Scots relieved to reach quarters

Scotland head coach Frank Hadden was a relieved man after steering his side into the last eight at the World Cup.

"I'm just delighted that we have another chance to show we can play better than that," he said after the tense 18-16 victory over Italy.

"It was touch and go and when the rain came down we knew it would be very tough up front.

"I'm really pleased with the progress of the pack. No longer can we be bullied by other teams."

Chris Paterson kicked all of Scotland's points in a scrappy match played in torrential rain.

And the match-winner, who is yet to miss a goal attempt at the tournament, said: "It was a gritty performance.

"There was a lot of pressure but we wanted to win for ourselves and the fans and we are not finished yet.

"We cut short holidays, some of the lads cut short honeymoons to prepare for the World Cup and it was all for tonight and we did it."

Scottish captain Jason White admitted that it had not been the most attractive of games but getting the result was what mattered most.

"It was a bit of a battle, really," he said. "Territory was important and we just gutted it out.

"There were some good things, some not so good, but the main thing was that we won."

On the injury front, Hadden said that full-back Rory Lamont had been taken to hospital for a check-up after landing awkwardly on his head in the first half.

"He seemed to recover very quickly but he had blurred vision in his left eye when he started to run and we decided not to take any chances," said the coach.

Source: BBC Sport