By Thomas McGuigan
Rory Lamont inspired Scotland to a comfortable victory
Scotland (28) 56
Tries: Lamont 2, Parks, Dewey, Lawson, Southwell, Brown, Ford
Cons: Parks 5, Paterson 3
Lamont 2, Parks, Dewey, Lawson, Southwell, Brown, FordParks 5, Paterson 3 Portugal (10) 10
Tries: Carvalho
Cons: Pinto
Pens: Pinto
Rory Lamont scored two of Scotland's eight tries as they overcame a plucky Portugal in their opening World Cup match in St Etienne.
Lamont was well assisted by Dan Parks whose try and conversions added 15 points before he was replaced by Chris Paterson in the second-half.
Scott Lawson, Hugo Southwell, Kelly Brown, Ross Ford and Rob Dewey also ran in tries for the Scots.
Portugal scored their first ever World Cup try through Pedro Carvalho.
After a nervous start Scotland took the lead when full-back Lamont collected a short pass from captain Jason White and surged for the line, taking two Portugal defenders with him.
Parks kicked the conversion to give the Scots a 7-0 lead and Lamont got his second try two minutes later when he shrugged off challenges from Diogo Mateus and Jose Pinto to score.
Parks again converted and the early Scots nerves were replaced with a more confident side looking to attack the Portuguese down the right.
Rob Dewey powers past the Portuguese defence
Parks turned provider after 23 minutes when his diagonal kick was brilliantly caught by hooker Scott Lawson before he plunged over the line.
Portugal's joy at Carvalho short-range plunge was short-lived as Rob Dewey replied immediately with Scotland's fourth try.
The inside centre took a high kick and brushed aside two challenges to cross the line with ease.
Cardoso Pinto reduced the deficit with a penalty after White broke from a scrum early.
Scotland coach Frank Hadden was forced into a change when prop Allan Jacobsen suffered a calf injury, and he was replaced by Gavin Kerr.
Portugal flanker Joao Uva was then sin-binned for 10 minutes after persistent handling on the floor.
The game was peppered with handling errors and offsides
Scotland looked far from convincing after the break and Dan Parks was lucky not be punished when his pass to the wing was intercepted by Portugal's David Mateus.
Mateus sped to the try-line, but his joy was short-lived when referee Steve Walsh indicated he was playing advantage for offside.
Parks calmed Scottish nerves when he extended their lead after the Portuguese conceded a penalty at the breakdown, and from the resulting possession Simon Webster fed Parks to score.
Simon Webster then waltzed past four defenders before offloading to replacement Hugo Southwell, who scored in the corner.
Paterson converted before flanker Kelly Brown increased Scotland's lead with a try following good work by Rory Lamont.
Replacement hooker Ross Ford got the Scots' eighth and final try of the game when he grabbed a bouncing ball and sped past the tiring Portuguese defence.
Paterson added a conversion to give the Scots victory, but they will look to sharpen up for the game against Romania.
Scotland: R Lamont; S Lamont, Di Rollo, Dewey, S Webster; Parks, Blair; Jacobsen, Lawson, E Murray, Hines, S Murray, White (capt), Hogg, Taylor.
Replacements: Ford, Kerr, MacLeod, Brown, R Lawson, Paterson, Southwell.
Portugal: Leal; David Mateus, Sousa, Diogo Mateus, Carvalho; D Pinto, J Pinto; Cordeiro, Ferreira, Spachuck, G Uva, Penalva, Somoza, J Uva, V Uva.
Replacements: Mure, Correia, Murinello, Coutinho, Pissarra, Cabral, Portela.
125px
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.
----

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.
----

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.
----


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.
----


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.