Scotland head to France on a high

SCOTLAND  put a sluggish first half behind them to score five second-half tries and head to the World Cup in buoyant mood with a third victory out of four from their warm-up campaign.

- BRYN PALMER

Georgia, who upset Wales in Cardiff last autumn, had threatened another statement win when they led 6-0 at the interval through two penalties from fly-half Luka Matkava.

But Scotland came out a different side on the resumption, playing with an intensity and speed that Los Lelos struggled to live with. Tries from Duhan van der Merwe, Rory Darge and the impressive Jack Dempsey in the third quarter effectively sealed the outcome, with further tries from Kyle Steyn and van der Merwe embellishing the final margin of victory.

Most importantly, head coach Gregor Townsend was able to report that aside from one or two "rugby niggles", everyone came through the match unscathed, including winger Steyn, who had "taken a whack on the knee" in training this week before starting in place of Darcy Graham, a late withdrawal with a calf strain.

Townsend expects Graham to return to training either later this week, or early the following week and be available for the Scots’ seismic World Cup opener against South Africa in a fortnight.