The opening match of the 2009 IRB Nations Cup saw a well-oiled France 'A' outfit lay down a marker for the the tournament by easily dispatching Italy 'A' 31-15, scoring five tries in the process.

The game was hampered though after Italy lost two props early in the game to injury meaning that just five minutes into the second half the officials were forced to order uncontested scrums which negated the power of the French pack and took away from one of Italy's traditional strengths.

France led 19-6 at half-time playing with flair and guile and easily saw out the second period in a convincing win.

Scotland A got their camapign off to an impressive start with a 49-7 win over Russia. The Scots scored nine tries to Russia's solitary effort in the closing stages of the game which despite the scoreline was perhaps slightly closer as a contest.

"It is disappointing to see how much good work goes down the drain due to these unforced errors," said Russia coach Steve Diamond to IRB.com

"You pay for your errors straight away, no matter how much hard work you put into it. We will have to go back to lick our wounds, look at what we did right and what we did wrong and be ready for the next match on Tuesday."

The Scots were coached by the new Scotland coach, Andy Robinson, who was pleased with his side's performance.

"I was pleased with the way the team performed," he said. "Nothing is perfect but it was a solid performance, which showed a collective understanding of the game, it was a composed performance, which was quite pleasing."

The third game of the day was a close affair as Romania won a tight contest against Uruguay.

The Romanians started very well and scored two tries in a first half dominated by the Romanians, one by full back Voicu and the second by captain Alexandru Manta.

Romania's strong pack with several players based in France's Top 14 was easily in the ascendancy and their pace and power saw them provide plenty of front-foot ball for their team.

The Uruguayans though added to the spectacle with their willingness to attack at every opportunity and managed to score a try through scrum-half Juan Campomar to earn a well-deserved losing bonus point.