STAR SPANGLED MANGLERS
Scots overcome slow start to sweep aside American challenge
AGOOD j ob, well done? Eventually, yes. In the circumstances — a nd without completely ignoring a first-half display of brain-scrambling ineptitude — we’ll take the five points and move on.
Next up, of course, are the Springboks — revitalised but never rehabilitated — lying in wait at St James’ Park this weekend. Even from this far out, that already looks like a potentially defining moment of the Scots’ World Cup campaign.
In order to reach that crunch collision alive and kicking, though, we had to win here. The fact that victory came with something to spare, a second consecutive fivetry performance revealing much about Scotland’s new potency with ball in hand, is a bonus beyond its impact on the standings.
On a raucous afternoon in Leeds, in a game that produced hits big enough to make Elland Road legends of old wince and whimper, Vern Cotter’s men completed the assignment set them.
The slow start will worry all in the camp, especially given a similarly sluggish opening to the win over Japan in our Pool B curtain raiser.
That the lack of depth in the Scotland squad was also cruelly exposed must also be a concern.
The second- choice front row was frankly second rate and, had twin props WP Nel and Al Dickinson not come roaring to the rescue at half-time, the second-half recovery would have been much harder to achieve. Other starters among the 10 changes made to the first XV also failed to impress.
Just four days after that f i rst f i xture, t hough, t his was always going to be an afternoon of make do and mend. The hope is t hat, when e nough of t he ‘right’ players were finally on the f i eld, they did enough to perturb, disturb and nag away at the Springboks.
Scotland went into this match with a record of four wins and no losses from their meetings with the USA, the most recent coming in Houston last summer, so there was a psychological barrier for the Yanks to overcome.
They’d also have to c ontend wit h pl ay i ng against a team who were effectively at home, with a huge Scottish support having converged on this corner of Yorkshire to show their colours.
Oh sure, there were large groups of American fans here making plenty of noise. A fair smattering of locals happy to lend their support to the underdogs, too, although they might have been partially neutralised by some Canadian punters who had stayed on for 24 hours to back anyone playing the USA. Sporting rivalry i s a wonderful thing, wherever you go on the planet.
I t was t o soaring cries of ‘Scotland, Scotland, Scotland’ that the game began, though. And, when the boys in blue were under pressure, the singing only seemed to intensify.
Vocal backing was definitely needed in a first half of fat-fingered fumbling and numerous knockons, Scotland completely failing to cope with the line speed and aggression of the Americans.
It came as no huge surprise when, after opening penalties had been exchanged, the USA scored a try with 20 minutes gone. Samu Manoa was the key man, the flanker darting through the line as Finn Russell slipped, Titi Lamositele eventually touching down. Scotland nearly hit back quickly, a typically swashbuckling Stuart Hogg run ending with a pass best described as being at thigh height for the supporting Tim Visser, who could not collect for a certain try. With the Scottish scrum being minced — or just plain mince? — and the supposed big boys i n our pack being flat- out bullied, the first half was at least as uncomfortable as the opening 40 minutes against Japan.
The hope was that, just as the Scots had scored five tries in the second period then, they’d be similarly lifted here. Deja vu all over again, right? Scotland wasted no time in asserting themselves after the break, with the introduction of Nel and Dickinson providing a more stable platform.
Within a minute they’d got their first try, Josh Strauss making a good break in a move that ended with Hogg setting up Visser to score in the corner.
A second try f ollowed f i ve minutes later, Russell the architect this time as relentless forward pressure provided him with a gap. The stand- off showed great strength to push away from an American second-row replacement and present Sean Maitland with a walk-in try.
Now five points clear and halfway to a bonus point, Scotland’s progress was barely stalled by the Americans pulling closer through a penalty. When Nel stuck out a big meaty arm to bag a third try for Cotter’s men — their reward for power, power and more power going forward — the Yanks were beaten and broken.
Matt Scott secured the maximum points haul when he danced over following another period of forward pressure with just over 10 minutes remaining, while Cotter was already leaving his coaching box when replacement Duncan Weir wriggled through two minutes from time, his score taking Scotland’s try tally to 10 in two games.
To put that i n perspective, Scotland scored four tries in total at the last World Cup. This is a team on the up.
Asked if he was happy with a full card of 10 points from two games, Cotter — who said he’d no need to lambast his players at half-time, because they’d already been discussing the problem areas when he arrived — deadpanned: ‘If you’d give me 12, I’d take them.
‘Look, we’ve got through those two. We’ve played some reasonable r ugby, adapted to di ff i c ul t situations. The guys can take a bit of self-belief into the next two games. That will be important. We can develop our game but we need to grow that self-belief.
‘We never get ahead of ourselves. But there are some good things. We need to build on them, develop them, repeat them.
‘The next challenge will give us a fair indication of where we have to get to, what we have to do.
‘You know I never show it, you know I’m never happy!’