Leslie sends Scots into comfort zone

Scotland 37 Romania 1

It has not been the best of weeks for Ian McGeechan. On Wednesday night the Scotland coach had to leave his squad as they prepared for their first Test of the season when his house in Leeds was ransacked by burglars. Thankfully for him, there was some comfort on the home front professionally yesterday. His new-look team, featuring a trio of debutants, had little trouble in disposing of an improving Romanian side. It was Scotland's first win at Murrayfield for one day shy of a calendar year.

Gordon Ross was the star of that 43-20 success against Tonga last November, kicking 23 points, a record for a Scottish debutant. The little Leeds fly-half was absent from the scoresheet on his second international appearance yesterday, with Brendan Laney assuming the kicking duties and contributing 12 of his side's points.

Ross, though, played his part in a generally encouraging Scotland display, which was rounded off with a try by one of the new boys, Stuart Moffat. It was the fifth Scottish touchdown of the day, Stuart Grimes, Chris Paterson, Martin Leslie and Budge Pountney having made their mark on behalf of the old brigade.

"They were five good tries against a side making it difficult to play," said McGeechan. "I thought we completely controlled the game." His only disappointment was the rib cartilage damage suffered by Mattie Stewart as a late replacement. The tight-head prop will be out for six weeks, presenting Bruce Doug-las, who made his debut yesterday, with a chance to impress against the Springboks on Saturday and Fiji eight days later.

Douglas' Borders team-mate, Nikki Walker, was the other new boy yesterday and the giant right-wing played a prominent part in the early breakthrough Scotland made, launching a galloping break that took two defenders to halt and forcing the Romanians to bundle the ball into touch five metres from the line.

Scott Murray plucked possession from the line-out and fed Tom Smith, who mauled in tandem with Gordon Bulloch and Grimes, the latter breaking off to apply the touchdown as they crossed the line. Laney made no mistake with the conversion.

Ionut Tofan, Romania's outside-half, replied with a penalty, but Scotland quickly regained their momentum. The pressure forced two penalties, despatched between the posts by Laney. Murray was also held up a metre short as Scotland's pack drove for the line under the posts.

Not that the pressure was unrelenting. Indeed, Romania ought to have scored on the break in the 28th minute. Romeo Gontineac, their inside centre and captain, intercepted a Laney pass and kicked deep into Scottish territory, where first the covering Walker, then Romanian wing Vasile Ghioc and finally Gontineac failed in their attempts to gather the loose ball.

It was a close call for the Scots, but by half-time they were into the comfort zone. It was Chris Paterson who put them there, taking a pass from Andy Craig wide on the left before jinking inside to score his sixth try for Scotland. Laney landed the conversion, giving McGeechan's men a 17-point cushion at the interval.

Three minutes into the second half the lead stretched to 25-3. When Bryan Redpath popped the ball out from a close-range ruck, Leslie enjoyed an unopposed stroll across the line in the right corner. It continued a fine scoring record by the New Zealand-born blindside flanker, Scotland's most polished performer yesterday. It was his tenth try for the land of his grandfather.

Not to be outdone, Pountney, Scotland's open-side flanker, kept the tries rolling with the fourth of the day, burrowing over from the back of a ruck in the 54th minute. To their credit, Romania hit back, taking full advantage of a spilled catch by Moffat, a former Scottish cricket international.

After Cristian Petre was stopped just short of the line, Tofan picked up, touched down and kicked the conversion. It was Moffat, though, who applied the final scoring touch of the day, taking a long pass from Laney and diving over in the left corner in the 79th minute. It was no cricket score, but Scotland's coach was happy enough. "I'd give it six-and-a-half or seven out of 10," said McGeechan, with a smile of mild satisfaction.

Scotland 37
Tries: Pountney, Leslie, Paterson, Grimes, Moffat
Cons: Laney (3)
Pens: Laney (2)

Romania 10
Try: Tofan;
Con: Tofan
Pen: Tofan

Half-time: 20-3

Scotland: S Moffat (Glasgow); N Walker (Borders), A Craig (Orrell), B Laney (Edinburgh), C Paterson (Edinburgh); G Ross (Leeds), B Redpath (Sale Sharks, captain); T Smith (Northampton), G Bulloch (Glasgow), B Douglas (Borders), S Murray (Edinburgh), S Grimes (Newcastle), M Leslie (Edinburgh), S Taylor (Edinburgh), B Pountney (Northampton). Replacements: M Stewart (Northampton) for Smith 64; N Hines (Edinburgh) for Murray, 64; J Petrie (Glasgow) for Taylor, 73; G Townsend (Borders) for Ross, 73; S Scott (Borders) for Leslie, 79; B Hinshelwood (Worcester) for Craig, 85.

Romania: G Brezoianu (Begles-Bordeaux); I Teodorescu (U Cluj), V Maftei (Valance), R Gontineac (Aurillac, capt), V Ghioc (Dynamo Bucharest); I Tofan (Racing Club), P Mitu (Grenoble); P Balan (Grenoble), M Tincu (Pau), D Dima (Toulouse), A Petrichei (Bourgoin), C Petre (Racing Club), F Corodeanu (Grenoble), A Petrache (Toulon), G Chiriac (Farul Constanta). Replacements: P Toderasc (Farul Constanta) for Dima, h-t; S Dragnea (Valance) for Petrichei, h-t; L Sirbu (Racing Club) for Mitu, 53; M Costica (Steaua Bucharest) for Petrache, 61; M Socaciu (Rovigo) for Balan, 65.

Referee: A Turner (South Africa).