Scotland have set up a Pool A decider against hosts Japan after a 61-0 thrashing of Russia on Wednesday. On the back of a bonus-point victory over Samoa last time out, the Scots secured another with a deserved victory against a Russian side that seemed to have run out of steam after three tough previous games.
Scotland came out of the blocks quickly and it was fly-half Adam Hastings who went over for two early tries and George Horne touched down for the first of his three tries before the break, with the Scots leading 21-0. Horne was on point to get the all-important bonus point score after the break and then Scotland let loose, with the scrum-half bagging his third, along with tries from George Turner, Tommy Seymour, John Barclay and Stuart McInally.
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Head coach Gregor Townsend was delighted with the win and now the focus turns to Sunday’s Pool A showdown with Japan, with the winner qualifying for the knockouts. “They stepped up and played some excellent rugby. Russia were here to play, moved the ball wide and challenged all our breakdowns,” he told ITV.
“We had to put a really resilient performance together and takes gaps that started to appear. “Adam Hastings brought real balance to his game, excellent kicking in the first half, and his running game was excellent. Still a few areas to improve but him and George Horne are playing well.
“We’ll obviously see what happens on Saturday now between Samoa and Ireland. But we know we have to win and win by more than seven points to get into the last eight. That will be a big challenge.” In Wednesday’s early game, Argentina proved to be too strong for the USA, with the Pumas coming out on top 47-17
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