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Murray Trophy: Jamie Murray & John-Patrick Smith lose in doubles final

Published in Tennis

Sunday, 22 September 2019 06:47

Top seeds Jamie Murray and John-Patrick Smith lost in the doubles final of the inaugural Murray Trophy in Glasgow to Ruben Bemelmans and Daniel Masur.

The Belgian-German pair prevailed 4-6 6-3 10-8, sealing victory via a champions tie-break.

Murray, playing with Australian Smith, was the last Briton remaining in the seven-day ATP Challenger tournament he has worked with the LTA to curate.

"It's been an amazing week of tennis," the 33-year-old said.

"I wanted to give people the chance to come out and watch tennis in Scotland and get to experience a live professional tennis event.

"I'm disappointed to lose the final but the guys played well, came back strong in the second set and held their nerve well in the tie-break. It was a good level match."

Later on Sunday, Finland's Emil Ruusuvuori beat Frenchman Alexandre Muller 6-3 6-1 to win the singles title and claim his third ATP crown of the season.

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More success, prominent names add team titles to medal haul

Published in Table Tennis

Saturday, 21 September 2019 16:22

In the men’s team events, Fabien Lamirault partnered Stéphane Molliens to success in class 1-2; Thomas Schmidberger joined forces with Thomas Brüchle to secure gold in class 3; Abdullah Ozturk allied with Nesim Turan to emerge the class 4 champions.

Likewise, in class 8, it was success for Viktor Didukh in partnership with Ivan Mai; in class 9 for Patryk Chojnowski alongside Igor Misztal. Not to be left out in the women’s team events, in class 4-5, Borislava Peric-Rankovic paired with Nada Matic to claim the top prize.

Top seeds prevail

Success and success as predicted, all started proceedings in the top seeded position. Likewise, Great Britain’s Paul Karabardak and David Wetherill justified their top seeded position in class 6, as did Spain’s Alvaro Valera and Jordi Morales in class 7.

“I didn’t even have the energy to celebrate at the end; that is how tired I am. Sometimes my bones turn to concrete and it is hard to get the feel for the ball but I was just pleased to get the win to be honest. We were expected to win so there was a bit of pressure on us which is why it is nice to come through. It has been a good week and I would have taken it five days ago.” David Wetherill

“Our doubles massively improved today but it helped that the teams we were playing in the doubles today were not so awkward. They were more orthodox and easier to play even though they were better teams. I think that was important because when you win the doubles it puts you in the driving seat. It is fantastic to be the best team in Europe.” Paul Karabardak

Similarly, Poland’s Patryk Chojnowski and Igor Misztal justified their top billing in class 10, a situation that applied also in class 11 to the French combination of Lucas Creange, Antoine Zhao and Timothe Ivaldi. The top prize as status advised, in the women’s team events, it was the same in class 1-3 for Croatia’s Helena Dreter and Adela Muzinic, as it was in class 11 for Russia’s Anzhelika Kosacheva and Maria Galkina.

Surprise winners

Wins as anticipated but there were surprises. In the men’s team events, Turkey’s Hamza Caliskan and Ali Ozturk emerged the unexpected winners; they recorded a 2-0 win in the final against top seeded Frenchmen Alexandre Delarque and Nicolas Savant-Aira to arrest the title.

Impressive from Hamza Caliskan and Ali Ozturk, it was the same in class 9 from Ukraine’s Lev Kats and Maksym Nikolenko. After recording a 2-0 penultimate round success against the top seeds, the Belgian combination of Ben Despineux, Laurens Devos and Mark Ledoux; they emerged successful by the same margin against the no.2 seeds, Sweden’s Emil Andersson and Lev Daniel Gustafsson to arrest the title.

Mixed fortunes for Poland

Unexpected outcomes, it was the same in the women’s team competition with Poland experiencing both sides of the coin.

