Scotland needed something tangible to cling to after the listless effort against Ireland in their opening pool game, and they got exactly what they were looking for with a 34-0 bonus-point win over Samoa in hot and sticky Kobe last night to get their World Cup campaign back on track.

They’ve only gone and done it again. Four years after the ‘Brighton Miracle’, Japan have set their home tournament alight with a sensational 19-12 defeat of highly-fancied Ireland in Shizuoka.

It was another game of two halves for hot and cold Argentina against Tonga in Osaka yesterday, the Pumas racking up a bonus point by half-time but failing to score in the second half as the ‘Ikale Tahi fought back to go down 28-12.