Scotland 48 Spain 0

Scotland booked their place in the World Cup quarter-final play-offs with a 48-0 victory over Spain in the final group A match at a near-empty Murrayfield Stadium on Saturday.

Just 17,500 fans were there to see the Five Nations champions run up seven tries to set up a clash for a place in the last eight back at the 67,000 capacity Murrayfield next Wednesday against either Wales, Samoa, or Argentina.

Scotland's points came from two tries from Cammie Mather, one apiece for Shaun Longstaff, James McLaren, Cameron Murray and Duncan Hodge.

The Scots were also awarded a penalty try while fly-half Hodge struck five conversions and a penalty for a personal points tally of 18.

Spain, twice thrashed by Scotland in the World Cup qualifiers, exit the competition without a win following their earlier defeats by Uruguay and South Africa.

The Spanish, written off as whipping boys before the tournament, have impressed with their courage -- particularly against South Africa -- but they headed for Edinburgh airport without even a try to their name.

Scotland, who lost their opener 46-29 to South Africa and were unimpressive in a 47-12 win over Uruguay, needed a handsome victory to rouse the flagging interest in their campaign amongst the Scottish public.

Hugh blocks of seats were empty as the players took the field but the flat, echoing atmosphere did not appear to affect the Scots who tore into their opponents from the start.

Hodge put the Scots in front with an early penalty before the Scots went 10-0 ahead when the back-pedalling Spanish scrum conceded a penalty try in the 12th minute.  It was the third penalty try conceded by Spain's lightweight pack in the World Cup.

Flanker Mather barged over from close range for Scotland's second try before New Zeland-born left wing Longstaff raced over in the corner for a third.

Centre McLaren scored his second try in his third match for Scotland to stretch the Scots' lead three minutes after the break.

Mather buried over for his second try as the Scots turned up the pressure before Murray came bursting off the wing at an angle to run in Scotland's sixth try.

Hodge punched a hole through the increasingly creaky Spanish defence to touch down under the posts in the 64th minute.  Hodge converted what proved to be the last points of the match as the Spanish staged a spirited rally in the final quarter.

The Teams:

Scotland:  1 Paul Burnell, 2 Robbie Russell, 3 Dave Hilton, 4 Andy Reed, 5 Doddie Weir, 6 Cameron Mather, 7 Peter Walton, 8 Stuart Reid, 9 Bryan Redpath (c), 10 Duncan Hodge, 11 Shaun Longstaff, 12 Jamie Mayer, 13 James McLaren, 14 Cammie Murray, 15 Chris Paterson
Reserves:  Iain Fairley, Gregor Townsend
Unused:  Glenn Metcalfe, Gordon Bulloch, George Graham, Stuart Grimes, Martin Leslie

Spain:  1 Victor Torres Funes, 2 Diego Zarzosa Pena, 3 Jose Ignacio Zapatero Ferreras, 4 Oscar Astarloa Uriarte, 5 Jose Miguel Villau Cabeza, 6 Jose Diaz, 7 Carlos Souto Vidal, 8 Alfonso Mata Suarez, 9 Aratz Gallastegui Sodupe, 10 Andrei Kovalenco, 11 Miguel Angel Frechilla Manrique, 12 Alvar Enciso Fernandez-Valderam (c), 13 Sebastien Loubsens, 14 Jose Ignacio Inchausti Bravo, 15 Francisco Puertas Soto
Reserves:  Fernando De La Calle Pozo, Luis Javier Martinez Villanueva, Agustin Malet Raga, Alberto Socias Olmos, Steve Tuineau Iloa, Ferran Velazco Querol
Unused:  Jaime Alonso Lasheras

Attendance:  17593
Referee:  Thomas c

Points Scorers:

Scotland
Tries:  Longstaff S.L. 1, Penalty Try 1, Hodge D.W. 1, Mather C.G. 2, McLaren J.G. 1, Murray C.A. 1
Conv:  Hodge D.W. 5
Pen K.:  Hodge D.W. 1