Contrary to expectations Dajana Jastrzebska and Katarzyna Marszal emerged victorious in class 6-8. They recorded a 2-1 semi-final success against the no.2 seeds, Russia’s Raisa Chebanika and Elena Litvinenko prior to securing victory in the same manner in the final in opposition to Germany’s Stephanie Grebe and Juliane Wolf. The previous day, the top seeds, the French pairing of Thu Kamkasomphu and Anne Barneoud had experienced a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Dajana Jastrzebska and Katarzyna Marszal, a result that meant third place in the group and elimination.

An unexpected success for Poland, in class 10, it was a somewhat unexpected defeat; at the final hurdle, the top seeded pairing of Natalia Partyka and Karoline Pek suffered a 2-0 reverse at the hands of Turkey’s Merve Demir and Umran Ertis.

Play concluded in Helsingborg, attention now turns to Lahti, the 2019 Finland Para Open commences on Friday 11th October.

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China repeats earlier success, all four titles secured

Published in Table Tennis

Saturday, 21 September 2019 17:59

Xiong Mengyang, Niu Guankai and Yang Qulong combined to win junior boys’ team gold; in the counterpart junior girls’ team competition it was the top prize for the combination of Yuan Yuan, Wu Yangchen and Zang Xiaotong.

Likewise, for the cadet boys, Chen Yuanyu, Lin Shidong and Zhang Minghao emerged successful; a feat that was emulated by the cadet girls trio of Chen Yi, Kuai Man and Leng Yutong.

Niu Guankai

Winner of the junior boys’ singles title, Niu Guankai proved the backbone of his team’s success; in the final facing colleagues Cao Yantao, Quan Kaiyuan and Liang Guodong, he remained unbeaten accounting for both Quan Kaiyuan (11-5, 12-10, 11-8) and Cao Yantao (11-8, 11-9, 7-11, 8-11, 11-6) in a full distance 3-2 success.

Likewise, prior to a 3-0 semi-final win in opposition to Chinese Taipei’s Tai Ming-Wei, Li Hsin-Yu and Peng Chih; Niu Guankai had emerged the backbone of the 3-2 win when facing the outfit formed by Japan’s Yuto Abe and Hiroto Sato who joined forces with Germany’s Dominik Jonack. Impressively, he beat both Hiroto Sato (11-7, 13-11, 11-5) and Yuto Abe (13-11, 6-11, 11-7, 5-11, 13-11).

Elena Zaharia asks questions

Full distance five match wins for the boys’ team champions; for Yuan Yuan, Wu Yangchen and Zang Xiaotong, a 3-1 margin of victory was the outcome in the junior girls’ team final in opposition to Romania’s Elena Zaharia, Tania Plaian and Denisa Uritu.

The player to cause China problems was Elena Zaharia, in the opening match of the fixture she overcame Yuan Yuan (4-11, 12-10, 11-9, 3-11, 11-7).

Earlier in the day en route to the final, the Chinese trio had recorded a 3-0 win in opposition to Italy’s Jamila Laurenti, Arianna Barani and Valentino Roncallo, prior to securing the same margin of success in the penultimate round when facing Chinese Taipei’s Cai Fong-En, Chen Ci-Xuan and Chu Yi-Ching.

Comprehensive wins

Meanwhile, in both the cadet boys’ team and cadet girls’ team events the titles were secured without an individual match being surrendered.

At the quarter-final stage of the cadet boys’ team event, Chen Yuanyu, Lin Shidong and Zhang Minghao secured a 3-0 win against Spain’s Daniel Berzosa and Marc Miro, before enjoying the same margin of success when confronting Chinese Taipei’s Chang Yu-An and Chen Yen-Ting. A place in the final booked, the outcome was no different, a comprehensive win was recorded in opposition to Hungary’s David Szantosi and Erik Huzsvar.

