Andy Robinson set his side the target of a minimum of nine points from Scotland’s first two games in Invercargill, and that is what they achieved.
The Scots leave Invercargill this week with two wins over Romania (34–24) and Georgia (15–6), but with just one four-try bonus point.
It leaves Scotland on top of Rugby World Cup Pool B, and they will have to wait and see whether England and Argentina can do what they failed to do in securing maximum points against the two poorest sides in the group.
But, given the difficulty that both Romania and Georgia gave Scotland, the two wins are vital in themselves – regardless of the lost second bonus point.
Scotland have played both Romania and Georgia and won both games. It is now up to Argentina and England to do likewise.
For Scotland, the points are in the bag, they didn’t seem to suffer any injuries in either game and they now have an 11-day window to recover and prepare for the all-important Argentina game.
It is a good position to be in.
They will also know that the pressure will now be on England and Argentina to do likewise. Scotland are in the better place than their rivals now – so they should savour it.
The only disappointment going into this break is a recurring one: that Euan Murray will not available for the Argentina clash because he won’t play on a Sunday.
Murray was immense against Georgia today. He and fellow prop Allan Jacobsen more than matched their much-vaunted Georgian opponents in the scrum and, with the big Argentinian pack to come, the strength and stability Murray brings to the pack will be sorely missed.
As for the game itself, it certainly wasn’t pretty.
Fly-half Dan Parks kicked all of Scotland’s points – four penalties and a drop goal – in a game that often seemed to look more like an arm-wrestle in the mud than a rugby match.
The conditions were poor: it rained from midway through the first half right to the end, allowing neither side to really play rugby.
But it was the Georgians who dictated the stolid, unadventurous feel to the game by keeping everything tight and then tackling hard and slowing down delivery every time Scotland got the ball.
Much had been made of the Georgians’ ability in the scrum, but Scotland more than matched their opponents in the tight. The Scots then tackled hard and fast to stop any Georgian go-forward.
The Lamont brothers, Sean on the wing and Rory at full-back, had good games going forward but Sean was guilty of a couple of poor handling errors that turned possession over to the Georgians.
That was the story of most of the game for Scotland. Several times, the Scots got themselves in good positions only to knock the ball on, turn it over or lose it in contact.
They gave away too many turnovers – that will be punished by better teams – and made too many handling errors. But they won the game against hard, professional and uncompromising opponents.
Parks succeeded in kicking over four penalties but missed three as well – points which could have put the game beyond Georgian reach earlier and possibly have allowed Scotland to play with more adventure and positivity earlier on.
Scotland were looking to grind out the win and then, if they could, to open it up. But they never got far enough away from the Georgians to relax and start playing.
As a result, it was a forward-orientated battle – a battle which Scotland came through on top.
As the Scots relax over the next few days, though, they won’t really care about the manner of victory.
They can look at the Pool B table, see the nine points garnered from a possible ten, and bask in an Invercargill mission well done. It could have been better, that is true – but, as every Scotland supporter knows full well – it could have been an awful lot worse.
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