Scotland were edged out 28-22 by Australia in the opening pool match before losing 24-8 to Wales on Monday. Coach Iain Paxton was upbeat following tonight’s match but he and his charges will have to wait to find out who they face in the final stages as games are still being played.
Scotland began the encounter at blistering speed with a try from scrum-half and captain Alasdhair McFarlane within two minutes. However, the Scots went to sleep and let Canada come back with a try of their own.
Scotland then found themselves trailing as Canada slotted a penalty that took them 8-5 up but that was a temporary setback. The momentum began to build for Paxton's side and the tries rained down. Following McFarlane's early score, number 8 John Beattie was next to cross with winger Ben Addison and hooker Ross Ford following shortly after.
McFarlane bagged a second try for himself just before half time and added to three conversions from stand-off Michael Adamson, Scotland went into the break 31-15 up. Canada had added to their try and penalty with a further converted score.
The second half saw winger Nic De Luca cross to increase Scotland's lead before centre Ben Cairns shot through the Canadian defence for a try of his own. In the final ten minutes, De Luca touched down for a second score. Adamson converted all three scores and with Canada adding their third try, the game ended 52-20.
Centre Garry Law and lock Ian Nimmo were both yellow carded in the dying minutes but that did not take the sheen off a much improved Scotland performance in this championship.
Paxton said: "We're happy to take the five points (four for a win plus a try scoring bonus) but we'll have to wait to see who we face in the next round. Realistically we should be competing in the 5th-8th group but results could go against us later today.
"The players have responded well to the two defeats. All the way through I couldn't fault them for their commitment and effort in the matches and in training so we are pleased to get this result. We look forward to seeing who we'll face next week," he added.