Likewise, in the cadet girls’ team event, Chen Yi, Kuai Man and Leng Yutong proved irrepressible; a direct entry to the semi-finals, they beat the Russian combination of Anasatasiia Beresnova, Anastasia Sizova and Vasilisa Danilova, prior to securing the title at the final expense of Brazil’s Guilia Takahashi and Laura Watanabe.

Play concludes on Sunday 22nd September, the day on which the winners of the cadet boys’ singles, cadet girls’ singles, cadet boys’ doubles and cadet girls’ doubles will be decided.

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Xu Xin, Asian champion, wins in Yogyakarta

Published in Table Tennis

Sunday, 22 September 2019 05:07

by Ian Marshall, Editor

In all Chinese affairs at the final hurdle Xu Xin beat Lin Gaoyuan, the no.3 seed (11-6, 6-11, 11-2, 11-8), a contest in which playing two steps back from the table his power overcame the fast attacking skills his adversary. Meanwhile, after trailing 6-8 in the opening game of the women’s doubles final against Chen Meng and Wang Manyu, the top seeds, it was the very same from Ding Ning and Zhu Yuling, a straight games verdict was the outcome (11-9, 11-4, 11-5).

“Ding Ning is a real great player. I only played in one event this time. W really overcome a lot difficulties. I had an injury before the tournament and even did not know if I could come and play here. Ding Ning encouraged me a lot. I think this is very important in playing doubles.” Zhu Yuling

A true audience

Earlier, in the penultimate round, Xu Xin had made sure that there would be a clean sweep of titles for China; he beat Japan’s Tomokazu Harimoto, the no.4 seed, a contest which thrilled those present in the Among Rogo Stadium.

Often we refer to those who sit in the tiered seating beholding the fare on offer as an audience. Strictly an audience is a gathering that listens to an event, a musical, a show or similar, not one that is there primarily to watch proceedings unfold as in a sporting contest. In Yogyakarta, it was an audience; first Tomokazu Harimoto gave it the vocals; then Xu Xin responded; Xu Xin won the engagement by about 140 to a 120 decibels, the match in three straight games (11-4, 11-9, 11-9).

“My mission was completed at semi-finals. Against Lin Gaoyuan I was more relaxed.” Xu Xin

Speed

Semi-final success for Xu Xin preceded the same for Lin Gaoyuan against colleague Fan Zhendong, a contest in which the skill of Lin Gaoyuan when playing over the table, especially from the backhand, was the key factor.

Fan Zhendong excels in the rallies, he was never able to exercise his trademark skills from mid-distance; he was never given time. Lin Gaoyuan prevailed in straight games (11-7, 11-6, 11-3).

Upper hand

Enthralling contests on a day which started with China having the upper hand against Japan in the women’s doubles semi-finals.

Chen Meng and Wang Manyu beat Miu Hirano and Kasumi Ishikawa, the no.3 seeds (6-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-8); Ding Ning and Zhu Yuling accounted for Hitomi Sato and Saki Shibata, the no.5 seeds (11-6, 11-7, 11-2).

Sixth time

It is the sixth time when China has completed the clean sweep of all available titles but only the second time this century; the previous occasion being a decade ago in 1999 in Lucknow.

Furthermore, Indonesia is a happy hunting group for China; in 1982 when the tournament was held in Jakarta, they departed with a full house, almost four decades later it was no different.

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French double as Alves and Dussourd win Nash Cup finals in Canada

Published in Squash

Sunday, 22 September 2019 12:16

Nash Cup winners Melissa Alves and Auguste Dussourd

Top seed Malhotra fades in the fifth
By CHRIS HANEBURY and MARK McLEAN – Squash Mad Correspondents

Melissa Alves and Auguste Dussourd made it a French double in the finals of the Nash Cup hosted by Jay Nash at the London Squash and Fitness Club in Ontario, Canada.

Women’s top seed Alves, ranked 45 in the world, ended the run of fine form shown by England’s No.2 seed Jasmine Hutton (world No.54) with a solid performance that delivered victory in straight games with a scoreline of 11-9, 11-2, 11-6 taking just 29 minutes to record.

