Hard work: Portugal made life difficult for Scotland
SAINT-ETIENNE, 9 September - Scotland scored four second half tries to overcome Portugal 56-10 at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard on Sunday, although they did not have it all their own way against the IRB Rugby World Cup debutants.
Fly half Duarte Cardoso Pinto kicked off this Pool C encounter for Portugal, but the newcomers then found themselves camped in their own half as Scotland created opportunity after opportunity, but failed to finish them off as passes went astray.
Scotland finally made the breakthrough after 13 minutes when a quick tap penalty by number 8 Simon Taylor led to a try for Lamont. The full back added a second minutes later, handing off several defenders to run in.
A third try came in the 25th minute when fly half Dan Parks' cross field kick found hooker Scott Lawson free on the left wing, giving Scotland a 21-0 lead despite some strong defence by the Portuguese.
The biggest cheer, though, was reserved for Pedro Carvalho's 28th minute try for Portugal which came after their first period of prolonged pressure in the Scotland 22. They bravely tapped a penalty and Pinto offloaded for the wing to score and spark huge celebrations.
The euphoria of Portugal's first ever RWC try had barely died down when Scotland centre Rob Dewey broke through to score, but Pinto then kicked a penalty before Portugal had flanker João Uva sin-binned just before half time.
Carvalho thought he had scored a second try while Portugal were down to 14-men, but his celebrations were cut short when he realised referee Steve Walsh (NZL) had ruled him to have been offside when he intercepted a Scottish pass.
Back to full strength with João Uva's return for the loss of no points, Portugal continued to threaten to reduce the deficit even further with the flanker at the heart of their increasing attacks in the Scottish half.
It was Scotland, however, who scored two quick tries just before the hour mark, the first through Parks, before replacement Hugo Southwell touched down his side's sixth.
Scotland added tries by replacements Kelly Brown and Ross Ford, but Portugal could hold their heads high after giving their all on their nation's debut on rugby's biggest stage and causing their more experienced opponents a few problems.
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In the pool stage of the 2007 Rugby World Cup, eight teams played their first matches of the tournament.  Wales came from behind to defeat Canada after a first half scare. South Africa comfortably defeated Samoa, while Ireland beat Namibia and Scotland beat world cup debutants Portugal.
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Canada score a try against WalesImage:  ManuelWales prepare for a scrumImage:  Manuel
In Pool B, Wales took an early lead against Canada with three penalties from James Hook. However Wales struggled throughout the first half, and tries from Canadians Jamie Cudmore, Craig Culpan and Morgan Williams meant that Canada led 17-9 early in the second half.

Wales improved in the last half hour of the match. Tries from Alun Wyn Jones, Colin Charvis and a double from Shane Williams regained the lead for Wales.
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F DanySiva tauImage: F Dany
In a very physical encounter in Pool A, South Africa comfortably defeated Samoa. The South Africans led 9-0 after fifteen minutes with Percy Montgomery kicking three penalties. Samoa scored their only points of the match soon afterwards when Gavin Williams scored and converted a try. 

South Africa led 21-7 at half time after tries from Bryan Habana and Percy Montgomery. They controlled the second half, and tries from Jaque Fourie, J P Pietersen, a second from Percy Montgomery and a second half hat-trick from Bryan Habana completed South Africa's victory.
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Portugal, making their first ever appearance in the world cup, faced Scotland in Pool C. Rory Lamont scored two quick tries for Scotland followed by a try from Scott Lawson to give Scotland a 21-0 lead. Pedro Carvalho scored Portugal's first world cup try, and Duarte Cardoso Pinto converted as well as scoring a penalty. However Scotland were too strong and Rob Dewey, Kelly Brown, Dan Parks, Hugo Southwell and Ross Ford all scored tries for Scotland. Dan Parks scored 15 points from his try and five conversions.
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Pool D saw Ireland take on Namibia. Despite a messy performance from Ireland, they led at half time thanks to tries from Brian O'Driscoll, Andrew Trimble and Simon Easterby. Early in the second half, Ireland were awarded a penalty try when two scrums collapsed, but Namibia responded with tries from Jacques Nieuwenhuis and Piet van Zyl. Towards the end of the match Jerry Flannery scored Ireland's fifth try to secure the win.