Scotland 45-10 Japan
Scotland ran in five second-half tries to move to the top of Pool B with a 45-10 victory over Japan at the Rugby World Cup this afternoon.
After a tight first half, Scotland ran riot against a tiring Japan side who appeared to be suffering the effects of their famous win over South Africa on Saturday, claiming a bonus point along the way.
Vern Cotter's side showed no signs of rust in the opening stages of their first game at the tournament, with captain Greig Laidlaw getting his side on the board inside two minutes with a penalty.
Japan, who in contrast had just four days to recover after pulling off arguably the biggest upset in the competition's history, found themselves on the back foot early on and soon fell six behind when Laidlaw added another kick.
However, the Brave Blossoms showed the first signs of their refusal to be remembered as a flash in the pan by getting the opening try of the contest when Amanaki Mafi touched down following a driving maul.
The lineout was set up by Ayumu Goromaru's perfect kick to touch, and the full-back, scorer of 24 points against South Africa in their opening match, added the extras to give his side the lead.
It was Gloucester's Laidlaw who was proving to be the difference on his home club ground at Kingsholm, however, and two more penalties from the Scottish skipper ensured that his side would go into the break with a 12-7 lead.
Japan did have chances to cut that deficit before the half-time whistle, with captain Michael Leitch turning down three points in favour of a kick for touch - the same tactic that proved so endearing, and more importantly successful, on the way to stunning the Springboks. This time it did not pay off, however, while Goromaru missed a kick moments later.
The full-back atoned for that error by making a try-saving tackle to deny Tommy Seymour right at the end of the half, and he added another three points early in the second half to reduce the deficit to two.
Scotland responded quickly, however, and registered their first try of the contest 10 minutes after the interval when John Hardie went over in the corner, although Laidlaw missed the conversion.
A second arrived soon after for Cotter's men as they began to take control of proceedings, Stuart Hogg's break paving the way for Mark Bennett to touch down underneath the posts.
Japan went in search of a reply, but fatigue was perhaps beginning to creep in for Eddie Jones's side and they couldn't catch Seymour as the winger raced through having pinched the ball in front of Male Sa'u.
Bennett powered over for a fourth with a little over 10 minutes remaining, handing Scotland a crucial bonus point that puts them in pole position to reach the quarter-finals from Pool B.
Finn Russell then capped off the Scotland scoring with his side's fifth try on his 23rd birthday, before Cotter's side were able to hold firm against some late pressure to seal the convincing win.
Australia 28-13 Fiji
Australia have kicked off their Rugby World Cup campaign with a 28-13 victory over Fiji at the Millennium Stadium.
The Wallabies took control heading into half time thanks to David Pocock's brace, but they were unable to push on and claim a bonus point in South Wales.
It was Australia who were on top in the early stages, without truly being able to cause their opponents any real problems in a cagey start to the contest.
Fiji were dealt an early blow when Waisea Nayacalevu was stretchered off the field with what appeared to be a tournament-ending injury.
A slack forward pass from the Pacific Islanders then gifted Bernard Foley the chance to get his - and indeed Australia's - first points of the competition when finding the sticks from close range.
John McKee's men, currently ranked ninth in the world, soon hit back when Nemani Nadolo followed in suit by himself kicking over after the much-fancied Aussies conceded two penalties in quick succession.
Buoyed by that, a period of Fiji domination followed when a wave of attacks ended narrowly short, and that would ultimately prove costly as the Wallabies soon found their stride.
Skipper Stephen Moore successfully picked out Pocock from a dangerous lineout, allowing the openside flanker to cross over for his fifth Test try in the famous yellow and green strip.
Foley made no mistake from the conversion to keep alive his perfect early kicking record, while there was more joy to come five minutes later when Pocock found the whitewash for a second time.
The score - which makes Pocock his country's record-scoring forward at a World Cup - came directly on the back of Campese Ma'afu being disciplined, as Fiji began to crumble in the latter stages of the opening 40 minutes.
There was still time for Foley to extend the two-time winners' lead even further when more handling errors from the Fijians saw them punished in the closing moments of a half that had shown so much promise at one stage.
With a bonus-point win very much the target for Michael Cheika's charges, they were quick out of the blocks following the restart and well on their way thanks to Sekope Kepu.
Israel Folau instigated the initial move when charging down the left, before a well-worked ruck culminated in Kepu adding his name to the scoresheet.
The extras were added by Foley and, while Nadolo did manage to bolster his side's tally by three more points from the boot, Australia remained firm against a Fiji side showing more promise in the final third all of a sudden.
That was until the hour mark, at least, when the growing pressure finally told and Ben Volavola found a gap at the back to touch down for his first international score.
It was also an historic moment in the context of this showpiece tournament, too, taking the overall scoring beyond the 5,000-point mark.
Nadolo was on target from the follow-up to bring the Flying Fijians even closer, but 12 points still remained the difference heading into the final 10 minutes.
The task looked all the more difficult for Fiji as, after a brief stoppage in play when James Slipper was knocked unconscious, Foley was successful with his penalty attempt to kill off any momentum from McKee's men.
Tevita Kuridrani was shown a yellow with around six minutes still left on the clock against the country of his birth, with Australia - still with just the single defeat in the opening game of a World Cup - unable to cross over for a fourth try.
France 38-11 Romania
France have beaten Romania 38-11 in their second Group D Rugby World Cup match after tries from Sofiane Guitoune, Yannick Nyanga, Wesley Fofana and Gael Fickou.
Morgan Parra opened the scoring for France with eight minutes on the clock by converting a penalty.
Florin Vlaicu then charged over the try line for Romania, but was denied by the TMO due to the ball not touching the ground. Nonetheless, the 82-cap centre levelled things with a penalty very shortly after due to an offside for France.
Vlaicu had a chance to put his side ahead with 25 minutes gone, but mis-hit a penalty which went wide of the posts.
Romania were down to 14 men shortly after, with Paulico Ion dismissed for 10 minutes after dragging a scrum down illegally.
It took France less than a minute to make use of the player advantage as Guitoune stretched to force the ball over the line, with Parra securing the conversion.
Les Bleus grabbed their second try of the evening with just over five minutes until half time thanks to Yannick Nyanga, who was found by Noa Nakaitaci on the right wing and touched the ball over.
Vlaicu punted over a penalty as the half time whistle blew, but it was France who went in with the advantage at the break.
It took over 25 minutes of the second period for the scoreboard to see any changes, with France waiting patiently for their third try before Guitoune was able to stretch an arm out to score his second of the match while under pressure.
After Parra converted, Wesley Fofana then went over to secure a bonus point for Les Bleus, having to reach over his head to place the ball beyond the try line while under pressure from Madalin Lemnaru.
Romania picked up a consolation try with six minutes remaining in the match as Andrei Radoi drove the ball over the line, but France punished their opponents once again late on with Gael Fickou weaving through for his side's fifth try of the night, and Rory Kockott converted to complete the scoring.
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