The men’s final looked to be following the seeding as tournament favourite Vikram Malhotra of India took the opening game but No.2 seed Dussourd hit back to triumph 6-11, 11-5, 11-4, 5-11, 11-5 in 68 minutes.

Alves and Hutton shared an even start to the opening game and they traded points until it reached 9-9. Hutton then hit a backhand volley drop into the tin, and Alves won a long rally to take the game.

Alves quickly built a 4-1 lead in the second as Hutton’s length on the left wall became loose. Alves continued to dominate and powered through the game 11-2.

Hutton improved her control at the start of the third and won the first two points. But Alves regained her form to lead 5-2. Her combination of outstanding retrieval and stunning winners was a potent mix and although Hutton never gave up the battle, Alves dominated to close out the match and become the Nash Cup 2019 champion.

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Malhotra and Dussourd, ranked 63 and 68 in the world, shared the opening exchanges in the men’s final but from 5-5 the Indian attacked with power and precision to win it 11-6.

Dussourd came out for the second with more purpose and slotted a superb nick early on to warn Malhotra of his attacking intentions. Malhotra was forced to undertake a huge workload chasing the ball around court as Dussourd levelled things up.

He maintained that form in the third to jump out to a 7-0 lead. After a few recovery points by Malhotra, Dussourd fell heavily but he regained cntrol to win 11-4 and move ahead by two games to one.

Dussourd tripped awkwardly again in the fourth game and was further frustrated by some refereeing calls that went against him as Malhotra regained the ascendancy to win 11-5 to level the match at 2-2.

Malhotra was unable to summon up much of a physical challenge in the fifth as Dussourd raced into a 6-2 lead. A few more tins by Malhotra stretched the Frenchman’s lead to 9-2. Malhotra was against the wall. He put together a few great rallies, managed some desperate retrieving and pulled the match to 10-5. In the end, after a spectacular rally, Dussourd took the winning point to claim the trophy.

Viva la France… that will be two French flags on the Nash Cup after tonight.

PSA Challenger Tour Nash Cup 2019, London Squash & Fitness, London, Ontario, Canada.

Women’s Final:
[1] Melissa Alves (FRA) bt [2] Jasmine Hutton (ENG) 11-9, 11-2, 11-6 (29m)
Men’s Final:
[2] Auguste Dussourd (FRA) bt [1] Vikram Malhotra (IND) 6-11, 11-5, 11-4, 5-11, 11-5 (68m)

Prize Money: Women $20k, Men $12k.

Pictures courtesy of Rael Wienburg (Nash Cup)

Posted on September 22, 2019

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England 35-3 Tonga: Eddie Jones' side battle to opening World Cup win

Published in Rugby

Sunday, 22 September 2019 05:45

England's World Cup campaign got off to a spluttering but winning start as they fought their way past unfancied Tonga.

Two first-half tries from the buccaneering Manu Tuilagi and a second-half rumble from Jamie George off a driving maul opened a gap, Owen Farrell landing three penalties and two conversions.

Replacement hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie grabbed the bonus-point fourth try late on but the expected avalanche of points never materialised.

Tonga had shipped 14 tries to New Zealand earlier this month and had won only one of their last seven coming into this tournament.

But they kept England frustrated for long periods, and despite a solid defensive display coach Eddie Jones will want much more from his side as they look to win the Webb-Ellis trophy for only the second time in their history.

Tuilagi shows his worth as Tonga bring the power

In the early exchanges Tonga had more than matched England, the men in white shipping five penalties in the first 24 minutes and Sonatane Takulua landing one from 30 metres to level up Farrell's early effort.

Jones' fury was visible in the stands but it was Tuilagi who stampeded to the rescue with a brace of tries that illustrated why he is so critical to England's World Cup hopes.

