"It was pretty surreal. That's why we play rugby, for the pressure," said Scottish flanker and man of the match John Hardie, describing the frenetic final minutes.

Japan had been hoping for a Samoa victory that, combined with a win over the United States in their final pool match today, would have sent the Brave Blossoms into the knockout stages for the first time.

The Scots settled after a wild first half in which they conceded three tries and their defensive line was broken at will by the Pacific islanders, who led 26-23 at the break.

In the second half, Samoa gave away a series of penalties and were lucky to escape when Scotland twice gambled and failed by spurning the chance to go for three points and kicking for the corner instead.

But when a third opportunity came up, Laidlaw kicked between the posts to level at 26-26 after 50 minutes, and Scotland went ahead for the first time when he slotted an almost identical penalty shortly after.

With the Scots now on top, Laidlaw missed two kickable penalties and Scotland had a try disallowed when the ball was judged to have been held up.

Almost immediately, Laidlaw darted around the left side of the scrum to score under the posts, converting to put Scotland 10 points clear.

In the closing minutes replacement hooker Motu Matu'u went over for a converted try to keep the Scottish-dominated crowd of 51,982 on the edge of their seats, but the blue-shirted Scots held on till the final whistle.

The result means Scotland finish runners-up to South Africa in pool B.