GLASGOW centre Mark Bennett scored two of Scotland’s five tries yesterday as Vern Cotter’s team went top of Rugby World Cup Pool B with a 45-10 win over Japan.

John Hardie, Tommy Seymour and Finn Russell got the other touchdowns, while captain Greig Laidlaw contributed 20 points with the boot from four penalties and four conversions.

Scotland had to be patient in the first half, which ended with them only 12-7 ahead, but their superior fitness told in the end against opponents who had only had four days to recover from their epic win over South Africa.

“It was a fantastic start for us,” Bennett said. “It was exactly the result and performance that we needed.

“We knew it was going to be a tough task, and we were up against it a bit in the first half. We knew we had to keep our composure. I saw a stat which said possession was 50-50 at the break, but I would question that.

“But we played really well in the second half and we got the bonus try. That’s not something we targeted at the start of the game, because it was just about getting the win.

"But now the game is over we know how massive and important that bonus point could be.

“We put Japan under a lot of pressure towards the end of the first half, and although we didn’t manage to score I think we all felt they were beginning to tire a little.

"We just had to keep the pressure on them in the second half and grind them down. We managed to do that, so from a team point of view we are delighted.”

Head coach Vern Cotter was not quite so enthusiastic. He was happy with the bonus point, but not so pleased with the gaps in the defence which Japan managed to find.

“I wouldn’t say it was convincing,” Cotter said of the win. “I think we managed to score points in the second half.

“I thought we traded blows in the first half. They could have scored a couple of times.

"Second half we managed to get over the try line to give us a bonus point, which we’re very, very happy with.

“We’re happy. Very happy to get the win, happy to be able to pull away in second half, happy to get started. Watching everyone else play has been nerve-wracking for players. Especially watching Japan beat South Africa, there were a few nerves at the start.”

Greig Laidlaw, who got 20 points on his own club’s ground and was named man of the match, said he had been confident by the break that Scotland had got the better of Japan.

"I did feel they were tiring,” the scrum-half and captain said. “I felt we had them at half-time, to be honest. Credit to them for holding out. They were starting to blow and we were putting them under pressure.

“The message from Vern was don’t panic, hold the ball, we had them fitness wise. This is the fittest Scotland team I’ve seen for a long, long time. We believe we’re in a good place, fitness wise.”