He fought and twisted through three tackles to wrestle the ball over the line for his first and then took an inside pass from Jonny May after Elliot Daly had put the winger away down the left to run away for the second.

Farrell landed another penalty after a series of drives from close in almost led to a third try, but England had paid a price for their 18-3 half-time lead.

Ben Youngs and Anthony Watson were both crunched in huge challenges but it was Zane Kapeli's hit on Billy Vunipola that topped them all, England's number eight knocked backwards by the open-side's tackle.

Handling errors leave room for improvement

Although Farrell stretched that lead with his third successful penalty the precision was still not there, England's handling errors mounting despite conditions under the roof being almost perfect.

Jones threw Ellis Genge on for Joe Marler and then Henry Slade at full-back with Daly taking May's place on the left wing.

With George Kruis, Lewis Ludlam and Willi Heinz also coming on England went back to basics, setting up a driving maul from 15 metres out that ended with George touching down.

Still the fluidity did not come, the vast open spaces under the curving roof sucking in the noise from the large English support and the game becoming increasingly disjointed.

Slade, in his first competitive outing since the Premiership final after an injury to his left knee, limped away from another big tackle, a concern for Jones after the role the Exeter centre played during the Six Nations.

When Farrell switched to 10 with Jonathan Joseph at outside centre another promising move ended with a knock-on from Maro Itoje, one of 14 handing errors in the 80 minutes.

But Joseph then made a lovely outside break to ghost into space, drawing the last man before slipping Cowan-Dickie in on his right.

With the USA in Kobe on Thursday England's next game they have time to hit their straps before the tougher challenges of Argentina and France.

And Jones will demand more after an opening weekend when the All Blacks and Ireland both produced far more impressive performances.

Man of the match - Manu Tuilagi

Analysis - 'England won't be happy with that'

England World Cup winner Matt Dawson on Radio 5 Live: "England won't be happy with that. Ten penalties I made it, numerous handling errors. That's unacceptable for the standards that Owen Farrell and Eddie Jones have set. They're the sorts of things that you can fix and work on but I'm hoping they don't flog them to death.

"One thing that did stand out that was that England looked a little bit leggy. We didn't see much of Billy Vunipola or Maro Itoje or Kyle Sinckler crashing forward. There wasn't much fizz."

Pool C standings and stats

Teams

England: Daly, Watson, Tuilagi, Farrell (c), May, Ford, Youngs; Marler, George, Sinckler, Lawes, Itoje, Curry, Underhill, Vunipola.

Replacements: Cowan-Dickie, Genge, Cole, Kruis, Ludlam, Heinz, Slade, Joseph.

Tonga: Halaifonua, Pakalani, Piutau (c), Vuna, Lolohea, Morath, Takulua; Fisiihoi, Sakalia, Tameifuna, Lousi, Fifita, Kalamafoni, Kapeli, Vaipulu.

Replacements: Maile, Talakai, Fia, Faleafa, Manu, Fukofuka, Faiva, Tu'itavake

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World Cup excitement and Japanese culture - Parkes column

Published in Rugby

Saturday, 21 September 2019 23:35

In his latest BBC Sport column, centre Hadleigh Parkes looks forward to Wales' World Cup opener against Georgia on Monday and reveals how he and his team-mates have been enjoying the culture in Japan.

Everyone's so excited for our World Cup campaign to start. Now that we're here in Japan, we just want to get stuck in.

We've been building towards this for a very long time, not just pre-season but the last two years, building a lot of strength in depth and training hard.

We watched the opening game on Friday and we just can't wait to get started with our first game against Georgia on Monday.

We're some of the last teams to get started in the tournament, so it will be nice to kick off, and then it's all about building momentum so we're here for as long as possible.

That's why we're here, to have a successful World Cup, but it's also been great to take in the culture of Japan.

I was looking forward to trying some Japanese food before coming here, and it's been amazing to finally sample it for real.

There's a stat doing the rounds that Foxy, Jonathan Davies, and I are the centre partnership who've played the most games together in international rugby since I made my Test debut two years ago.

