Scotland beat Tonga to keep their hopes alive in Ireland's pool

Scotland romped to the bonus-point victory they required over Tonga at Stade de Nice to kick-start their World Cup campaign and keep alive their hopes of qualification for the knockout phase from Ireland's pool.

The pressure was on Gregor Townsend's side after losing their first game to South Africa and then seeing Ireland defeat the Boks on Saturday, a scenario that left them with no margin for error and in need of big victories from their remaining fixtures.

The Scots kept their composure, however, and showed their attacking quality to get themselves a foothold in the top-heavy pool B by recording a 45-17 win over Tonga, with their seven tries all scored by different players.

FULL MATCH DETAILS

Scotland signalled their intent in the second minute when Blair Kinghorn chased down his own kick-through and outpaced the Tongan defence to get there but he knocked the ball on as he tried to slam it down over the line.

They only had to wait a further three minutes to get their first try of the tournament, though, as hooker George Turner pushed over following a maul. Finn Russell converted.

Tonga halted the early Scottish flow when William Havili sent his penalty between the posts in the 10th minute, and midway through the first half the Pacific islanders managed to get themselves in front when Solomone Kata ran on to a Salesi Piutau offload and dotted down on the right. Havili converted.

With the Scots trailing 10-7 more than a quarter of the way into a must-win game, they could have lost their composure, but they soon regained control of proceedings with three tries in the closing 14 minutes of the first half.

Duhan van der Merwe got them back in front in the 26th minute when he finished off a lovely move involving Sione