Kevin Dalzell, 10 Mike Hercus, 11 David Fee, 12 Kain Cross, 13 Phillip Eloff, 14 Riaan Van Zyl, 15 Paul Emerick
Reserves: Jason Keyter, Richard Liddington, Olo Fifita, Jurie Gouws, Kimball Kjar, Link Wilfley
Unused: Matt Wyatt
Attendance: 46796
Referee: Kaplan j.
Points Scorers:
Scotland
Tries: Danielli S.C.J. 2, Paterson C.D. 1, Townsend G.P.J. 1, Kerr G. 1
Conv: Paterson C.D. 4, Paterson C.D. 2
United States
Pen K.: Hercus M. 5
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