We've got a great relationship on the pitch and, luckily, it's a pretty good one off it too.

Culture trip with Foxy

Foxy's great at finding good places to eat and, like me, he's always keen to learn about the traditions and cultures of different countries.

On one of our days off during our training camp in Kitakyushu, a group of us - Foxy, Dan Biggar, Wyn Jones, Tomas Francis and me - caught a bullet train and went to Hiroshima for the day.

I enjoy looking into the culture and history of places, and that was a place I really wanted to visit.

We got there and had a look at some of the remnants of the atom bomb which went off there, and then we went to the museum as well.

It was very interesting but very intense. It was all very humbling.

Having a look around and thinking about what all those people went through, it was a really powerful experience.

Afterwards we decided to take a look at the city of Hiroshima, and it's a really nice place.

While we were there, Foxy found a traditional Japanese restaurant which served okonomiyaki, a savoury pancake which can be layered with an omelette or pancake, noodles, meat, veg - everything!

It was really tasty and it was great to eat the Japanese way, gathered around a little bar, sat in front of the food as it was being cooked, and the restaurant was really bustling, full of people coming in for a meal after work.

Japan turning red for Wales

It was like we were back in Wales when we were in Kitakyushu because of all the flags and Welsh messages around.

The Welsh Rugby Union did some fantastic work over the past couple of years setting up that relationship between Kitakyushu and Wales, and we could really see the benefits of it.

Everywhere we went, people were stopping us in the street and shouting "rugby players! Wales!" to us.

The people here have been so nice. They're so respectful, always bowing - it almost throws you.

It was pretty amazing to be in that city as they really embraced Wales and Welsh rugby.

The open training session was incredible - I don't think I've ever been involved in anything like it before.

That crowd of 15,000 people was bigger than a lot of the crowds we get in the Pro14, and that's not taking anything away from the Pro14, it was just an amazing reception.

Everyone's away from home so a lot of the boys have been getting homesick, but I'm used to living away from home.

I went to boarding school and moved away from my parents at quite a young age, so I'm a bit more used to it than others.

It is a long time for people to be away from their children, wives, girlfriends, parents.

People do actually say "you love touring, don't you, so you know where to go for nice food", and I do, and luckily I've got Foxy as well who's very good at that.

He's taken the lead on that so far, so it's been nice to take a back seat sometimes.

Hadleigh Parkes was speaking to BBC Sport Wales' Dafydd Pritchard.

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Rugby World Cup: Watch the best moments as England, Ireland and Italy win on day three

Published in Rugby

Sunday, 22 September 2019 09:21

Watch three of the best moments from day three of the Rugby World Cup as England beat Tonga, Ireland dismiss Scotland and Italy cruise past Namibia.

MATCH REPORT: England 35-3 Tonga

MATCH REPORT: Ireland 27-3 Scotland

MATCH REPORT: Italy 47-22 Namibia

Listen to every match of the Rugby World Cup on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra.

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Ireland 27-3 Scotland: Iain Henderson says Rory Best 'silenced critics' in World Cup win

Published in Rugby

Sunday, 22 September 2019 06:15

Ireland lock Iain Henderson says captain Rory Best "silenced a lot of critics" in his side's opening 27-3 World Cup win over Scotland.

Best, 37, played the full 80 minutes and scored his side's second try in an impressive display in Yokohama.

"It was class, I was loving sitting on the bench watching Rory out there," said Henderson, who also starred before being replaced after 56 minutes.

"I thought he was absolutely unbelievable today."

Ireland's emphatic victory over the side ranked next highest in Pool A was delivered with their best performance of 2019.

A 100% line-out success rate will have been particularly pleasing for head coach Joe Schmidt after weeks of being asked about his side's ability to dominate the set-piece without experienced line-out caller Devin Toner.

