George Horne unhappy with decision to chalk off his fourth try

Scotland international George Horne claims he was hard done by after being denied a record-equalling fourth try against Russia.

The 24-year-old became the first ever Scottish scrum-half to register a Test hat-trick as he helped the Dark Blues to a 61-0 mauling of Lyn Jones’ Bears in Shizuoka.

But he also thought he had equalled the four-try haul Gavin Hastings recorded against the Ivory Coast back in 1995 as he got over the line again.

The Glasgow player was played in by Magnus Bradbury to score, but his celebrations were cut short by referee Wayne Barnes as he ruled the pass was forward after consulting the TMO.

But Horne reckons the footage was inconclusive, saying: “I’d need to look back at it but I think it was a bit harsh.

“When you put a spin on the ball it’s always going to look a bit forward but we got the job done so it’s not too bad.

“That’s the first hat-trick I’ve scored since I was probably back at school. I haven’t scored one for Glasgow so it would be a few years ago since my last.

“It was (my happiest day in rugby). Getting the opportunity to start was really special for me. I was absolutely buzzing going into the game and to score three tries and get a good victory was really fun. I really enjoyed it.

“It’s hard to describe how I’m feeling. Coming into the match it was a weird feeling because we know we were expected to win. We had two games left and needed to get a bonus point.

Scotland ran riot, and if it wasn't for a few questionable forward pass calls would have doubled Ireland's score against the same opposition.#RWC2019 https://t.co/R9HOydlgod

— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 9, 2019

“To do what we did in the way that we did was surreal but I’m just buzzing.

“Now we just need to focus on the Japan game on Sunday. If we can perform the way we know we can then hopefully we’ll get the win.”

Horne has taken his prolific scoring return with the Warriors on to the international scene.

He opened his Scotland account against Georgia last month and now has four tries in eight appearances for his country.

But he gave the credit for his impressive strike-rate to his team-mates.

Horne – whose side must now beat hosts Japan on Sunday to clinch a place in the quarter-finals – said: “It’s just down to my team-mates making the breaks and I always just try to play positively and run those support lines.

“The fact they’re making those breaks is great for me and I’m just there to finish them off.”

– PA