Pool C/Scotland 56 Portugal 10:Potent Scotland laid down a marker by running in eight tries against World Cup debutants Portugal in an entertaining Pool C clash in St Etienne yesterday.

Stellar fly-half Dan Parks scored a try and five conversions to grab a 15-point personal haul, while Rory Lamont (two), Scott Lawson, Rob Dewey, Hugo Southwell and substitutes Kelly Brown and Ross Ford also went over for tries.

The Portuguese celebrated their first World Cup match with a converted try by Pedro Carvalho and a penalty by Duarte Pinto, but they were overrun by the Scots, whose cutting edge will have impressed coach Frank Hadden.

Lamont, especially, was a handful for the Portuguese and it was his early brace of tries which set the tone for the evening as the Scots showed a refreshing appetite for running rugby in the first half.

Lamont's tries arrived in the opening 14 minutes, both coming in the right corner and both assisted by Jason White.

Lawson crossed for the third after an excellent cross-field kick into the left corner from Parks, and Dewey added a fourth before half-time. Parks' conversions were flawless but Scotland's defence was breached by Carvalho in the 28th minute for the Iberians' first World Cup try. Duarte Pinto's conversion and 34th-minute penalty made it 28-10 at the interval.

Portugal improved in the third quarter but order was restored when Parks and Southwell went over from close range for converted tries in the space of three minutes.