After a heavy defeat at Twickenham last month Best, who will retire at the end of the tournament, came in for heavy criticism as Ireland's line-out crumbled.

However his performance in Yokohama will put to bed doubts over his continuing effectiveness at the highest level.

"I've said it before, it's almost impossible to say what he does until you're in a squad with him and you feel what he adds in a squad," said Henderson.

"A lot of people who have never played in a squad with him saw today what he adds."

'Self-evaluation' followed Twickenham trouncing

After Sunday's victory, Best put Ireland's recent improvement down to honest self-evaluation following the humbling defeat by England.

"There were questions about us externally," added the Ireland skipper.

"We knew we had a lot more to give. I think we didn't put enough pressure on ourselves to be in the position we needed to be and to execute the plan we were given.

"I think sometimes you need to draw a bit of a line in the sand.

"We were pleased with the two [warm-up] games against Wales and again today."

Ireland next meet tournament hosts Japan, who began their campaign with a bonus-point victory over Russia on Friday.

A win in Shizuoka would set Ireland well on their way to a World Cup quarter-final where, if they top the group, they are likely to face South Africa.

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'We’ve not stood up and we’ve been battered' - Hogg hurting after Ireland defeat

Published in Rugby

Sunday, 22 September 2019 11:01

Scotland were "battered" by Ireland in their Rugby World Cup opener despite "spot-on" preparations, says full-back Stuart Hogg.

Gregor Townsend's team delivered a tame display in Sunday's 27-3 Pool A hammering in Yokohama.

The inaccurate Scots were overpowered by an Ireland side that pounced on their errors and scored four tries.

"I've never been involved in a Scotland camp that the preparation has been as spot-on," Hogg, 27, told BBC Scotland.

"Unfortunately we've just not stood up and we've been battered."

Scotland found themselves three tries and 16 points down after just 25 minutes, with James Ryan, Rory Best and Tadhg Furlong all crossing, Greig Laidlaw's penalty their only riposte. Much of Ireland's attacking success stemmed from Scottish mistakes.

Andrew Conway killed the contest early in the second half after Ryan Wilson spilled a high ball and Jack Carty clipped over a late penalty to complete a miserable day for Townsend and his men.

The heavy defeat consigns Scotland to bottom spot in Pool A, behind Russia on points difference. They tackle Samoa next Monday, before facing the Russians and concluding the group phase with a potentially decisive showdown with host nation Japan.

"We talked a lot during the week about not beating ourselves and we coughed up the ball a few times and gave away silly penalties," added Hogg, who won his 70th cap on Sunday.

"We were on the receiving end of five-metre maul line-outs and when Ireland get rumbling, they're very, very difficult to stop.

"We'll learn and be better for this experience but in Test-match rugby you can't afford to let opportunities slip and unfortunately that one's just slipped past us.

"We've got the quality within the squad to bounce back now. It's all about reviewing this in a positive light and making sure we learn from our mistakes."

In the first of four World Cup warm-up matches, Scotland were dealt a similar beating by France in Nice, delivering a desperate performance in a 32-3 defeat.

Lock Grant Gilchrist admitted Sunday's showing bore hallmarks of that awful display.

"We moved on from Nice and had three much better performances and thought we were in a much better place," he said.

"To have certain aspects of our game that were similar was bitterly disappointing but we can also look at that and the way we reacted. We beat France the week after and then had two more positive results [heavy wins over Georgia].

"We have to do exactly the same as we did then. We take our medicine, we look at how we can get better and we have to be for the next three games."

'Big questions for Townsend' - analysis

Former Scotland prop Peter Wright on BBC Radio Scotland

If I was a Scotland player, I'd be embarrassed by that performance. And I'd stay away from social media as there are former internationals on there giving it laldy with the criticism of the team.

What matters now is how the players react in the game against Samoa.

Former Scotland captain Rory Lawson

This is a two-out-of-10 performance at best from Scotland. Big questions will be asked of Gregor Townsend.

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