Scotland captain Alastair Kellock admitted his disappointment with his side’s opening World Cup performance, despite their 34-24 victory over Romania in Invercargill.
Kellock’s team were given a major scare as Romania led Scotland 24-21 with ten minutes remaining at the Rugby Park Stadium.
But Simon Danielli saved Scotland from an embarrassing defeat, scoring two late tries to hand his team a nervy win and a bonus point.
“To be honest I was disappointed with certain aspects of our game but we got the win, we got the bonus point,” said Kellock.
“Our finishing at time was outstanding while our big ball carriers did brilliantly well. We have got an awful lot to work on, though, but we will get there definitely.”
Scotland had started brightly cruising to a 15-3 lead before Romania’s forwards began to dominate, causing panic in the Scottish ranks.
The Oaks surged to a three-point lead with tries from Mihaita Lazăr and Daniel Carpo after 70 minutes. However, Danielli came to the fore, going over the line twice in the dying moments to secure the win.
Scotland head coach Andy Robinson promised his side would improve at their next Pool B encounter with Georgia on Friday.
“In the cold light of day we’ve got five points and we’re looking forward to going and playing Georgia,” Robinson said. “We mustn’t play Romania when we play Georgia, we’ve got to play a new side.”
He added: “I saw this as very much like Andy Murray playing his tennis matches, when he plays five sets. You get put under that pressure in the second round, third round sometimes and it’s how you come through it and then the focus is onto the next game.”
Scotland: Paterson, Evans, Ansbro, S. Lamont, Danielli, Jackson, Blair, Jacobsen, Ford, Cross, Gray, Kellock, Brown, Barclay, Vernon.
Replacements: Parks for Jackson (52), Cusiter for Blair (61), Dickinson for Jacobsen (61), S. Lawson for Ford (68), Hines for Gray (52), Rennie for Barclay (62).
Romania: Dumitras, Ciuntu, Gal, Dimofte, Lemnaru, Dumbrava, Sirbu, Lazar, Tincu, Ion, Ursache, Petre, Macovei, Tonita, Carpo.
Replacements: Vlaicu for Dumitras (58), Surugiu for Dumbrava (51), Cazan for Sirbu (51), Zebega for Tincu (68), Florea for Ion (68), Popirlan for Petre (79), Burcea for Macovei (76).
Attendance: 20,000
Referee: Dave Pearson